Tips for young or new instrument collectors
October 7, 2008 by Robert Medley
Filed under Collecting
You have just found grandpas horn in the attic or bought a strange looking instrument at a flea market or yard sale.
YOU ARE HOOKED! That is how most of us started and some of us cant stop!
After you have asked the first three questions, what is it? can it be fixed? and how much is it worth? you can settle down and seriously consider whether collecting is for you. First you need to consider a few things that will help you along the way.
Your collection should be aimed in a given direction. Consider what area you want to collect in. Brasses come in many different sizes and categories
Keyless brasses (bugles)
Keyed brasses (bugles and ophicleides)
Brasses with slides
Brasses with valves
Various valve systems
Different tubing configurations
Various makers
Some areas are inexpensive and some can be very expensive, almost prohibitive and impossible to find.
Source materials are available in libraries and you will find other collectors will help you along the way. Good sources are Langwells index and the works of Dr. Herbert Heyde. Also helpful are the papers of Robert Eliason and the Brass band journal.
We will help you if we can and I would also suggest visiting Kenton Scotts website Horn-u-copia.net
I know that this is probably a regular feature but here we go…
My Grandad gave me three Bass Tubas. They seem to be very old, (1920′s and 30′S) Unfortunately I have no musical ability ehatsoever nor specific interest. They are tarnished and I would’nt know how to get a note out of them.
One is a Boosey & Hawkes Imperial, serial number 141390 (yes the number is correct)which seems to predate the Boosey & Hawkes number system.
The Second is a Boosey & Co Solbron 120970 (1925)
The Third is a Hawkes & Co Profundo 56374 (1924)
These things are pretty large and taking up quite a bit of space and I would be grateful if anyone could tell me what I should do to pass these on to someone that would appreciate them perhaps better than I can. I understand that they can be quite valuable but I have no idea what this means in relative terms. Any sugestions or feedback would be gratefully accepted.
Graham
Well, you have taken the first step by posting here! I see you have already received some good advice from Kevin67.
Antiquehorns.com will be starting a Buy/Sell section in the very near future where folks like yourself can list a horn for sale or trade for a small fee and deal directly with interested persons without losing 9% of your sale price to someone like Ebay.
You must take into consideration that tubas are not the easiest or cheapest things to repair, pack, or ship, so you had best think of these things BEFORE you strike a deal with another person.
There will definately be persons interested in your horns.
Be prepared for a shock when you get an estimate for repair costs. They can be high!
Graham makes a good point. Many people find an old horn and just don’t know what to do. Some people keep the horn, maybe a grand kid will play it? Some people murder the horn and turn it into a lamp.
Now the good part. Many times horns are donated to historic bands (Civil War Era) and these bands either play them or sell them to someone to fund their band. Or donate directly to collectors. I am currently working on a Euphonium a friend gave me just because she wants to hear it play again.
Many older horns are sold on that on-line auction service. Most all horn collectors buy on-line.
As for these larger horns, they are pre-WW2. They should be excelent players when restored. But many times the restoration costs more than a new horn. To sell or inquire about them you should have pictures and measurements for the height and the bell diameter.
You may also wish to check out your horns at http://www.horn-u-copia.net
Wow, Robert realy sums it up for most of us.
I started “collecting” in highschool. I wanted to find the best vintage euphonium that was out there. What I was buying was in very poor shape. So I bought up some old beat up cornets to practice my soldering and dent removal.
These trash horns included a Gold York Monarch, a silver York Professional, a York tru-tone, a few Holtons (just needed cleaned) an old french cornet that played sharp and a odd rotary valve cornet I bought out of the back of a manure spreader at an auction (my mom paid the $7 so I guess it was free). This last cornet turned out to be a top action rotary valve horn from the 1870′s and funded half of my last daughters birth. I believe it is now playing in a Civil War Band.
I wish I had known what these were when I was using them to practice my repair skills. Now my collection is mostly York. With some pre-WW Euphoniums and Basses of other brands.
Research every horn is now my moto.
The thing that I find so interesting is the increase in value over the years of some kinds of instruments and the lack of interest over the years on others.
Some of the horns I bought over the years bring lots of interest and great prices while others dont. I guess that the refinement of collections over the years is responsible for that. There are more educated private collectors than there were, say 50 to 75 years ago. Some of the pertinent questions now are on the subject of reliable evaluations and insuring collections especially because of rising values.
You say that your daughters birth costs were covered by the sale of one horn that you did’nt place much value in when you acquired it. All of us have experienced similar things if you have been collecting for a good period of time.
When you have a particularly interesting item, the price may fluctuate wildly at the time of sale and may make you rethink if you want to sell it or hold on a bit longer. I am experiencing that with my box valve cornet. Another factor in evaluations is the history, special considerations and beauty of the instrument. Take as an example , the Double Bell Baritone owned by Micheal Keller whose horn is featured in an article on this website. It is one of a kind and I doubt Michael would ever want to sell it. How can you place a value on something like that. Another question is who would you entrust to repair an instrument like that?
For those new and young collectors reading this for the first time, if, like Kevin67 want to experiment on instrument repair, do it with a Mellophone or metal clarinet, not a double belled baritone or box valve cornet!