Mordecai

I found an absolutely gorgeous Pepper Surprise cornet in a pawn shop. It has quite a lot of engraving on all its tubes plus a uniquely beautiful patina on its silver plate. The bell interior is finished in gold. There doesn't seem to be a ding or dent in it. The valves need to be plated and turned, but, as is, the horn is easily playable and has a wonderful tone. In fact, I'm entranced by it. The one condensation valve needs a cork and a spring. There are no extra slides, fittings, or lyre. The SN stamped in it is 9909. The valves are stamped 52, 53, and 54 from first to third valve.
I covet this horn and would like to know more about it. Like, "is it worth the $1400 price tag. I already own a Holton cornet manufactured in about 1914, and it tunes down to A with a patented slide. It was reworked by Dick Akwright at Best Music in Oakland over ten years ago and still works very well, but to my unsophisticated novice eye this Pepper seems to be an amazing piece of work. Can anyone tell me anything about its history and/or value from its serial number (9909)?

MFfan

Welcome to the forum. Looks like you have a prize there. You can go to Horn-u-copia and scroll down to the Manufacturer's listings, then to the Pepper thread. Lots of info there. I see a Picture of a Pepper Surprise, no 2850 in the "exploring serial numbers" postings. There is a clickable serial number list there also, but not complete. There is another Surprise picture, repy 60, 55454.

On the 1902 Pepper brands thread "surprise- reputable foreign maker" from the J.W. Pepper Musical times and Band Journal.

Other info on reply #4. Surprise 1 water key, $13.50 ( I assume), $17.75 -2 water keys. Silver, GWB finish. "for comparison purposes, a Conn Bb slide cornet was being advertised i the same issues as being used, for $40."

On the Pepper cornets thread, I see a Surprise serial 31726 (c. 1984-1902) , another serial 70277 (c. 1919) (reply #8), another on reply #11, no serial , but notation "made in Austria" 12.5 in. long, another, reply #23, a Surprise serial #62098 ( c. 1900s?)

Hope this helps a bit. Happy Hunting!

Dale Proctor

Here's a link to a site with a lot of info.

Horn-u-copia public forum discussing antique, obscure and out-of-production Brass Instruments

As to the value, $1400 seems pretty high to me, especially if it needs a valve job. I "rescued" and old Pepper cornet, a Standard model, with some minor repair work and a valve job from Anderson's Plating. It was a waste of money - the cornet had serious intonation issues before and after the repairs. Sounds like the one you have your eye on is a more expensive model and may play better, but I'd sure take a tuner with me and really give it a tryout before I spent that much money. The ones marked "Maker" are the better ones - stay away from the imported ones. Another thing to look out for - horns this old are sometimes pitched in what's called "high pitch". Instead of the modern A=440, these horns are pitched at A=452 (or higher). If it's one of those, you won't be able to play it in a group with modern instruments.