Buying or trading with other collectors

We have all done it at one time or another. Not all of our finds were from a flea market or yard sales. The most reasonably priced finds undoubtedly are the flea market or yard sale variety, but there comes a time when we need to fill a gap and have to look to other collectors to fill that need. 

When that happens, where do you go? Most advanced collectors are well organized and known to others as having a variety of a certain type of collection. Others are a hodge podge of just about everything.

Then there are those who trade and deal regularly and will provide what you are looking for "for a price" With this type of collector, you can count on paying top dollar, but you will get what you are looking for.

Trading is sometimes the best answer and is done frequently among advanced collectors. Museums seldom engage in trading except with another museum

Three frequently asked questions

Tips for young or new instrument collectors

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

Three frequently asked questions

Most of the inquiries we receive from folks who find a horn in the attic or buy it at a flea market or rummage sale fall into three categories.

1) What is it?
2) Can it be repaired?
3) How much is it worth?

Since we are not in the business of buying instruments, we cannot help with their next question, “how much will you pay me for it.” To help these folks with their questions, we are starting a “Buy and Sell” section where people will be able to list their instrument and deal directly with prospective buyers. This will be done for an low up front fee and the seller and buyer are on their own to hammer out a deal. After you list, we exit the picture and unlike eBay, have nothing further to do with the transaction. We will be happy to answer your first three questions, but please understand, we do not buy instruments.

Collecting, why do we do it?

Have you ever asked yourself, Why am I doing this?  Why do we collect antique musical instruments? Is it the feeling of actually touching musical history or events. I mentioned in another article the satisfaction one member of the 1st Brigade band had of actually playing an instrument that Lincoln and Douglas also heard playing in Freeport Illinois during their historic debates?

In the case of the weapons collector, that the musket, pistol, sword was used during a battle like Gettysburg? I take great pride in the fact that my great grandfather fought in that battle and actually stood on Cemetary hill and watched and waited as Pickett charged their position.  So, why do we collect? The answer, I believe is to touch history, not to relive it. For almost every item you can think of, there is a collector. From the largest items to the smallest matchbox or cigar band, you will find someone who collects it.  In the case of musical instruments, you have the added satisfaction of hearing what people back in history heard and enjoyed, and to hear it played on the original instruments is an added kick!  Add to all of that that you get to meet some great folks and travel to some very interesting places. You also learn about the history of your country in a very unique way.

There is one other thing that I want to add to this subject. During a time when the band visited Springfield Illinois and played at Lincolns Tomb, I experienced something I will never forget. It was a sultry hot summer day and our band approached the tomb. The snare drummers had black cloths draped over the drums as they played the slow roll. As we got closer to the tomb, one woman in the audience became very emotional and as we began to play “Lincolns funeral March” she began to weep. She was obviously transported back in time to 1865 and was mourning the loss of Lincoln in a different way. She felt she was actually there.

That is one of the reasons why we collect!

The Over the Shoulder (OTS) Craze

As the recreated Civil War band interest continues, the search for over the shoulder instruments has increased at a fever pitch, driving the prices higher and higher. I know one collector who rates his OTS horns on playability, using a scale of one to ten. Not a bad idea really as it allows him to use his best sounding instruments in performance and his band performances are superior to most other bands.

Of course, not many bands are afforded the luxury of a surplus of OTS horns. They have to use what they have and what they find out there on the market is few and far between.

There was a time shortly after the Civil Was when OTS instruments were a glut on the market and makers scrambled to unload their stock,offering horns at bargain prices and options like converting the horns from OTS to bell up and bell forward configurations.
The OTS horn is truely unique, but more plentiful than other configurations. But for now, the OTS reigns!

Collecting, When is enough, enough?

Good question, and one every collector faces at a point in his/her collecting experience.

I recently faced this choice and since my sons are not interested in continuing the collection, I decided to dispose of it by sale to other collectors. Museums, you will find, will gladly take your collection, but they want it donated and while this often happens, the collection most often ends up being stored in the bowels of the museum in plastic bags with a tag indicating who made the donation, never to be seen again.

Many years ago, while visiting one of these museums, and doing 2 days research on over the shoulder horns I found bag after bad full of horns, many of them mislabeled and generally not accessible to the public for viewing. The museum had a wonderful display of instruments available in the viewing area, but the bowels of the museum contained many uncovered treasures and sources of information to the collector

It seemed such a shame that donated instruments were not available to the public who had donated them, but only to a chosen few for research. Several large collections exist in National Museums and are under the control of the person making the donation. That person usually becomes the curator for life (at a salary) as long as the collection stays at the museum after that persons death.
I have known several collectors with large collections and have found that several feel as I do that the horns would be better off sold to other individual collectors rather than disappearing into the basements of large museums never to be seen again.

My choice is to keep the smaller collections alive. That way, more of the public will have access to the instruments

Collecting Antique Horns

Back about 40 years ago when I began collecting horns, I got a bit of good advice from another collector who was downsizing his very large collection to specialize in Civil War instruments and bands. He cautioned me to aim at a certain field of collecting and to concentrate on that field, otherwise I would end up with an attic full of instruments that wouldn’t tell any kind of story.

I decided that since I live in an area of Wisconsin that was heavily settled by Germans and Irish from 1820 to 1900, I would collect instruments of that origin. In addition, I decided to tell the story of the development of different valve systems.

This has worked to my advantage and I would highly recommend that young collectors follow this path. Joining the 1st Brigade Band helped me to develop relationships with persons of a like mind and interests.

It has been a wonderful journey in that I met many fine and talented people. I also visited many historic places and learned more about the history of brass instruments than I could have at some of the finest universities in the land.

I look forward to continuing this relationship with persons like myself who absolutely love music history.