What are must have vintage horns in a collection?

[chef8489]

My collection is slowly growing and as it comes along I am starting to look at things like a Selmer K modified and I wonder what are the must have horns one should have in a vintage trumpet collection? So let me know what you think should be on the list for a well rounded collection of must have horns. YOu can see my horns right now and it is not many in my signature but they are quality and play well.
_________________
Current horns
2023 Bach 19072G/43 pipe with 1st trigger
1966 H.N. White King Silver Flair
1965 H.N. White King Super 20 Sllversonic Symphony 1st trigger

[Ozzbo]

Among many others:

Connstelation 38B (60's)
Benge CG
Olds Recording
King Silver Flair (vintage)
Selmer Radial or K-Mod
Committee
Bach 57
Yammie 600 or 700 series
Severinson (vintage)

Just a short list of the must have horns.

Ozzy

[huntman10]

[tptptp]

Three digit serial Strad.
_________________
Craig Mitchell

[dr-pepp]

In addition to those previously mentioned:

Bach - Mt Vernon (and then NY)
Benge - Burbank (or even Chicago)
Besson Meha
Blessing Super Artist
Conn 22B or 12B
Conn 40B or 48B
Holton 48
King Liberty (not my cup of tea, but an iconic model)
Olds Super
Olds (other models of your choice, many options, but I'm biased)
Schilke B6L
Selmer Balanced model
_________________
Clay Collins
Owner, Centex Brass
www.centexbrass.com
also administrator of Olds Central
www.olds-central.com

[huntman10]

I have more mundane goals. I used to collect diverse but rather mundane firearms that were not especially high value, but I liked the variety. I called it KMART collectibles.

So, in the same vein,, I offer my ideas for the "eBay (or garage sale) music connoisseur:

Bb, C, Eb, D, F, Bb/A/G pic,and bass in trumpets, F mellophone, Bb and Eb cornets, and small bore and large bore flugelhorns. Maybe a pocket trumpet and slide trumpet. Even a nice Herald (in case your church .music minister decides it is necessary for the Christmas pageant.)

Or a collection of all the great American cornets of the 40's 50's and 60's.

Collections of accessories like mouthpieces, or interesting mutes.

All the great horn case brand badges.

All the solo sheet music I like but never have the time to work it out.

I have probably the stuff to do all that, if I just had room (and the discipline) to sort it all out!
_________________
huntman10
Collector/Player of Fine (and not so fine) Brass Instruments including
Various Strads, Yammies, Al Hirt Courtois, Schilkes,
Selmer 25, Getzen Eternas, Kanstuls (920 Pic, CG)
Martin Custom Large Bore, Lots Olds!, Conns, etc.

[delano]

A Bach 37 20+

Edit: is reaction on Bach 57

[chef8489]

[delano]

The regular list should be indeed (Super) Recording, Committee, Mt. Vernon and so on.
But:
Conn 40B
Conn 56B
Henri Selmer Grand prix (pré mod)
Any Buescher with the beautiful valve casing
Conn 80A with naked lady
ALL the Olds models minus the Pinto

[mafields627]

I'm blessed to have added an Olds Recording to my stable. It's a little uglier than I would have liked, and I paid a bit more than I would have had I bought one in the early days of eBay, but it's mine and it plays like a dream!
_________________
--Matt--

No representation is made that the quality of this post is greater than the quality of that of any other poster. Oh, and get a teacher!

[JHirakawa]

Got the Kanstul French Besson C trumpet on Ebay, unused condition, old-stock, buy now for $750. Got the 1948 Chicago Benge at a local estate sale for $1,000 last year. (Couldn't resist. It was in unbelievable condition in the original case.) Managed to get the rest of the horns pretty cheap. $125 for the Olds Custom Crafted; less than $300 for the Holton model 48 std; $100 for the Conn 22b; $499 for the Kanstul French Besson b-flat (My first ebay bid ever, and it came with a double case). Got the Conn 34A cornet at an auction. It was my first in-person auction ever, so I had to bid on something. A music store was liquidating in a small town nearby. A friend gave me the Conn 80A he played in high school when he heard my daughter was going to play a trumpet in her 6th grade band. (He thought it was a trumpet.) Traded a Goodwill Besson 10-10 trombone and a student King for a mint condition Benge 3 Flugelhorn. My brother gave me his Strad Cornet after he retired. (He wouldn't give me his NY Bach Strad b-flat.) Previously owned a Martin HC Standard. Needed a valve job so I flipped it. Had a chance to get a Selmer once, but it didn't have a K-Mod receiver so I couldn't test it. All the trumpets and cornets are all in very good condition, excellent valves, no dents. Some lacquer wear. The bugles are so-so, but fun to play. The hunt can be fun if it doesn't get too much out of hand.  
_________________
Kanstul FB Classic b-flat&C
'42 Buescher 205
'45 Martin Committee
'48 Chi Benge
'47 Conn 22b
'69 Olds Custom Crafted
'47 Holton 48
'64 Bach Strad Cornet
'62 Olds Spl Cornet
'64 Conn 80a
'54 Conn 34a
Benge flugel
Olds, DEG Bugles

[Halflip]

Some random ideas:

