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Bell repair cost?



 
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FLgargoyle
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:22 pm    Post subject: Bell repair cost? Reply with quote

I'm not sure why, but I HAD to have a Getzen cornet on ebay. The bell has a pretty good crunch in it- not folded sharply that I can see, but I'd like to have it smoothed up some. Any recommendations on a shop to do this, and what I might expect to pay? It's a silver plated horn, so it won't need lacquer work. I'm not looking for showroom original; just something presentable from 20' away.
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VetPsychWars
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:53 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you get it cleaned and new felts and corks at the same time, I should think a hundred bucks, more or less, would be right.

Tom
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mellzey
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 1:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

One of my students had extreme bell damage to his Bach Strad. I boxed it up, sent it directly to Cliff Blackburn and he worked his magic. It was literally like new when it came back. His bell had a couple of significant creases in it that Mr. Blackburn rolled out. The bill was around $100. Sounds like yours won't be as labor intensive.

As most people know, he is my go-to guy for everything! There is literally nothing he can't do. My recommendation is to send it to him. However, there are many folks out there that can do this. I'm sure you'll get lots of answers.

Best of luck.
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robertgrier
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 8:31 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Jim Becker at Osmun Brass does great work.
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mcahynuacrkd
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 23, 2010 9:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mellzey wrote:
One of my students had extreme bell damage to his Bach Strad. I boxed it up, sent it directly to Cliff Blackburn and he worked his magic. It was literally like new when it came back. His bell had a couple of significant creases in it that Mr. Blackburn rolled out. The bill was around $100. Sounds like yours won't be as labor intensive.

As most people know, he is my go-to guy for everything! There is literally nothing he can't do. My recommendation is to send it to him. However, there are many folks out there that can do this. I'm sure you'll get lots of answers.

Best of luck.

I didn't realize that Mr. Blackburn is willing to work on non Blackburn horns.
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gbdeamer
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 5:42 am    Post subject: Re: Bell repair cost? Reply with quote

FLgargoyle wrote:
I'm not sure why, but I HAD to have a Getzen cornet on ebay. The bell has a pretty good crunch in it- not folded sharply that I can see, but I'd like to have it smoothed up some. Any recommendations on a shop to do this, and what I might expect to pay? It's a silver plated horn, so it won't need lacquer work. I'm not looking for showroom original; just something presentable from 20' away.


I think it depends on how bad the dent actually is. I had one dent that I thought would be around $25 - $30 to get out but Dillon's did it for $10. I had another that I thought would be cheap, but it turned out that one of the braces needed soldering as well so that was $45.
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FLgargoyle
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 11:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the input. I guess I better see if the rest of the horn is all right and playable before I worry about the bell. But if I like it, which i think I will, even $100 would be well worth it.
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JonathanM
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Somewhat beside the point, but...

There's a YouTube of bell repair that I saw just a few days ago. Wow; it can be a VERY rough process. Unbelievable how nice the bell can look after a good tech is through with it - but it isn't a prissy, nice little tidy job...lol. Can't find it now (naturally) but I've usually been surprised (in a pleasant way) at how cheap bell repair has been, like those above sited.
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VetPsychWars
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 6:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

JonathanM wrote:
Somewhat beside the point, but...

There's a YouTube of bell repair that I saw just a few days ago. Wow; it can be a VERY rough process. Unbelievable how nice the bell can look after a good tech is through with it - but it isn't a prissy, nice little tidy job...lol. Can't find it now (naturally) but I've usually been surprised (in a pleasant way) at how cheap bell repair has been, like those above sited.


I've seen that video. I've also seen bells of mine that Charlie Melk has repaired.

I am not convinced that what the video shows is necessarily best practice.

Can you share the URL you saw? I can try to ask Charlie and see what he says.

For those who don't yet know, Charlie is third generation of band instrument repair person. He learned from his grandfather and father, and the Melk name in Milwaukee is the ONLY one you hear when talking about instrument repair. I was surprised, but shouldn't have been, when I brought in what I thought was an ultra-rare Lightweight 400 and Charlie says, "Oh yeah, I've done a few of these."

Tom
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Dale Proctor
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 8:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Give Southeastern Musical Services in Huntsville, Alabama a call. They have removed some fairly nasty dents without messing up the finish on a few of my horns. Of course, you can still tell there had been a dent there if you look closely enough, but to do it better you'd have to pay for a full-blown repair and refinish job.
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RandyTX
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PostPosted: Fri Sep 24, 2010 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

VetPsychWars wrote:
For those who don't yet know, Charlie is third generation of band instrument repair person. He learned from his grandfather and father, and the Melk name in Milwaukee is the ONLY one you hear when talking about instrument repair.


We were sitting around talking horns after the rehearsal the other night down here in Texas (a fair day's ride from Milwaukee), and I was a bit surprised that in addition to my cornet being up there right now, another guy there had just got one back from him, and several others had work done by Charlie in the not too distant past.

He's a bit of a legend pretty much everywhere apparently.
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Maarten van Weverwijk
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 25, 2010 2:50 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

FLgargoyle wrote:
...$100 would be well worth it.

A good tech can do a lot of work in an hour.
$100 of dent work alone (ignoring potential costs for re-finishing) would mean a very major job already.

MvW.
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FLgargoyle
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 28, 2010 1:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I got the cornet today- a late 70's Capri short model. Other than the bell, it's in excellent shape- probably very low miles on it. I did a quick clean and oil, and it plays like a champ! The bell isn't as bad as I thought, and I could certainly live with it as-is. I'll play it a few weeks to be sure I really like it, then send it off for a proper cleaning and smooth up the bell.

I'd been wanting a BBB type cornet for a long time, the long American pattern ones being just not mellow enough. I switch from trumpet to alto horn, so I wanted something in between the two. This might just be it!
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plp
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 29, 2010 3:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Get likkered up and have a go at it with two tablespoons, you'd be surprised.
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