SFPat

Actually its for my son, a used Selmar Bundy, but.....first time playing in over 25 years. Played a series of scales, reached A above the staff with relative ease. My son (and wife) was impressed. I'm ready for the comeback.

gbdeamer

Good choice with the Bundy for your kid. Now go get a Strad for yourself!!!!!!

SFPat

Unfortunately, the strad will have to wait. I've got three kids in college, one who needs an oboe (big bucks) and one who needs a concert harp
(Big, big bucks). But someday they will all be done and then, yes the strad.

MFfan

You sure have some overhead to contend with, especially with that oboe and the harp.You should be able to find a decent horn for yourself pretty cheap, until you can afford the Strad, or equivalent. Keep your comeback on track.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
Lemar Trumpet (peashooter-Conn?)
Lyrical Trumpet (Tokan)

Besson 609 Trumpet
1955-60 Besson 8-10 Trumpet
1948 Besson cornet
1946 King Master Cornet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

Bruin

Whew! *3* of your offspring in college at the same time! Wow. Gee, I think that after they all graduate, they should show their appreciation by buying you a brand-new Strad (or equivalent, like Dave iterated. Psssst, SFPat, don't be too surprised if Dave and I tease you with the Kanstul 1537 when you're ready to start thinking about *your* new horn. It's quite an incredible horn).

BTW, welcome to the comeback trail, SFPat. Glad you're aboard this great adventure with the rest of us!

Herb

__________________
1964 Conn Connstellation 38B
Kanstul KTR-700S
Besson/Kanstul BE-709
Jupiter 846S flugelhorn

ComeBackKid

Welcome to another comeback player. We're starting to take over the world - er, that is, right after we finish practicing from our Arban's book.

Anyway, if you are looking for a candidate for yourself until the kids are out of college and you can buy the Strad, look no further than the list in my signature block. Every one of them is a great comeback horn - I have found out first hand - and none were really very expensive. My only problem is deciding which one to play at any particular time. As part of my comeback effort, I joined a community band and when I go, I take my 3-horn gig bag with different ones each week. It has now become a standing joke in the trumpet section to see if they can guess which one's I brought and which one I will play (sometimes I play all three just to see if the conductor notices).

Wow - I never knew that being a comeback player could be so much fun. I hope you have as much, also. Playing along in family jam sessions can also add to it and it looks like you have a lot of participants.

__________________
Come-Back Kid
- - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Selmer Invicta London (T)
Olds SuperStar (T)
Olds Super (2T)
Olds Special (2T+C)
Olds Ambassador (9T+7C)
Andreas Eastman (2T)
Conn Director (T+C)
King Cleveland Superior (T+C)
Holton (T602+C605 Shep Crk)
Holton Collegiate (T+C)
Blessing (T+C)
Yamaha (T+C)
Getzen 300
Amati ATR213
(+Revelle, Bundy, Alcazar, & ?)

B15M

My first wife played the oboe. We found an old Laubin in a music store. It barely played. I think we paid about 500.00 for it. We brought it to the Laubin factory and Mr Laubin re-worked the oboe for about another 300.00. Now we had one of the best oboes for around for $800.00.

Later in life we bought a Lauree English horn. We brought that to Mr Laubin to be worked on, even though it was brand new and then had one of the best english horns around.

__________________
"Taking plain notes on the page and bringing them to life is an art" - Tony Kadleck


http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm...ndid=238487314

http://webpages.charter.net/joespitzer/

http://www.trumpetwedding.com/

SFPat

In the interim, I just bought an Olds Ambassador on ebay for $72. Should have it in a few days. Playing about one hour a day using Ken Saul's warmups and scales and some hymns and piano music (all six of my kids took piano so I have plenty of piano music). Working to build endurance, then will start working on range.

MFfan

Glad to hear it. Good horn to acquire.

__________________
Dave Rafferty
Lemar Trumpet (peashooter-Conn?)
Lyrical Trumpet (Tokan)

Besson 609 Trumpet
1955-60 Besson 8-10 Trumpet
1948 Besson cornet
1946 King Master Cornet
www.kalamazooconcertband.org

dpa10

I'm sure this will sound sacreligious, but here it goes.
If one has a trumpet with good valve action, the slides work, the spit valves seal etc. What is the difference between one piece of brass tubing with a .460 diameter and another?
And setting aside subtle differences, is it only the accomplished player that can truly tell the difference?

I've played $300 guitars and $2,000 guitars (Acousitc, to eliminate amp differences) and often the differences are hardly discernable to all but a handful of people. (Quality control on inexpensive guitars has gone way up in recent years)

Acoustic guitars seem a bit more delicate than brass tubing and valves.
Solid spruce tops, mahogany bodies, rosewood frets etc.

I'm not trying to be a smart ass or trying to raise anyone's ire but I would really like to hear why a Bach Strad or a Yamaha Xeno or a Monette etc. is considered worth 2 to 3 times more than a reasonable well constructed piece of brass tubing?

What justifies the price difference, and who can tell the difference?
Thanks for any replies.