Did you ever buy a trumpet on Ebay and then get it and reali

heavyharmonies · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 5:55 am Post subject:

I've gotten gems, and also clunkers (probably batting about 50-50, so plp doesn't think I only get gems

). A few the fault of the seller, a few my fault for not paying attention or not doing my homework, and a few just the nature of "the gamble" that is Ebay.

Clunkers:

1947-ish New York Symphony that just played like a dog. Resold it at a $50 loss.
1931 Conn 58B that was nowhere near what the seller claimed. Overhauled and done poorly. Returned it and ate shipping.
1994 Jupiter Tribune (black enamel). Played like a dead dog; horrible valve wear. Returned to seller.
1920s Bohland & Fuchs Rotary Trumpet. Bell material fairly brittle with age so very little can be done from an overhaul standpoint. Still have the horn. Have about $400 total into it; I'll eat it bigtime on this horn.
1960-ish Reynolds Contempora. Decent horn, but I overpaid. It had been overhauled at some point and the engraving had been buffed down. Decent player, but not my style. Sold at $100 loss.
Zeus Guarnarius. Not a bad horn, but I prefer cornets now. Plus, there was a problem with the 1st and 3rd slides. Paid $800 + $130 at The Brass Bow to fix slides, then sold for $700. Ouch.

Several horns that when all is said and done, while they are nice pieces, between the purchase price and the repair work I've had done, I'll likely never be able to fully recoup the costs if I resell:

1915-ish J.W. Pepper Cornet. Nice vintage horn, unfortunately does not have all of the extras, including a short shank which is needed to be playable with modern ensemble. $195 + $230 repair = $425 sunk into it.
1940s Conn Victor. Ugly as can imagine (flaking lacquer; been through the wars). Quite the player though. I've got about $225 into it at this point. I haven't decided whether I want to have it overhauled.

Then there have been a few horns that worked out:

1999 Benge 90B. Played it as my main horn for 6 months then sold it at a $50 profit.
Couesnon Eb/D Trumpet. Intonation was *horrible*. Bought for $425, sold for $525.
Jupiter SFH-746 Flugel. Got for $150. Still have.
Mirage Pocket Trumpet. Got for $100. Still have. I like it; very responsive little thing.
Conn Connstellation Cornet with copper bell. $199. One of my main horns; may have overhauled. Definitely a keeper.
King Master Cornet. $119. I really dig this one! Off being overhauled and replated. Also a keeper.

And a few that the jury is still out on:

Besson Brevette Eb soprano cornet. Incoming; have not received. ~$250 including shipping.
Besson Brevette 2-20 cornet. Haven't done a lot with it. Paid $89 for it; could possibly turn a profit.
Roth cornet. Paid a whopping $65 for including shipping. Nothing stellar, but a solid little horn.
York Bb trumpet ca. 1915. Beautiful silver and gold with rotary knob from Bb to A. Decent player. $125 + $180 = $305 in the horn; might be able to turn a profit if sold.
Lyon & Healy Couturier conical bore trumpet. Beautiful vintage piece. $250 + $130 = $380 into it at this point. Will probably be keeping this one regardless, simply because it is such an unusual horn.

So when all is said and done, yeah it's a money pit. But it's a good learning experience that has allowed me to play a wide range of interesting horns...

-Dan

supportlivejazz · Heavyweight Member Joined: 05 Jan 2003 Posts: 3757

I'm with ARB.... do your homework, become obsessed with info, know what you are looking for... become obsessed...!
I have hundreds of trumpet and cornet purchases and only a very few were poorly described rip offs and all but two of those were returned for refund. The other two became eBay fraud complaints and one I won and was given a $200 credit and the other I lost and so I re-listed it on eBay with my description and a copy of the original sellers auction page description with the sellers name and everything exactly as he had listed it. And, I got most of my money back and a few emails saying "Good for you" for exposing a dishonestly described item and the seller.

The critical thing is do the work, ask the questions. I recently emailed the seller of a vintage Holton on eBay and asked if there were dings, or dents... any wobble when the valves were depressed half way, condition of valve plating, any repairs done???? He responded by informing me thet the item was described in the add ( there was minimal info) and I could bid or not. I will not, even though it "might" be a nice trumpet. Not worth the risk.

EBay has been very good to me. I try and get and give complete info and have had very few problems.

davidquinlan · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:07 am Post subject:

I've just bought this...

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3711838937&category=16214&sspagename=rvi:1:1

:S
_________________
David Quinlan

pfrank · Posted: Wed Mar 31, 2004 6:23 am Post subject:

You take a chance buying horns via e-bay, I see it as an educational resource too. Before e-bay, I never saw these vintage things...they were still in the attics and barns and basements; now they are in circulation again. It's quite a revelation to see how well made some of the old horns were, the fine hand-craftsmanship that was economically possible in earlier times and now costs thousands...

I've bought and sold about 20 horns in the last two years, and only one was a rip-off. (A Conn New Era trumpet that the seller called playable, but the valves are a disaster)(I've kept it as an ornament, it's so unusual looking, kinda like a gar-fish) Some early e-bay purchases weren't so smart, but that was from my own ignorance. I feel like I can make better choices now.
A few have been ammazing: the first being a $50 Pan American small bore trumpet that was tarnished and covered in heavy oil. After cleaning, a real jewel emerged...(it's earlier than most Pan Ams on e-bay, valves top sprung and Very Fast, brob. circa 1930). I used it as my main horn for a few months because I'm in a band that plays olde-tyme music, but eventually I went back to my Benge for the volume in loud bands. Lately I had a '41 York Grand Rapids trumpet repared by Jim Becker at Osman, and it is the backup to my 77Benge.

Lately I've been buying microphones on e-bay. THAT is much safer, and the savings over retail are tremendous. Most of them have been from equipment wholesalers...for instance one co. had all of the mics used at the Grammy awards show. They are so cheep that I can get a few and see what works best. So far the ATM27HE dynamic has made me forget about Shure 57s, and an Audix D2 gave me the best live-amplified sound I ever had--It's a tom-tom mic with allot of low and mid range frequency response...finally I'm hearing MY tone in high sound pressure situations, not a high frequency lazer! I got the Audix D2 AND an ART tube pre-amplifier in a package for $128.; quite a savings.