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Brekelefuw · 02-27-2008, 12:29 AM

Hello fellow TMers,

If you don't know, I am now finished my degree in Jazz Performance and I am currently going to college for instrument repair.
We have already learned all the stuff we are supposed to learn on brass instruments (trumpet, trombone and french horn,) and now the next two semesters are purely woodwinds. Even though I like woodwind repair, my heart is in the brass repair, especially trumpet stuff.
I have decided to take on two projects in my spare time in order to keep my brass skills up, as well as gaining as many skills in brass as I can while I have a teacher who I can ask for help whenever I need it.

Anyways, back to what I am posting about.

I heard of a place that sells Academy (Chinese) trumpets for $50 Canadian. As soon as I heard this I HAD to get one. I mean, who can pass up a trumpet that you can experiment on without any worries of breaking it and losing a ton of money. My original plan was to find a used Bach 37 or 72 and modify it, but that proofed to be too expensive.

When I got the $50 trumpet it came in a really sweet case. The case is form fitted and it is TINY!.

Outside of Case

Inside case. The Gold Mouthpiece is my Wedge 5B with Warburton 5 shank. The silver one is the terrible mouthpiece that came with the horn. It is marked 7c.

After playing the horn for a few hours and listening to my teacher play it, we were quite surprised that it sounded decent, but was a bit stuffy.

This is where I decided on what my first modification would be. A reverse tuning slide.

I took the make tuning slide apart and also removed the finger hook and the outer main tuning slide tube that is soldered to the lead pipe.
I then took the inner tube and ferrule (connector tube) from the main tuning slide and soldered it to the lead pipe. I then took the outer slide of the main tuning slide and soldered it to the actual movable part of the main tuning slide. Since the inner slide is now on the leadpipe, there is no step for the air to hit as it flows into the trumpet. This reduced the stuffiness quite a bit.

Sorry I don't have progress shots, I was so excited to get started on the project I forgot my camera at home.

Main Tuning Slide after conversion

The leadpipe part of the reverse leadpipe conversion.
Notice that in order to get the finger hook in a decent spot, I had to either cut it short, or file a little lip in it to go over the ferrule. I decided to file a lip.

Here is a blurry closeup of the finger ring lip.

Next I looked at the 1st and 3rd valve slide rings. Both of them were attached to bars which went through lyre holders. This looked ugly, and the lyre holders did a crappy job of holding the rings in one spot. They had to go.
I unsoldered the lyre holders and then used a TON of heat to remove the silver solder from the bars that were silver soldered on to the rings. I now had two rings that I could place on the actual slides.
I filed down the part where the rings had been soldered to the bars so there was a nice flat surface for me to solder the rings on to the tuning slides.

Here is the 3rd valve tuning slide with newly modified ring.

The 1st valve tuning slide with newly modified ring.

Now I play tested the horn again. Wow it was super super bright. I don't like a horn that is so bright that I can't change the timbre, so I decided that it was time to add a bit of weight to it to focus the sound and darken it.
After looking at all the pretty horns done by NYTC, Monette, Courtois, Eclipse etc, I decided to try my hand at making some sheet bracing. I was especially inspired by the custom art done on some of the NYTC horns I have seen.
This was my first time shaping brass like this other than making flanges and patches, and I really have 0 artistic talent.
Since my name is Ewan, I decided to call this trumpet the Model E trumpet. My first weight addition would be a brass cut out in the shape of an E attached to the crook of the bell.
I traced the bell shape on to a piece of paper then drew an E on it and then cut the E out and traced it on to a piece of flat brass. I then cut the brass out with hack saws, jewelers saws, dremels and hand files.
Next I needed something to hold it on to the bell crook. I talked to my teacher and we decided that it would be easiest if I silver soldered (just about permanent solder for those who aren't familiar with it) three tabs to it I could give it enough support, while maintaining a good contact area on the crook.
I traced the E and the curve of the bell crook on to paper and drew three tabs. I then cut the tabs out of brass sheet and silver soldered them to the E and then shaved them down to match the curve of the crook.

My E emblem. For my artistic ability I think it looks pretty good. Most people I showed laughed at me, but if I keep the rest of the horn looking similar in style to the E, then it will just be the theme of the horn.

Here is a shot of the full trumpet with the E and reverse leadpipe.

Next I playtested it again, and decided that while it played well, I still wanted to experiment with it as much as I can, so I removed the rear S brace and made my own sheet brace for that area.
It was pretty much the same process as the E logo, except I didn't need to make any tabs. I just had to make sure the brace fit well between the leadpipe and the bell.

A closeup of the new brace. Excuse the bad solder job. I think I am going to redo it tomorrow if I can't get it cleaned up. There is also a tiny gap at the end where I shaved too much off. This isn't a huge deal to me right now because I don't have that much sheet brass to work with, but if I had more, I would have remade the brace.

After me and my repair teacher playtesting it, we could not believe how much better the horn sounds. It slots really nicely, is in tune from low F# to high C, and isn't stuffy anymore. This horn is turning out to be a horn that someone could actually play on. Hopefully the trumpet will have gone from being worth $50 to being worth at least $60 when I am done with it ;)

That is it for tonight. This thread will be updated with sound clips once I find a mic and the time to record it, as well as new pictures to any modifications I do, with shots detailing the processes that I go through.

Other things I will do to the horn:
Front S brace replaced with smaller version of rear sheet brace.
Scratch brush horn to make it look pretty.
Remake finger hooks and rings out of small brass tube for maximum comfort.
Possibly replace waterkeys with piston waterkeys or saturn water keys.

