TromboneChat

Hey Guys,

Considering selling my Minick. I can post some pictures later. I've kept an eye on two Minick's on BrassArk to judge current pricing, but I'm curious if the modification I had done would alter the price at all. It has two bells, an 88h #9 lacquered red brass bell and an un-lacquered Minick yellow bell. It has an SL4747 slide with gold brass tubes. I wasn't a huge fan of the Minick valve, so I had a Rotax valve section put on from an Alessi horn about a decade ago. The horn plays real nice, and the slide is at least 9/10. If adding the Rotax valve really hurts the value, I'll probably end up just keeping it.

Thanks,

Ryan

Guess we would have to see it? An original Minick valve in nice condition would certainly pique the interest of a collector but the Rotax is quite a nice valve itself. Two bells would be great. Did you just swap out the valves and keep as much of the original wrap and bracing intact? Or did you replace the entire valve section? That would certainly help or harm the price. The more Minick stamps the better.

That being said I think $3500 would be a solid bottom for a one bell horn, so with two, depending on condition something 4-5K makes sense to me.

If there are no markings left to indicate provenance I would expect it to go lower (sub $3K). I think it would be tough to sell the horn for $6K unless it also had the original valve section to swap on and maybe some extra bling like a straight gooseneck, extra Minick leadpipes or mouthpiece, etc.

Photos

I sent the horn off to Brad Close to have him install the valve section about 9-10 years ago. There is one stamp on a bell brace, but the other stamped braces were removed with the original valve section.

It has a straight gooseneck. The leadpipe has Minick 88 inscribed on it, though I don't have any other Minick made leadpipes to compare it to to know if it was a Minick original.

ryant wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 9:01 am The leadpipe has Minick 88 inscribed on it, though I don't have any other Minick made leadpipes to compare it to to know if it was a Minick original.

Looks like the Minick leadpipes I know.

The Minicks with the Beryllium bells seem to be the ones that are the most desirable. They play like an 88h, but the sound is much more dense than a regular 88h bell. I own one that used to belong to Tyrone Breuninger of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I don’t play it much anymore, it sounds great, but it really doesn’t blend well with other horns. I also have a Minick alto with a beryllium bell as well, which is a fantastic instrument.

My Minick bass has a bell seam like that. I love the imperfect nature of those Minick bells. They really have a special mojo to them.

I would definitely suggest contacting the Brass Ark for selling a Minick. They’re hard to sell and the Brass Ark is one of the few places you can get solid exposure for a horn like that.

A fully original Minick instrument will hold more value to a purist who is looking for one than what you have even though your horn might be amazing. Just speaking from a value standpoint.

Happy to help you with this one if you choose, you can send me an email at the website if interested https://brassark.com/contact/

chromebone wrote: Sat Mar 28, 2026 6:29 pm The Minicks with the Beryllium bells seem to be the ones that are the most desirable. They play like an 88h, but the sound is much more dense than a regular 88h bell. I own one that used to belong to Tyrone Breuninger of the Philadelphia Orchestra. I don’t play it much anymore, it sounds great, but it really doesn’t blend well with other horns. I also have a Minick alto with a beryllium bell as well, which is a fantastic instrument.

Yeah, nothing sounds like those horns with that alloy. I'm usually of the opinion that the bell material is the least interesting thing about an instrument design ... But nothing sounds like those Minick bells. I definitely want one some day.

Question,, if someone make a Beryllium bell, what alloy would someone use and what percent of metals the bell would be made of??
Would it be Beryllium copper(Cu-Be)? then maybe it would have similar properties with bronze(Cu-Sn)?

I'm gonna put this up for sale here shortly. I'll mention it in the ad too, but in these photos it has a Hölle tuning slide, that will NOT be included. I'll update the photos with the correct tuning slide.

Doldom wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:52 am Question,, if someone make a Beryllium bell, what alloy would someone use and what percent of metals the bell would be made of??
Would it be Beryllium copper(Cu-Be)? then maybe it would have similar properties with bronze(Cu-Sn)?

I've worked with beryllium copper in other applications. It is extremely hard, work hardens quickly, and will crack easily when worked. But it also can be annealed to soften it. I also remember there was something rather toxic about it. If I owned one, I would have it lacquered.

hyperbolica wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 1:24 pm

Doldom wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:52 am Question,, if someone make a Beryllium bell, what alloy would someone use and what percent of metals the bell would be made of??
Would it be Beryllium copper(Cu-Be)? then maybe it would have similar properties with bronze(Cu-Sn)?

I've worked with beryllium copper in other applications. It is extremely hard, work hardens quickly, and will crack easily when worked. But it also can be annealed to soften it. I also remember there was something rather toxic about it. If I owned one, I would have it lacquered.

The dust from machining that metal is highly toxic when inhaled, especially pure beryllium. The bell itself shouldn't be.

Accoustically it's cool but the real application is that it's non-sparking. People use tools made of the stuff all the time and they are okay.

Doldom wrote: Wed Apr 01, 2026 6:52 am Question,, if someone make a Beryllium bell, what alloy would someone use and what percent of metals the bell would be made of??
Would it be Beryllium copper(Cu-Be)? then maybe it would have similar properties with bronze(Cu-Sn)?

The original "beryllium" bells were beryllium copper. AFAIK, Schilke's modern "beryllium" bells don't actually contain any beryllium, they're just extra-thin copper.

Not sure what alloy Minick would have used; my guess would be UNS C17000 (aka Alloy 165); that's the less expensive of the two common, general purpose BeCu alloys.

Beryllium	1.60-1.79%
Nickel + Cobalt, minimum	0.20%
Nickel + Cobalt + Iron, maximum	0.6%
Aluminum, maximum	0.20%
Silicon, maximum	0.20%
Copper	balance

harrisonreed wrote: Fri May 01, 2026 2:15 pmAccoustically it's cool but the real application is that it's non-sparking.

Non-sparking and non-magnetic. It's also used for electrical contacts and connectors where strength, wear, and/or fatigue resistance are needed; pure copper has better conductivity, but it wears out too quickly in high-cycle applications.