Buy it or don't buy it

[Nomsis]

I love trying new brass and I sometimes buy stuff and I sometimes sell stuff (all used). Pretty common so far I think (hope). Usually I'm not operating on a loss, even making some money often times. But I still don't have lots of money so I need to be careful with my purchases. So the question often is:

Should I buy or not???

Currently I'm thinking about buying a K&H alto 122 I could get for a fair price I could manage but still a good amount of money in my situation. I already own an alto which I have already used outside my house with other people. It is a nice B&S, but I never tried another alto, so I have no idea what I'm missing out... The K&H probably is more modern with bigger bore and single instead of dual bore compared to my B&S.
I certainly don't need two altos so one would need to go if I would buy. For sure I could live well even with no alto, but I like altos.

Buying, cleaning, repairing, trying out and selling all takes time not available for other stuff like practising or making useful stuff for going forward in life (I'm just an amateur by the way). But of course it is fun but sometimes it is getting a burden...

This is more of a philosophical question.

[CheeseTray]

In the spirit of a philosophical question, some things to consider:

How much alto you play?
How often will you play this one?
Do gig on it? (You say that you, "have already used [it] outside my house with other people." Is that for fun or money?
Can you say why the B & S isn't that great?
Are you skilled and experienced enough on alto that you believe that you'll feel/benefit from the change?

BTW, The dual bore vs. single is not related to how "modern" the horn is. There are plenty of modern dual bores out there.

Bottom line (soley from the "My Two Cents Dept.): It's a niche horn. If you can comfortably afford it and feel like messing around, go ahead - have fun. If its a financial stretch and you don't have a compelling need for a better performing instrument, pass this time around.

I've played a lot of alto for almost 40 years in professional settings. I own a Yamaha 871, which I bought new in the mid 80s and is perfectly "fine" but not amazing. I'd love to have a really fine European horn but honestly could never justify the expense for what might, or might not, end up being an upgrade.

Again, just my two cents...

[Nomsis]

Thanks a lot for your reply and food of thought! I was thinking about buying or not until now and now it is on the way to me. The price was just to good to pass. I already fear when I need to decide which one to keep Some detailed replies to your questions below.

How much alto you play?

Depends, I have played it quite regularly for a couple of years in rehearsel like basically every week + a couple of gigs playing the lower treble clef parts in brass choir due to a lack of trumpet players but I now switched to trumpet for this. So basically at the moment I'm using it only max. a few times per year in trombone ensemble.

How often will you play this one?

I will only keep one, so the same applys as for general alto playing.

Do gig on it? (You say that you, "have already used [it] outside my house with other people." Is that for fun or money?

I usually play only for fun, I'm just an amateur. Very rarely that I get some money when I play.

Can you say why the B & S isn't that great?
Are you skilled and experienced enough on alto that you believe that you'll feel/benefit from the change?

I don't say at all that the B&S isn't great, I'm just curios how it compares. And yes I feel skilled enough to feel differences. I'm hoping for the K&H to be a little bit more even in the low range, so i can pull it out faster even when it is written for tenor. I really love the sound of the B&S when played in trombone ensemble for the upper part. (depending on style and piece of course)

[Doubler]

I used to buy/sell for the experience of trying different instruments, and, like you, my profits stayed ahead of my losses. Over time, I've weeded out the instruments that weren't good enough to inspire me to keep, so I trade a lot less than before. Also, marketing and shipping have become PITAs that I'd rather avoid.

[CheeseTray]

It sounds like you sorted it out pretty well before you pulled the trigger. FWIW, I've bought horns just to mess around on with FAR less consideration. One of the beauties of being a trombone player is that many used horns are cheap compared to most other professional instruments. Have fun and please post your impressions. I'd be interested in hearing about the pros and cons.

[MStarke]

Would be interesting to hear your opinion on the Kühnl!

Generally I would kind of expect all Kühnls to be pretty nice, well-made and very playable.

Before buying my first alto around 10 years ago, I had been primarily a bass (and contrabass) trombonist for many years. My personal experience is that especially the alto just needs quite a bit of trial and error to find out which instrument, which mouthpiece and also which approach works for you. A more "standard" alto like the Kühnl may make things easier/more approachable. So it's probably a good decision to give it some time!

I started alto playing with a rather small German Voigt alto. Very nice instrument, but I never got really comfortable with it. Today I own a Conn 35h and a Kanstul alto, which are both comparably easy to play. The limitation in this case is definitely the player...