[Dixielandjazz] Rice Horns

Fri Mar 14 09:01:45 PDT 2008

My friend, Gary Dammer, who gave it to me has a Conn and he sounds pretty 
good on it but he doesn't use it a whole lot.  Truthfully I think he uses it 
when his chops get tired.  When he told me he had one I could have I thought 
it would look like it had been through Katrina.

This horn's sound is I am sure typical of valve bones.  I guess I am just 
surprised at what is coming out of China and the far East.  The workmanship 
is very good on this instrument.  It remains to be seen if the plating on 
the valves holds up and things that may not be visible.  All of the slides 
are very smooth and it's a fairly heavy horn.

A few weeks ago the owner at St. Louis Brass and Woodwind Repair was selling 
Pocket Trumpets and Cornets.  Unfortunately I don't remember the brand but 
they were excellent horns.  The remarkable thing about the Pocket Trumpets 
is that they played in tune and sounded good even for me. They had a full 
size bell too.  When word got around he had a sell out.  Several of the 
absolute best players here jumped on them and especially since the price was 
below $300.

A funny thing happened when Gary was trying the Pocket horn.   He put some 
power behind it and blew the second valve slide across the room.  No damage 
and the shop corrected the problem.

He said he bought the bone at a trade show and vendors often sell out their 
supplies, at a good price, rather than transport them back but it's 
unbelievable that they would sell a horn for $100.

Brass instruments are sort of a hobby with me.  I play OK but in no stretch 
could I be called an accomplished player. I consider anything above E to be 
a major accomplishment.  I just enjoy fooling with them and I used to play 
brass a lot, playing along, with beginners.  The brass community has little 
to fear that I might take their jobs anytime in this life.
Larry
StL
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Dave Stoddard" <dhs2 at peoplepc.com>
To: "Larry Walton" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Dixieland Jazz Mailing List" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Thursday, March 13, 2008 11:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Rice Horns

> Larry wrote: A friend gave me a valve bone this morning that he had bought 
> at a show for $100.  He's a great trumpet player that occasionally doubles 
> on valve bone.  He compared it to his Conn and said it wasn't as good. (no 
> kidding).  He wasn't using it so he gave it to me.
>
> Anyway it's of fairly good workmanship, looks great and plays pretty well 
> in tune for a valve bone.  The voice is a little small but I'm not a 
> trombone player so it may be me.  It has a nice mellow tone.
> ====================================
> Chances are, Larry, that the voice would be a little on the small side 
> regardless of the player.  Most valve trombones are built with small 
> bores. Add that to the additional bends the air must travel through 
> compared to a slide trombone, and the sound is generally pretty narrow.
>
> My Conn Victor is a really nice valve trombone for jazz.  Over the years I 
> have learned to get a really good sound out of it.  The tone is brilliant 
> but warm.  It is fairly narrow, and serves best in a small jazz ensemble. 
> This horn doesn't fit in well with a big band trombone section or a string 
> orchestra.  I have been looking for bigger bore valve trombones for years 
> without finding anything suitable.
>
> Once upon a time instrument manufacturers built valve trombones in a 
> variety of sizes and bores.  Those days came to an end some time ago.  My 
> recent Internet searches have turned up a plethora of small-bore horns but 
> nothing else.
>
> Regards,
> Dave Stoddard
> Round Rock, TX
>
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