gzent

Today I picked up my Olds Ambassador trumpet which has been converted to a C trumpet. Wow! This thing is a gas to play! Its amazing. The intonation on this trumpet is great. No alternate fingerings are necessary.

Nice slots, notes above the staff are nice and easy and the tone is full. So now I have a total of $635 in the horn and have a C trumpet with great valve action and none of the limitations common to C trumpets.

Right now I have a scratched raw brass finish and really like the look.

I'd recommend this horn for anyone needing an affordable and easy to play C trumpet.

Cheers!

Greg

PS - I'm amazed that the intonation is better on this Olds horn than on my ZeuS, which is comparable intonation to a Kanstul Signature or Yamaha Xeno. I think my next venture will be to pick up another Olds and experiment with Pilczuk leadpipes and custom tuning slides. If I can modify a 50 year old Olds and end up with a horn the plays better than a new Pro horn than that's where I'm headed!

wrbandel

I'd recommend this horn for anyone needing an affordable and easy to play C trumpet.


Greg,

Welcome to the world of Olds. I've got three of them, one cut down to a C as well, and love it! Like Greg said, they sound great, blow free and easy, and sound as good as most horns that cost much more.

See you Tuesday buddy.
Warren

prof5

Where did you have the conversion done? How about some pics?

wrbandel

Had the converion done by a talented repair guy in Owatonna, MN. His name is Mark Kuklok, and his shop is in Tone Music. I don't have any pics right now, but will try to get some soon.

Warren

gzent

Yes, I had the same guy convert mine as did Warren's. I don't have a real great dig. camera, but I suppose I could try to take some pics and post them.

Greg

rjzeller

Let me offer a third hurrah for the job Mark did. I had an olds converted that way and can attest to similar results. Nice open blowing horn and near perfect intonation. (And the guy is as nice and easy to deal with as you could hope for).

He gave me a picture disc of the horn as it went through the entire process, if I get a spare moment I'll post them.

I asked about a D trumpet conversion, and he seemed willing to try, though he was not as confident that it would turn out as well as his C trumpets do.

Tootsall

Here's a question for you guys who have had, or who know about, these kinds of conversions (hopefully Leigh will eventually see this and respond).

It is my understanding that the taper in the leadpipe is specifically designed to permit the nodes to lay at certain locations within. To have a "perfect" conversion to a "C", wouldn't you also have to have a leadpipe with a different taper design?

Note: I am not in any way suggesting that just cutting down the tubes doesn't provide a good job.... but if one wanted a "REALLY, REALLY good job", shouldn't you also change the leadpipe taper?

Heavens2kadonka

So, in that case, wouldn't getting a good C trumpet leadpipe, and then cutting the slides to the necessary length do the job?



Van

gzent

Tootsall,

That's a good question and makes sense. I think it works because the tapered leadpipe is a decent approximation to a series of resonant cavities
linked together. So, since the notes aren't resonating in discrete stepped cavities, ala Pilczuk, then the taper still works for this application.

I suppose if I was a serious orchestral player I might have looked into a Pilczuk C leadpipe, but this is not my primary horn. Besides, I think the reverse leadpipe helps keep the intonation spot on.

Greg

gzent

Let's see if this works for the pictures:

http://webpages.charter.net/gntzent/...mpet%20001.jpg
http://webpages.charter.net/gntzent/...mpet%20002.jpg


Tootsall: Edited to show the pictures... Woah.. way too large!~ Edited back to original

Nice looking horn!