Bb to C conversion - who does it?

[JonathanM]

Very interesting thread - and I'm thrilled to hear that the conversion worked well for you.

Are you considering adding any more bell options to your horn, or are you satisfied with the way it works for you as it is now?
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Jonathan Milam
Trumpets: Mt Vernon Strad, 18043B w/ Blackburn leadpipe, 180L25, 180M38, Benge 4x, P Mauriat 75TLB, Olds: '34 Symphony, '47 Super, '48 Standard, '52 Recording
Puje: American Belle

[jeirvine]

Another answer to the original question (in the US) is Kris Alutius in Philadelphia. He does a lot of Ambassador Bb to C conversions, and he spends a lot of time on fine-tuning slide lengths and bracing. He converted my $40 Ambassador, and it is holding it's own very nicely in the section. Cost is from about $250-$500 depending on whether you are giving him a horn to convert, and if you want a Bach pipe, etc.
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1996 Bach 37
1968 Bach 329 C
1964 Olds Recording
1956 Martin Committee
1951 Olds Special
1948 Couesnon flugelhorn
1947 Olds Super Cornet
1946 King Master Cornet
1946 Olds Super
1945 Buescher 400
1932 King Silvertone 1051S Artist Bore

[Brassnose]

Ha, this is good to know. When in the US, Philly is my homebase (or at least I try to swing by whenever I can).

Jonathan: I haven’t really decided yet. At the moment the horn looks like a Bach C style horn with a long bell and a raw brass leadpipe and tuning slide. The rest is silver plate (minus the wear that a 40+ year old and heavily used horn has). The sound is quite versatile and I find that my AR resonance gives it a nice edge and „luminous“ sound (rather than plain bright). Taking a regular JK 5C warms up things a little, and with a Curry 7TC I can nicely mix with a woodwind quartet or the like.

As I stated in another thread, I going back to as few horns as possible, as few mouthpieces as possible, and focus more on making music rather than going crazy about gear. So if the current setup works out, I’ll leave it, but who knows. For the time being I am happy.
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2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
196x/7x Hüttl Silver Colibri 69
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance/Klier/Curry

[cgaiii]

Not completely germane to the subject but may be enlightening. I have a Schilke CXL from the '70s. It has slides for Bb. It also has a second Beryllium bell, slightly larger in outside diameter at the end of the bell. It plays wonderfully as a C trumpet. With the slightly larger bell and the Bb slides, it plays quite nicely as a Bb. It does not play as nicely as my X3L Bb (which is essentially the same horn but made purposefully as a Bb). In general I would choose the X3L for Bb playing, but if I want the Beryllium (read copper) bell sound, I can use the converted CXL.
So even when great effort and purpose is employed to make a convertible horn, it seems it will always favor one side. That should probably color thoughts on converting a Bb.
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Bb: Schilke X3L AS SP, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Picc: Kanstul 920
Bb Bugle: Kanstul
Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Standard
Bass Trumpet: BAC Custom
Natural Tr: Custom Haas replica by Nikolai Mänttäri Morales

[Brassnose]

I think some people misunderstood the term conversion in this thread. There was no intention of having a horn that plays both in Bb and C. I tried those horns and found them horrible.

Moreover, I have no use for such a horn because I have two very good Bb horns, see signature. The term conversion refers to the fact that I had an unused Bb lying around that I liked and didn’t want to sell for sentimental reasons. So rather than selling it, I wanted to make use of it and my use was to have it chopped down to a C by an absolute pro tech and I am very happy with the results of the C only trumpet I got.

I strongly (!!!) advise against Bb/C convertible horns but agree with the previous post that another bell on my horn might change the sound more towards the brighter, more brilliant C sound that most people associate with C trumpets.
_________________
2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
196x/7x Hüttl Silver Colibri 69
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance/Klier/Curry