trickg

I bought a Schilke B6 about a month and a half ago and I am to the point where I REALLY like it. I bought it with the idea that it would make a good commercial sounding rock band trumpet, and it certainly fits the bill there, but it seems to be equally at home playing etudes and other less commerical sounding music simply by switching the mouthpiece to give it a fuller, rounder, darker sound.

This leaves me with an 8 year old LB Bach Strad (25 bell) sitting in a case, not getting a lot of use, and I'm trying to figure out what I should do with it. This trumpet was hand picked from a lineup of Bachs, and I have always considered it to be a good Bach among Bachs. Anyway, a couple of options immediately come to mind.

1.) Clean it up, lube it up, and store it as is - keep it on hand as is as a backup trumpet in case something happens to my new main axe, although in a pinch, my son's Holton Student model trumpet would get me by.

2.) Sell it as is - I could get some cash out of it, but the thing looks pretty rough - it has very few dings, but the finish leaves some to be desired - It has nearly 8 years of constant gigging wear and with my acidic hands, so there is considerable wear of the silver plating around the valves. I also had some minor modifications done to the bracing (moved the forward bell brace back about an inch, and removed the second leadpipe brace altogether.) and that has yet to be cleaned up and replated.

3.) Have some work done to it, then sell it - I could get it cleaned up cosmetically and I can do this to varying degrees - I can get it cleaned up with some buffing and spot plating to make it look good, and I can have it restored to a very good condition - I don't know if this would help me to get more money out of it or not.

4.) Project horn! - I could keep it, and have some other modifications made prior to having it restored. Options that I would look at would be:
Convert to reversed leadpipe design
Long style Bach receiver
or
Aftermarket leadpipe - probably a Blackburn or Pilczuk
Different bell? It currently has the Bach 25 bell which is a smaller, tighter sounding bell.
valve alignment
Custom brace alignment/adjustment - I know a guy who's really good with this type of thing - he's the one that moved the forward bell brace

To what end this customization would serve I'm not sure, but it would be fun to hot-rod it just to see what I would wind up with.

All thoughts and opinions are appreciated.

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Patrick Gleason
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"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
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Tootsall

My first question would be to ask if the blow is anywhere similar to the B6. If not, then I (and others may disagree) would suggest that it's probably not the best backup horn. BUT.... you mention your son plays a Holton. Is he dead serious about music/band? Maybe he'd like a nice, pro horn! That's what I did when I "stepped up" from a Besson International to a Bach.... stepped up my son from an old Getzen 300 cornet to the Besson. He's still loving it.

When I switched from a Bach to a B1 I found the blow and intonation so completely different that I knew I could never play the Bach as a backup and sold it at first opportunity (not losing any money on it neither!).

Fortunately, when I went from the B1 to the Eclipse I found both the blow and intonation so very similar that I've never had issues with switching back and forth between them; they both react nicely to the same mouthpiece. In fact, I've been playing the B1 for about a month now "just because". I will be back on the Eclipse in a couple of more weeks.

If yours is a GOOD/GREAT Bach, then the last thing I'd do would be to chop it up "for fun and games". Instead find a student who really needs a GOOD one and sell it to him/her. Then send the money to me.

trickg

Toots, no, the blow is entirely different than the B6. The day that I brought home the B6 I loved it. 3 days later I hated it. Two weeks later, I still hadn't adapted myself to the difference in blow, and I was really second guessing my decision to buy it. Now 6 weeks later, I love it and the last time I tried to play my Bach, it went back in the case after about 5 minutes because it's a tank next to the Schilke.

My son is still going to play in band next year (6th grade) but his musical interest, and what he actually practices, is electric guitar, and I'm ok with that. He can use the Bach whenever he wants, but I don't think that he will ever be serious about playing trumpet. In fact, I'm looking at upgrading his guitar sometime in the next year or so due to how quickly he is advancing with it.

I guess that I have heard so many times how bad Bach's are, that I'm curious to see what I can come up with by hot-rodding a stock LB, although I'm not sure if it would be worth the money thrown at it, especially since all things considered, it was pretty good anyway.

__________________
Patrick Gleason
email me at: trickg1@hotmail.com

"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
"At my signal, unleash hell."
- Maximus Decimus Meridius

TrentAustin

How about an Eclipse conversion?

:)

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Trent Austin
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trickg

I'm listening. How much would that set me back?

__________________
Patrick Gleason
email me at: trickg1@hotmail.com

"What we do in life echoes in eternity"
"At my signal, unleash hell."
- Maximus Decimus Meridius

gzent

Its only 8 years old?

The Bach market is probably as strong as its ever going to get. Clean it, sell it and buy something cheap as a backup.

Greg

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Anonymous

I say just hold on to the thing!

JackD

In the words of one of my teachers (a NON Bach player) "It's always a good idea to have a Bach in the cupboard".

Since you say it's a good trumpet, and not in perfect condition, I'd keep it (provided you can spare the cash). You never know when you might want a Bach again.

Also Trent - I thought Bach's couldn't be made into Eclipse conversions? Something about the brace placement?

Vessehune

One word says it all LAMP

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---Brian P. Vessey---
Horn: Calichhio 1s7 Ultra; Large Bore
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R.A.S.

If your Bach has a lot of the silver worn off, you will not be able to get a price for it that will leave you with a good feeling in your stomach.
I wish I had kept a couple of Bachs I sold for about $275 each, as it would be nice to have some smaller bore horns at times.

Also, many kids end up playing more than just one instrument. Maybe if you give him your Bach it will make playing trumpet more successful for him, and he will be more interested in it. Trumpet in the school band, guitar in the garage band.