Modernize Vintage Horns

[dukesboneman]

Now I have 3 Vintage horns that I use on a very regular basis.
1) 1953 Conn 32H. It was incredibly front heavy. I had the over sleeves taken off the slide and the Hand slide brace
removed and a thinner one put on. That made the biggest difference as the brace was not the standard
hollow/telescoping kind, It was a solid piece of brass. Now the horn is very light and fast.
2) 1940 Bach 16. Original lacquer. Standard weight slide that is very very light and fast.
i am never touching this horn for any mods. It`s fantastic just the way it is.
3) a 1928 Conn Eb Tuba. The only change I will eventually make it this baby is to have it over hauled
Plays great but just not the prettiest girl at the dance

I look at it as , These are my instruments that I play on a daily basis. I`not keeping them in a "certain" condition
for re-sale.

[Miketbn95]

I recently acquired a 1960 MV 42b. Absolutely love it the way it is. I know there is a lot of lore to upgrade and modernize it with a new valve, take stockings off slide , etc. but I’m just going to refurb it. I traditionally prefer axial valves but the valve on this blows great for me. The work I am looking to do is fix bell sag, realign slide , (I’m currently using my 90s tenor slide with ns crook and different leadpipe), replace valve linkages, and probably relacquer bell section.

[hyperbolica]

This thread is a couple of years old. I should be getting my independent Duo Gravis back from Sweeney in the next month. The double thumb levers were really miserable to try to use in real music.

I also have a non-mod mod in the works - adding an Eb extension to my 1480. That's a horn that I think doesn't reach its potential without some sort of mod. It's OK as a tenor, but I have better tenors. The Eb extension is the best way to make it work as a single valve bass.

[BrianJohnston]

I have a 1960 MV42B that I did just that. replaced the stock rotor with a 1996 Thayer wrap, then put a 2022 instrument innovations axial on. Replaced the F-attach tuning slide with a nickel silver Hölle of the same size. this bell section is with an unmatched Lightweight MV slide. Had the lead pipe pulled for a threaded custom O' Malley lead pipe.

It was a great horn to begin with, but I found these changes made it more modern and fit the way I play more.

Here's a relatively recent recording of it;

[TheConnArtist70H]

I had my 1970 ( Elkhart Era ) Conn 62h Modded by Brad Close around 10 Years ago.

Brad managed to Pull and save the original Lead-Pipe which is what I use on my 70H on all my YouTube recordings, it works really well. I replaced it with one of Brads and Noah's Burt Herrick 62h which plays like a dream.

I also had the side by side paddles removed ( I still have them ) and changed over to Brad's independent Paddle system which are a lot like Larry's design and works a treat, super smooth & Quiet.

I did manage to locate an Open D Slide from Japan which slotted straight in replacing the original Tight bend
D Slide that came with the Horn ( which can hold you back a little ).

There was no lacquer on the Horn so was polished but since left it to form a nice patina on the Bell section which seems to have enhanced the sound and taken the edge away, the brass looks a little dull but plays really nice.

I don't play it much these days which is a Sin I know, I mostly play my 70H for 95% of my Orchestral and manage
to get by very well indeed, those 70H singles are great horns, you just gotta take the plunge and lock those doubles away, you will be surprised.

I've attached a few pics if your interested.

[Burgerbob]

Already posted, but seems relevant to this thread:

King 1485 Silversonic with two 15mm Bosc rotors