New Arrivals

 Within the last couple weeks, I came across two horns that I couldn't refuse. The first I found on eBay. Coincidentally, I recognized the name of the seller who is a brass repairman that has a channel on YouTube which I've watched a few times. It looked to be in pretty good physical shape with the original lacquer and at a fair price. The fact that it was also one of my "bucket list" trumpets made the decision for me. What was it? An F.E. Olds & Son R-10 Recording from likely 1954 based on the serial number.

After playing it for about an hour when I received it, I can now see exactly why these are so revered. It is a very capable trumpet across almost all genres. I tend toward liking more commercial sounding horns, but this trumpet covers that sort of work as well as jazz and pops/orchestral work, particularly with the right mouthpiece. You know that initial, triumphant B♭ blared out by Maurice Murphy of the London Symphony Orchestra at the beginning of Star Wars? Yeah, Murphy's trumpet was an Olds Recording. Hell, I didn't even realize until recently that the LSO was not on the C trumpet train.

The Recording seems to really alter its voice with the different pieces I tried. In fact, it played so well that I contacted Charlie Melk of charliesbrassworks.com, my favorite guy for what I want: a full restoration. Yes, it is worth it to me because these instruments are iconic and becoming more and more rare in "decent enough" physical condition to warrant restoration. Charlie's always booked, but I got my reservation in for early January, and I'll be shipping it off in late January 2021. I'll be posting a detailed run-down with photos on the Olds Recording once it is returned. I can't wait!

It did not, unfortunately, come with either the original case nor an Olds case. I searched on eBay for an original, but the Lifton cases I found (I believe they were the OEM for Olds at that time) were all in pretty shabby shape. Someone contacted me privately and offered a Lifton case, and after looking at a few photos of it, I took him up on his offer. Not long after that, someone else contacted me about selling his Torpedo Bag Classic. I'd already gone with the purchase of the Lifton case, but I ultimately decided to get the Torpedo Bag Classic as well. If I am going to go through with a full restoration, it's worth it to give it proper protection once the work is done. No, it certainly won't be period-correct (LOL), but I don't really care. Still I was kind of bummed that it wouldn't have a cool Olds logo on the bag...

...Or so I thought! I was contacted on trumpetherald.com by someone that pointed me to a seller on Ebay that sells reproduction metal badging! I ordered one up and received it a few days later. It looks great, and I'm looking forward to turning my Torpedo Case Classic into an Olds Torpedo Case!

My splurge finally complete,  I sta... wait a minute... what's this ad on trumpetherald.com? Hmm; guy that must be on a horn safari has several nice, practically brand new horns for sale. And one of them happens to be from my favorite brass company, Getzen. And it's a 2019 907DLX in silver? The 900DLX and 907DLX are essentially a special line of Eternas. A while back, Getzen made the great choice of returning the Eterna line to its Severinsen Model roots, and the "Deluxe" versions that the 900DLX and 907DLX represent have been upgraded with a nod toward the Getzen "Super Deluxe" which was the predecessor of the Eterna. These new Eterna Deluxe models are gorgeous horns with a custom case that play very much like their ancestors.

I contacted the seller, Don, and we had a great conversation. He was looking to buy a Getzen Genesis and was purging a few of his recent acquisitions as I thought. We discussed the horn, our trumpeting histories, and a bunch of other things over the course of a half hour or so. We shook virtual hands on the deal, and a day later it was on its way to me. It arrived yesterday, and I'm extremely excited to have it! I'll devote a future post to it in the near future. Don was great, and I always enjoy making new "trumpet geek friends". It's been a great week.