As it turns out, the only Alexander 103 restoration project with which I have direct experience is the extremely successful restoration-modification job done on my circa-1958 Alexander 103 by Lawson Brass Instruments of Boonsboro, Maryland, USA -- http://www.lawsonhorns.com/
That was close to 20 years ago & the horn still plays better than new -- way better.
The restoration consisted of plating & refitting the rotors, plus extensive dent repair & correction of the misaligned central valve-tube midsection of the horn, a defect caused by broken solder joints in some critical places -- a common problem with those horns, according to Mr. Lawson, who said he's seen plenty of'm broken that same way -- even had 1 like that himself. (The solder-break problem & some of the dents could be the result of using 1 of those minimally protective typical Alexander upside-down hardened-cardboard horn cases, I suspect.)
Modifications were replacement of the stock leadpipe (which was shot anyway) with a custom made Lawson leadpipe, slight lengthening of the main tuning slide (about 1 inch), screw bell conversion, & installation of a Lawson ambronze bell flare sized to fit the 1958 Alexander (i.e, somewhat smaller than a Lawson bell made to fit a Lawson horn, but with a compatible screw ring). And not only that, I replaced the original Alexander instrument case -- basically just the functional equivalent of a hardened gig bag -- with a highly protective custom-fit flat case, complete with blue nylon zipper raincoat-style case cover.
The only thing I didn't get done was replacement of the original set of 1-piece 1-2-3 valve levers with a set of articulated valve levers like the ones on Yamaha & Lawson horns, & no doubt certain others, that hinge right there at the right angle in back. Also, for some reason I'm not able to explain I didn't want the Alexander 103 valve levers adorned with silver coins, either, even though I've had'm soldered onto several other horns in the years since.
(Feel free to E-Mail me on- or off-list for my 4 good reasons to have silver coins installed as touchpieces on horn valve levers.)
Results of the Lawson restoration & modification of the old Alexander 103 were -- are -- so successful that after a few years the devil made me spring for a (used) Lawson 804 that's now my main horn (although the restored Lawson-Alex is a close 2nd). I was surprised to find a Lawson 804 on the used market. That is, those horns play so well & sound so good -- why would any horn player who owns 1 ever let it go? In this case it turns out the original owner of my used Lawson 804 in effect traded it in on a different Lawson model.
For horn players of minimal talent & incomplete training -- i.e., like me -- a real nice thing about using a high-quality professional instrument in top condition is the secure knowledge that any performance problems I encounter are due to my own inadequacies & not those of the horn.
-- Alan Cole, rank amateur
McLean (Fairfax County), Virginia, USA.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
At 10:56 AM 5/14/2005, you wrote:Hello!
I am considering several shops to restore an Alexander 103 I found at a local middle school, any experiences (both positive and negative) with these shops would be very helpful in determining where to send it to.
The shops I am considering are: Osmun Lawson Ken Pope repair and Dan Oberloh wind repair up in Seattle
If any of you can recommend shop and give me your experiences with them, I would be most grateful.
Thanks
Paul R.
-- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.10 - Release Date: 5/13/2005
_______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
