Author: DougR
Date: 2018-08-21 07:09
Well, kind of a trick lead-in, actually, because with enough money, the horn COULD be made playable.* It's a Selmer CT full Boehm, purchased from you know where, that I just got back from my favorite tech. He worked on it pretty thoroughly, but stopped at what he called "the point of diminishing returns." Thing is, the mechanism is VERY worn, so much so that it won't actually hold an adjustment. (The rings are worn very thin and bend easily, the hinge tubes are worn both diametrically and end to end, resulting in lots of slop etc.) The way forward at this point would be serious keywork: building up or replacing the rings, hinge tubes, and whatnot. So the repair might be doable, but to the tune of well over a grand* (before you scoff at the price, bear in mind that this tech is incredibly reasonable for the caliber of his work, which is extraordinary--and indeed, for the type of work the horn would require, you don't want some cut-rate yutz doing the repair).
I did not actually intend to buy a "project horn" when I bought this thing, but that's what it has turned out to be. I'm mulling options at this point: put a few hundred bucks more into it and hope that somehow a magic repair gets done that makes the thing play (but realistically may have no effect); solicit recommendations for techs outside of the metro area who are technically able to handle the work but perhaps charge less; re-sell the horn honestly as-is (but at something of a loss); or go whole hog on the repair, after which I'd have a CT FB that plays, but is still a CT FB (with all the tuning and blending issues that make section playing with newer instruments such an adventure!) but a very expensive CT at that, amounting to (counting past and future repair costs) almost two thousand bucks.
Anyone have any ideas they'd care to contribute? If you were me, what would YOU do?
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