Modernize Vintage Horns

[dukesboneman]

Now I have 3 Vintage horns that I use on a very regular basis.
1) 1953 Conn 32H. It was incredibly front heavy. I had the over sleeves taken off the slide and the Hand slide brace
removed and a thinner one put on. That made the biggest difference as the brace was not the standard
hollow/telescoping kind, It was a solid piece of brass. Now the horn is very light and fast.
2) 1940 Bach 16. Original lacquer. Standard weight slide that is very very light and fast.
i am never touching this horn for any mods. It`s fantastic just the way it is.
3) a 1928 Conn Eb Tuba. The only change I will eventually make it this baby is to have it over hauled
Plays great but just not the prettiest girl at the dance

I look at it as , These are my instruments that I play on a daily basis. I`not keeping them in a "certain" condition
for re-sale.

[Miketbn95]

I recently acquired a 1960 MV 42b. Absolutely love it the way it is. I know there is a lot of lore to upgrade and modernize it with a new valve, take stockings off slide , etc. but I’m just going to refurb it. I traditionally prefer axial valves but the valve on this blows great for me. The work I am looking to do is fix bell sag, realign slide , (I’m currently using my 90s tenor slide with ns crook and different leadpipe), replace valve linkages, and probably relacquer bell section.

[hyperbolica]

This thread is a couple of years old. I should be getting my independent Duo Gravis back from Sweeney in the next month. The double thumb levers were really miserable to try to use in real music.

I also have a non-mod mod in the works - adding an Eb extension to my 1480. That's a horn that I think doesn't reach its potential without some sort of mod. It's OK as a tenor, but I have better tenors. The Eb extension is the best way to make it work as a single valve bass.

[BrianJohnston]

I have a 1960 MV42B that I did just that. replaced the stock rotor with a 1996 Thayer wrap, then put a 2022 instrument innovations axial on. Replaced the F-attach tuning slide with a nickel silver Hölle of the same size. this bell section is with an unmatched Lightweight MV slide. Had the lead pipe pulled for a threaded custom O' Malley lead pipe.

It was a great horn to begin with, but I found these changes made it more modern and fit the way I play more.

Here's a relatively recent recording of it;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZx4cddeRBk