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- 1933 Selmer Super
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- Gold 30M Al Epstein Horn Loved Hard
- 1935 Conn 10M For Sale
Gold Plated 30M Fully Engraved; Loved Hard
This is truly a one-of-a-kind horn. The original owner, Al Epstein, was a go-to tenor sideman and played this horn with Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, and many others over the course of a long career. The horn was originally lacquered and at some point Epstein had it gold plated and custom engraved from bell rim to receiver, including every key cup, and the bell is emblazoned with his name is big bold letters.
The horn was loved immensely, to death even. The wear in every mechanism of the instrument was astonishing in its depth.
The neck had a 2" crack in it, the E key had a hole worn through it, every pearl had disintegrated below its holder, not one key remotely fit
This is truly a one-of-a-kind horn. The original owner, Al Epstein, was a go-to tenor sideman and played this horn with Benny Goodman, Stan Getz, Coleman Hawkins, Ben Webster, Clark Terry, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Ventura, and many others over the course of a long career. The horn was originally lacquered and at some point Epstein had it gold plated and custom engraved from bell rim to receiver, including every key cup, and the bell is emblazoned with his name is big bold letters.
The horn was loved immensely, to death even. The wear in every mechanism of the instrument was astonishing in its depth.
The neck had a 2" crack in it, the E key had a hole worn through it, every pearl had disintegrated below its holder, not one key remotely fit
any longer, springs were falling out, rods were frozen, and perhaps worst of all was the extensive damage done during the buffing process in preparation for the gold plating, which resulted in the destruction of nine of the tone hole rolls.
This rebuild was a big deal, it required 10 solder joints, 7 silver solder joints, 2 hinge tube extensions, 15 new oversized rods were made and their respective posts and hinge tubes were reamed to within .0005" for a perfect fit with no play whatsoever on the rod or in the posts.
The tone holes were another story. Not only were the rolls cut right right through, there were deep divots where the buffing wheel dug into the tone hole wall. I put a lot of thought into making new rolls for those destroyed and ultimately decided against it because the extent and difficulty of such work outweighed the benefits. Meaning, I believe the primary benefits of making new rolls were for cosmetic authenticity, not functionality.
I'm all for cosmetic authenticity, even if it doesn't actually benefit the response of the horn, except when it means losing my shirt on a job that is already a very steep climb. So I finished the job left incomplete by the buffer and completely removed the rolls half destroyed - the rolls were lifting away from the chimneys as it was.
Even removing the the remaining rolls was not easy, It left each tone hole with a stubborn and nasty burr, a brass sliver in reality, and removing and chamfering those slivers artfully was a challenge.
I worried I was going to discover at the playtest the intonation of the horn had been wildly ruined.
The result? The intonation on the horn is effortlessly perfect.
The only conclusion or statement I have to make regarding rolled tone holes is that I love them and my philosophy remains to do as little as possible to them in the interest of preservation while ensuring the pad have a level plane upon which to be seated.
This gold 30M that was literally loved to fucking death has nine destroyed and/or missing tone hole rolls. And maybe, just maybe, it's all the more beautiful for it. Here is a loving memorial to Al Epstein.
The new owner of this horn is Kevin Sun, a player loved by many, especially for his brilliant Lester Young transcriptions.
This rebuild was a big deal, it required 10 solder joints, 7 silver solder joints, 2 hinge tube extensions, 15 new oversized rods were made and their respective posts and hinge tubes were reamed to within .0005" for a perfect fit with no play whatsoever on the rod or in the posts.
The tone holes were another story. Not only were the rolls cut right right through, there were deep divots where the buffing wheel dug into the tone hole wall. I put a lot of thought into making new rolls for those destroyed and ultimately decided against it because the extent and difficulty of such work outweighed the benefits. Meaning, I believe the primary benefits of making new rolls were for cosmetic authenticity, not functionality.
I'm all for cosmetic authenticity, even if it doesn't actually benefit the response of the horn, except when it means losing my shirt on a job that is already a very steep climb. So I finished the job left incomplete by the buffer and completely removed the rolls half destroyed - the rolls were lifting away from the chimneys as it was.
Even removing the the remaining rolls was not easy, It left each tone hole with a stubborn and nasty burr, a brass sliver in reality, and removing and chamfering those slivers artfully was a challenge.
I worried I was going to discover at the playtest the intonation of the horn had been wildly ruined.
The result? The intonation on the horn is effortlessly perfect.
The only conclusion or statement I have to make regarding rolled tone holes is that I love them and my philosophy remains to do as little as possible to them in the interest of preservation while ensuring the pad have a level plane upon which to be seated.
This gold 30M that was literally loved to fucking death has nine destroyed and/or missing tone hole rolls. And maybe, just maybe, it's all the more beautiful for it. Here is a loving memorial to Al Epstein.
The new owner of this horn is Kevin Sun, a player loved by many, especially for his brilliant Lester Young transcriptions.