02-27-2008, 12:29 AM	#1 (permalink)
Brekelefuw Mezzo Forte User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Toronto Posts: 934	The $50 Trumpet Experiment [Image Heavy] Hello fellow TMers, If you don't know, I am now finished my degree in Jazz Performance and I am currently going to college for instrument repair. We have already learned all the stuff we are supposed to learn on brass instruments (trumpet, trombone and french horn,) and now the next two semesters are purely woodwinds. Even though I like woodwind repair, my heart is in the brass repair, especially trumpet stuff. I have decided to take on two projects in my spare time in order to keep my brass skills up, as well as gaining as many skills in brass as I can while I have a teacher who I can ask for help whenever I need it. Anyways, back to what I am posting about. I heard of a place that sells Academy (Chinese) trumpets for $50 Canadian. As soon as I heard this I HAD to get one. I mean, who can pass up a trumpet that you can experiment on without any worries of breaking it and losing a ton of money. My original plan was to find a used Bach 37 or 72 and modify it, but that proofed to be too expensive. When I got the $50 trumpet it came in a really sweet case. The case is form fitted and it is TINY!. Outside of Case Inside case. The Gold Mouthpiece is my Wedge 5B with Warburton 5 shank. The silver one is the terrible mouthpiece that came with the horn. It is marked 7c. After playing the horn for a few hours and listening to my teacher play it, we were quite surprised that it sounded decent, but was a bit stuffy. This is where I decided on what my first modification would be. A reverse tuning slide. I took the make tuning slide apart and also removed the finger hook and the outer main tuning slide tube that is soldered to the lead pipe. I then took the inner tube and ferrule (connector tube) from the main tuning slide and soldered it to the lead pipe. I then took the outer slide of the main tuning slide and soldered it to the actual movable part of the main tuning slide. Since the inner slide is now on the leadpipe, there is no step for the air to hit as it flows into the trumpet. This reduced the stuffiness quite a bit. Sorry I don't have progress shots, I was so excited to get started on the project I forgot my camera at home. Main Tuning Slide after conversion The leadpipe part of the reverse leadpipe conversion. Notice that in order to get the finger hook in a decent spot, I had to either cut it short, or file a little lip in it to go over the ferrule. I decided to file a lip. Here is a blurry closeup of the finger ring lip. Next I looked at the 1st and 3rd valve slide rings. Both of them were attached to bars which went through lyre holders. This looked ugly, and the lyre holders did a crappy job of holding the rings in one spot. They had to go. I unsoldered the lyre holders and then used a TON of heat to remove the silver solder from the bars that were silver soldered on to the rings. I now had two rings that I could place on the actual slides. I filed down the part where the rings had been soldered to the bars so there was a nice flat surface for me to solder the rings on to the tuning slides. Here is the 3rd valve tuning slide with newly modified ring. The 1st valve tuning slide with newly modified ring. Now I play tested the horn again. Wow it was super super bright. I don't like a horn that is so bright that I can't change the timbre, so I decided that it was time to add a bit of weight to it to focus the sound and darken it. After looking at all the pretty horns done by NYTC, Monette, Courtois, Eclipse etc, I decided to try my hand at making some sheet bracing. I was especially inspired by the custom art done on some of the NYTC horns I have seen. This was my first time shaping brass like this other than making flanges and patches, and I really have 0 artistic talent. Since my name is Ewan, I decided to call this trumpet the Model E trumpet. My first weight addition would be a brass cut out in the shape of an E attached to the crook of the bell. I traced the bell shape on to a piece of paper then drew an E on it and then cut the E out and traced it on to a piece of flat brass. I then cut the brass out with hack saws, jewelers saws, dremels and hand files. Next I needed something to hold it on to the bell crook. I talked to my teacher and we decided that it would be easiest if I silver soldered (just about permanent solder for those who aren't familiar with it) three tabs to it I could give it enough support, while maintaining a good contact area on the crook. I traced the E and the curve of the bell crook on to paper and drew three tabs. I then cut the tabs out of brass sheet and silver soldered them to the E and then shaved them down to match the curve of the crook. My E emblem. For my artistic ability I think it looks pretty good. Most people I showed laughed at me, but if I keep the rest of the horn looking similar in style to the E, then it will just be the theme of the horn. Here is a shot of the full trumpet with the E and reverse leadpipe. Next I playtested it again, and decided that while it played well, I still wanted to experiment with it as much as I can, so I removed the rear S brace and made my own sheet brace for that area. It was pretty much the same process as the E logo, except I didn't need to make any tabs. I just had to make sure the brace fit well between the leadpipe and the bell. A closeup of the new brace. Excuse the bad solder job. I think I am going to redo it tomorrow if I can't get it cleaned up. There is also a tiny gap at the end where I shaved too much off. This isn't a huge deal to me right now because I don't have that much sheet brass to work with, but if I had more, I would have remade the brace. After me and my repair teacher playtesting it, we could not believe how much better the horn sounds. It slots really nicely, is in tune from low F# to high C, and isn't stuffy anymore. This horn is turning out to be a horn that someone could actually play on. Hopefully the trumpet will have gone from being worth $50 to being worth at least $60 when I am done with it ;) That is it for tonight. This thread will be updated with sound clips once I find a mic and the time to record it, as well as new pictures to any modifications I do, with shots detailing the processes that I go through. Other things I will do to the horn: Front S brace replaced with smaller version of rear sheet brace. Scratch brush horn to make it look pretty. Remake finger hooks and rings out of small brass tube for maximum comfort. Possibly replace waterkeys with piston waterkeys or saturn water keys.