Calling all restorers

Restoration experts are hard to find if you are an antique horn collector. Looking at it from the perspective of the restorer, he/she wants do make a profit from their skills and the more they can do in a day, the more money they can earn. The time spent in making parts for instruments made over a century ago can take time and skill, and the ability to do research before attempting restoration. If you know collectors like I do, they want the instrument to play like they were new and the cost of repair to be minimal.

Most museums have their own in house restoration expert, a situation the private small collector does not enjoy. So, where does the little guy go when a restoration is needed? Most music stores will laugh you right out the door and consider you a waste of their time. I think European collectors have a better chance of finding a skilled restorer and linking up with them. Sending your horn across the waters to be restored can be risky business.

There is, in the United States the problem of finding an “instrument repair person” why wants to restore your instrument to “like new condition” and actually overdo a restoration with polish and lacquer.

This is that spot between a rock and a hard place that the American collector finds himself in.

Any ideas out there?

Collectors I have known

Like most instrument collectors, I have met several collectors in 30 plus years. Some have been helpful to me as a young collector and others have not. About 30 years ago I met Franz Streitweser and viewed his collection. He offered me much good advice and it is to him that I owe my success in collecting. Another important collector of my acquaintance is Dan Woolpert who rescued the 1st Brigade Band when it was about to fall apart about 30 years ago.  Not only did Dan become a good friend, he also became a collector and is responsible in large measure for the magnificent collection amassed by the 1st Brigade Band. He became the bandmaster and curator of the collection, The 1st Brigade Band collection is unique in that the majority of the instruments are restored to playing condition and are used regularly in concert performances

Nancy Campbell, a performer on brass is one of the main reasons the collection remains playable. Other persons, Byron Autrey in particular, also does many restorations for the band.

I know of no other band with such a large collection of playable instruments anywhere.

Now that I have retired from playing and collecting, I appreciate what a really important unit this band is and was in my life. I keep in contact with other collectors and would enjoy hearing from both collectors and restoration experts on this very interesting hobby

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 accessable 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