So, I acquired a mint 1970's 88h a few months ago. It played nicely but didn't stand out. The horn had a bell ring quirk that made it unusable on gigs.

I set out to solve this problem by changing the wrap, and in the process of disassembling the horn I found that there we huge gaps in-between the ferrules, some as big as 1/4 inch. I rebuilt the wrap using new and old parts and took care to make sure that the tubes mated as close together as possible. The bell still had a ring in it, so I went nuclear and made the bell flare detachable.

I play test it and WOW, what a difference a careful assembly makes. My $800 horn now plays as good as any elkhart conn or boutique horn, leading me to the conclusion that Abilene Parts are excellent... just not their assembly. I would highly recommend this for someone looking for modern take on a classic instrument.

Gary Greenhoe got his start by rebuilding Conn and Bach instruments without the assembly stresses that came from the factory. An Abilene Conn reassembled by Gary was every bit as good as an Elkhart.

I did the same to mine, or I should say, Graham Middleton did, he rebuilt the valve section. I've had the same experience as you. Mine was my horn from high school and I bought it new in 1982. I would say the construction after the conversion is every bit as good as an Elkhart, but, it's still not an Elkhart 88H. The bell is heavier and the slide is lighter. Graham's comments when I picked it up and we played some duets was that it was very Bach like with the heavier bell and lighter slide. The Elkharts didn't just have a lighter thinner bell, they had heavier outer slide tubes that I'm told are not available anymore because of modern metal manufacturing.

In any event, I totally agree, it's a killer horn in its own right and I'm never getting rid of mine.

Most factory horns can be thought of this way.