UMI Benge 8z cornet receiver?

[lipshurt]

Hello, maybe someone has some info on the UMI Benge 8z cornet receiver.

I made a mouthpiece for a player and he brought the cornet over when he picked up his mouthpiece, and the receiver is pretty drastically different from “normal”

I did not take a picture, but on the outside the receiver was a straight .400 plain tube, no taper of design touches like grooves or embellishments of any kind.

On the inside, the opening ID was .380, and a mouthpiece shank only makes contact at the big end, and wobbles what I would call a lot, almost as much as if it were not even tapered inside. Like putting a tapered flugel shank into an non-tapered French style receiver. That much.

I will say, that I thought the horn played FANTASTIC that way, which is kind of weird. But only if the mouthpiece was pushed in pretty tight, tight enough to sort of not wobble. It played so good I would say it the best cornet have played in a really long time, and I have had quite a few good cornets. I always liked the Benge but never owned one. Now I want one:)

But I wonder if that receiver is right....was there ever a European non tapered cornet receiver? Like a French flugel setup? It’s not a French flugel receiver cuz the opening is .380 not .390.

The horn appeared to be brand new/new old stock. They stopped making it some time ago. UMI era Benge. Looks just like a “real” Benge from LA factory.

Looks like it would be easy to make a new one.

Anybody have any clues? Thanks in advance:)
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Mouthpiece Maker
vintage Trumpet design enthusiast
www.meeuwsenmouthpieces.com
www.youtube.com/lipshurt

[dershem]

[img]https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10223109510668666&set=a.2510387761540&type=3&eid=ARDL55v674XjppF2dvDp9nWyZGTxDlGqb5-l47tvUC__tgWJ-HtMZBwBrEEQlm2bhVJG-ShJ4mI3_7uW[/img]

The receiver looks very cylindrical. And see how the insertion mark is just a ring? Very interesting.

Doug does beautiful work, though, and the horn sounds fantastic.
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BKA! Mic Gillette was my mentor and friend.
Marcinkiewicz Mic G. trumpet, Custom Marcinkiewicz mpc. (Among others)
Marcinkiewicz Rembrandt flugel, Benge 8Z cornet, King 2B, Bach 36, Benge 190, Getzen 3062... many more. All Marc. mouthpieces.

[JeffM729]

Just spitballing here, but possibly the receiver was made for one of the vintage cookie cutter mouthpieces that were popular 100 years ago.

[lipshurt]

I found several pictures of LA Benge’ 8z Cornets and they all look just like Carl’s UMI 8z. Cylindrical plain receiver.

All the old cornet shanks thst ive seen have had more taper not less taper. But I for sure haven’t seen everything. Plus this UMI Horn is from between something like 1986 and 2006.

I put out a feeler in the repair group on Facebook too. I have a hard time thinking it’s a mistake, cuz that would be almost hard to make in the manufacturing process. The receiver blends with the leadpipe perfectly. Better than most corners indicating that someone was doing and extra good job with it.
_________________
Mouthpiece Maker
vintage Trumpet design enthusiast
www.meeuwsenmouthpieces.com
www.youtube.com/lipshurt

[Uberopa]

This might be a red herring. When I ordered my Benge 8Z in 1980 it took a really long wait for it to arrive. Apparently the factory was making a run of fifty for an order from Holland. Although I loved the sound I had to return my new horn to have the valves sorted out. They needed to be lapped to stop them from sticking. Even so it never played really well until I sent it to have it set up properly. Maybe a Europen receiver was in the parts bin.

[lipshurt]

Thank you
Interesting
What was involved with setting up properly?
_________________
Mouthpiece Maker
vintage Trumpet design enthusiast
www.meeuwsenmouthpieces.com
www.youtube.com/lipshurt

[Uberopa]

Hi,
I was having problems with the slotting and placement of the intervals. I also had problems with getting access to the upper register. It just didn't want to play much beyond a BB or C above the staff. I sent the horn to George Rawlins to work on. I had a valve alignment done by Charlie Melk but it didn't help that much. I failed to read the fine print in George Rawlins requirement to send a clean horn to him. I unwittingly sent a horn in less than pristine condition. He seems to post videos of before/after playing characteristics but I fear that I may have annoyed him. Whatever he did it was well worth it. Scale and intonation improved, intervals evenly placed and sound is excellent. I had a thumb saddle and third slide ring installed previously and the horn refinished in matte silver with gold trim and bel flarel throat.
Now it plays as pretty as it looks.

[lipshurt]

So maybe he just cleaned it? Seems odd to not tell you exactly what he did
_________________
Mouthpiece Maker
vintage Trumpet design enthusiast
www.meeuwsenmouthpieces.com
www.youtube.com/lipshurt

[Uberopa]

I think he did more than just clean it. The cornet plays much better. The scale is more even, the slots are more evenly spaced. I'm not much of a high range player but when I would get up around a Bb above the staff the horn was stiff and unresponsive except by adding considerablly more left arm.
If your cornet didn't come with any intonation aids, like mine, adding a couple of rings is a good plan.
Just a caveat about the case. It will dent your bell eventually due to its tight fit. I have tried a lot of mouthpieces with mixed success. I use a 3C size and the list includes Flip Oakes WT3 in vintage and traditional blanks, Curry 3DC, Wick Heritage 3 Sparx 3D and a Pickett 3.
I like the Pickett 3 the best out of the lot. The Benge 8Z is a lovely instrument and I can use it for band work as well as trad jazz with equal joy. I hope you enjoy yours as much as I love mine.