On Feb 5, 2008, at 6:44 AM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote:
message: 21
date: Tue, 5 Feb 2008 06:41:49 -0800 (PST)
from: Wilbert Kimple <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
subject: [Hornlist] Schill Horns
Yes, we've all seen them on ebay at fantastically low prices, but
last Saturday I actually got to play one. Horrible brand name, at
least to Americans.
This was a four vavle single Bb, nickle silver, with screw bell.
It was very solidly constructed and used thick metal on the bell.
It had a nice plastic case for the money. The seller wanted $180.
At first the horn played badly. Very out of tune. So, I removed
the main tuning slide, reversed it, replaced it, and tried again.
This improved the intonation dramatically. However, I now found
the fourth line D and fourth space Eb were impossible to play.
I took out the mouthpiece I was using, the one that came with the
horn, and put in a Schilke 27. Bingo!!! The horn played great,
nice sound, very well in tune, and the D and Eb were as solid as
you could want. The valves seemed tight, at least according to the
"pop" test. They didn't wiggle, either.
The tone was a bit darker than my Alex triple, but not muffled or
stuffy. The horn did have a bit more resistance than my Alex, but
further mouthpiece experimentation might fix that. A very nice
horn from the bottom to high C. I didn't buy it, but it would have
fit my current needs very well.
So, there may be some hope for Chinese horns after all.
Wilbert in SC
Hi all:
Wow, so now even Wilbert has joined the satirical writing bunch.
Pretty good! I didn't know you had it in you. : ) But seriously
Wilbert, did you give it the "sit out in the sun and snow" test, or
the "leave it in the car on a hot day test?" Just curious. I had a
student that had one of those and something happened to it that
concerned her dog, some hot soup and some Drano and she never brought
it back after that. Cute kid.
Rubber "cork strips" are now available at Wal-Mart in their musical
instrument department. Like the instruments there, they have a
lifetime guarantee, and they install themselves. Price $.98 for a
gross of various diameters and colors. I'm not sure what they are
made out of and the person who knows wasn't there that day to tell
me. I'll be going over there for tube sox soon so I will report back.
SCAM alert!!! Realize that what all these repair types on here are
trying to do is get your money. They are evil people who use the
anonymity of the internet to lure unsuspecting horn players into
their stores, where they put them under a spell and convince them to
pay for things that they could do at home, with a little luck. They
have even convinced me to sell my book to them at something they call
a "wholesale" price so they can make money off of that! I'm NOT
kidding about this. Even my good friend "Paul," (not his real name,
or is it?) who is the best repair person I know, and considered a
good person my many, belongs to this society or cult or union or
whatever it is. He would not even write a little section for my book
on home repairs when I did the new edition because he felt that
people shouldn't be messing around with their valves and such. I
explained to him that I could write it out so people would understand
if he couldn't, but he held firm on that issue. And you thought you
lived in a FREE society!
Back in my day, we made our corks from shoe leather. We didn't have
champagne and those other wine bottles don't have corks. We didn't
have any "core borers" either. We sharpened up the steak knives you
get on TV. Works like a charm. Oh yes, just soften them up in your
mouth before inserting them. Then they stay in better. Strings were
made from cat gut that was readily available for free on certain
streets and highways. Now I have to buy all of this stuff instead?
Don't think so!
I have overhauled several horns. Anyone can do it if i can. Wal-Mart
and Kragen's have great tool sections. It does take a few tries to
get it right, however. I'm pretty sure I am doing it right now. Now
that I know about flipping the tuning slides I think that last one I
did will finally work. One thing I learned was to never put a Chinese
horn in one of those annealing ovens or on your stovetop, but that is
another story. In Denver, I will be giving a demonstration of how to
change your lead-pipe taper using common tools found in the home.
Sometimes it has to be someone else's home, though.
Well, back to the grinder.
Sincerely,
Wendell Rider
For information about my book, "Real World Horn Playing", the DVDs
and Regular and Internet Horn Lessons go to my website: http://
www.wendellworld.com
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