Abilene 88H gets a refresh
- JustKen
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Apr 25, 2020
Hi all,
I just posted this over at the Conn Aficionado FB page and am cross posting it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1787859344868124
I hope this is not sacrilege for this group, but here is my rebuilt 1982 Abilene Artist Symphony 88H. This was my horn from my senior year in high school, through college (junior and senior recitals) up through today. In college the horn suffered a gig bag injury when my original Reunion Blues leather bag slipped off my shoulder and gave the bell a crinkle. I had it fixed at the time, but it was a little crude. I found a gentleman that did a fantastic job at re-spinning the bell and making any damage undetectable. But when the horn came together, the ill fitting valve wrap caused the bell to be askew. This was about 12 years ago and my mild OCD finally got the best of me and I found someone to rebuild the wrap with a more modern valve (Instrument Innovations) and wrap.
It turned out beautifully. The inner slide tubes were replaced and the leadpipe is now modular. The one pic shows the original pipe with the Brad Close/Brassark Conn 1919 8H pipe below. Included is one pic of the old wrap showing the valve wrap pulling the bell toward the neckpipe. There was a lot of stress built into the wrap. The horn now has none of that and plays and sounds beautiful. It's like a nice string instrument at rest, waiting to be acted on to create a beautiful sound.
The gentleman who did the work commented that it's really like a mix between and Elkhart 88H and a Bach 42. It has Bach like features like a heavier bell and a lighter slide. Opposite of the Elkhart horns. I had the Brassark 1919 Conn 8H pipe, but I'm thinking now of trying their Mt. Vernon 42 pipe. The fellow mentioned that each piece of the original wrap was barely long enough and was at the very edge of each ferule and held together by solder, instead of fitting well and snug into the ferules. Also shown, is a rubber cork that was in the main bell brace in the original construction (what the heck?).
I've had this horn longer than I've known my wife and it's pretty sentimental to me. I had a 1955 Elkhart 8H for a stretch and sold it and still regret it. But, this horn was 90-95% of that Elkhart, so I kept this one. I'm really, really happy with the result. I feel like if the Abilene's were put together with the same care that this was when it was converted, the Abilene's would not be so reviled.
I just posted this over at the Conn Aficionado FB page and am cross posting it here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1787859344868124
I hope this is not sacrilege for this group, but here is my rebuilt 1982 Abilene Artist Symphony 88H. This was my horn from my senior year in high school, through college (junior and senior recitals) up through today. In college the horn suffered a gig bag injury when my original Reunion Blues leather bag slipped off my shoulder and gave the bell a crinkle. I had it fixed at the time, but it was a little crude. I found a gentleman that did a fantastic job at re-spinning the bell and making any damage undetectable. But when the horn came together, the ill fitting valve wrap caused the bell to be askew. This was about 12 years ago and my mild OCD finally got the best of me and I found someone to rebuild the wrap with a more modern valve (Instrument Innovations) and wrap.
It turned out beautifully. The inner slide tubes were replaced and the leadpipe is now modular. The one pic shows the original pipe with the Brad Close/Brassark Conn 1919 8H pipe below. Included is one pic of the old wrap showing the valve wrap pulling the bell toward the neckpipe. There was a lot of stress built into the wrap. The horn now has none of that and plays and sounds beautiful. It's like a nice string instrument at rest, waiting to be acted on to create a beautiful sound.
The gentleman who did the work commented that it's really like a mix between and Elkhart 88H and a Bach 42. It has Bach like features like a heavier bell and a lighter slide. Opposite of the Elkhart horns. I had the Brassark 1919 Conn 8H pipe, but I'm thinking now of trying their Mt. Vernon 42 pipe. The fellow mentioned that each piece of the original wrap was barely long enough and was at the very edge of each ferule and held together by solder, instead of fitting well and snug into the ferules. Also shown, is a rubber cork that was in the main bell brace in the original construction (what the heck?).
I've had this horn longer than I've known my wife and it's pretty sentimental to me. I had a 1955 Elkhart 8H for a stretch and sold it and still regret it. But, this horn was 90-95% of that Elkhart, so I kept this one. I'm really, really happy with the result. I feel like if the Abilene's were put together with the same care that this was when it was converted, the Abilene's would not be so reviled.
- JLivi
- Posts: 870
- Joined: May 10, 2018
Wow that looks awesome!
I've always really liked the Artist Symphony Conn's. Such a cool story that you've had this horn with you for 40 years and were able to upgrade it the way you did.
I've always really liked the Artist Symphony Conn's. Such a cool story that you've had this horn with you for 40 years and were able to upgrade it the way you did.
- pompatus
- Posts: 434
- Joined: Mar 23, 2018
That looks great, Ken! The mod to use the original trigger lever and orientation is pretty cool. Very nice work, overall! Congratulations on saving it!
- JustKen
- Posts: 5
- Joined: Apr 25, 2020
Graham Middleton did all the work on the horn and was awesome to work with. When I posted on the FB page I hadn't cleared with Graham mentioning him. I've updated the post to give the due props to Graham. https://www.middletonbrass.com/