Reynolds Contempora (esp. the Leonard Smith model)
Olds Super Recording ("the unicorn")
Olds Clark Terry flugelhorn
York Airflow long cornet or trumpet (unique and beautiful wrap)
York Feather Touch Master cornet or trumpet (adjustable expansion valve spring mechanism)
Buescher "The 400" Model 225 (beautiful details, nice player)
Buescher Model 280 flugelhorn (different wrap, lush tone, rare!)
King "Mini Liberty" (half-size trumpet made by H.N.White as a gift to artists and salesmen, rare)
King Silver Tone No. 2 (Art Deco engraving to die for)
King Golden Flair--mid 70's (rare, magical player)
Conn 12B Coprion Special (rare rare rare!)
Conn 40A/40B/48A/48B Vocabell (rimless bell flare, art deco design and engraving--especially with "Pan Piper" engraving)
Conn 28A Connstellation long cornet (the "secret weapon" of the Connstellation family)
Conn 8B Artist (Lee Morgan, Woody Shaw, Mike Vax, etc. can't all be wrong)
Conn 60B "Super Connstellation" (nice player, Conn's answer to Benge and Schilke design trends)
Puje trumpet (Bobby DeNicola era)
Holton C150 pocket cornet
Benge pocket trumpet (esp. Burbank era)
Calicchio pocket trumpet
Cantabile pocket trumpet (Japanese, handmade, rare)
French Besson Laureate (Kanstul) flugelhorn
Cashel Crystal Bell trumpet

Themes: Different bell materials, Trumpet/Cornet "twins"

I have also commissioned unique or low production horns; for example:
One of three "Caduceus" cornets (tribute horn to a circa-1900 Adalbert Riedl design)
A circular flugelhorn with Vienna valves (just . . . because )
A pocket cornet conversion of a Martin Handcraft Imperial
A "pocket" flugelhorn with a gorgeous wrap based on Kanstul components
(all by Robb Stewart)

Someday I shall commission a "hyper York" with an Airflow wrap and bottom-sprung Feather Touch valves. (Believe it or not, I saw a Hawkes & Son "The Clipper" cornet with bottom-sprung expansion spring valves, so I know it can be done!)
_________________
"He that plays the King shall be welcome . . . " (Hamlet Act II, Scene 2, Line 1416)

"He had no concept of the instrument. He was blowing into it." -- Virgil Starkwell's cello teacher in "Take the Money and Run"

[Ozzbo]

Ozzbo wrote:
Among many others:

Bach 57

Ozzy


Say Bach WHAT?
_________________
huntman10
---------------------------------------------------------------

I meant a plain vanilla Bach 37. I suffer from Fatfingeritis !!!!

Ozzy

[delano]

In fact there are no ‘must have’ vintage horns with maybe some rare exceptions.
There can be some love and wish to keep certain horns alive for historical reasons or something alike.
But for playing I see no place for vintage with the already mentioned rare exceptions. But I admire people who spend big money to bring certain very special vintage horns back to new (and playing condition).
I own a 1942 80A in beautiful (half frost) silver, I love that horn but for playing I use a Getzen Eterna 800.
And I own a Conn 56B which looks very good but is almost destroyed when the former owner brought it to a repair shop to free the slides and the rotary valve. They tried to do that with hooks, a hammer and a screwdriver.. Ruined the slides, broke the second slide and hammered the speed of the rotary valve.
Still I think about restoration, such a crazy horn.

[mike ansberry]

A horn that I don't see here in the replies is a Boston 3Star cornet. One of my favorites.
_________________
Music is a fire in your belly, fighting to get out. You'd better put a horn in the way before someone gets hurt.

[Goby]

There is no definitive list of trumpets that belong in a “serious” collection. Personally, I am against the idea of buying trumpets for the sake of “checking a box”. Most of my collection has been guided by what instruments my musical idols were associated with. For example:
Booker Little: Olds Recording, NY Bach Strad
Freddie Hubbard: Bach Mercedes, Conn 8B, Calicchio 3/9

I’ve owned most of the above instruments, and some of them really spoke to me (Bach Mercedes) while others I could live without (Olds Recording), but it was great fun to hunt down these instruments and try them out for a few months.

As I learned more about different makers and lesser known designs, I picked up a few other instruments that I really love and now have a whole new list of rare horns that I keep an eye out for compared to where I started. The fun of collecting is searching for hidden gems, learning, and hopefully meeting interesting people along the way. My advice to OP is to focus in on what you really like or what you find interesting and try to find an instrument that has some personal meaning.

[stuartissimo]

Just trumpets or cornets/flugelhorns as well?

The early Bueschers had very nice engravings; they'd make great collectibles.

And if it's an historical collection, then maybe some horns that have some reference to historical events in brass history? Say, a Martin Committe, a horn made by Shilke, a horn made by Kanstul, a horn played by Dizzy, etc.
_________________
1975 Olds Recording trumpet
1997 Getzen 700SP trumpet
1955 Olds Super cornet
1939 Buescher 280 flugelhorn
AR Resonance mouthpieces

[Halflip]

[AndyDavids]

A 3 or 4-digit Schilke!

[delano]

Vintage horns simply are not for everybody. Most (99% I guess) players are more served by new or recent modern horns.
And a collection? I don’t know, I should feel obliged to play all that old ‘iron’ on a regular base, no fun.