Posted by Rick Denney on June 06, 2000 at 13:03:29:
In Reply to: Cuts posted by James W on June 06, 2000 at 12:22:33:
I'm sure I'll be corrected, but it seems to me there are two reasons for cutting a BBb to CC. The first and most often reported reason is that it is the only way to get a classic old American BAT into CC. Very few CC BAT's were built, and this is a way to recycle a larger stock of similar BBb horns into the hands of pros that want them.
The other reason is cost. A cut York is cheaper than a Nirschl copy, though not by all that much if it is well done.
I've never played one, so I'll leave it for others (or for the archives) to answer the question of whether it can be done successfully. Apparently, it can, but good results are not assured. I suspect that more consistent results will be obtained from the modern copies of old BAT's. The horns I've seen with the modification seem to sell for between $4000 and $8000, depending on the beauty and playing characteristics of the resulting horn. That's a lot more than the BBb horn at the start of the process, but many cut jobs require two horns (the valves from one and the outer branches from the other), plus a full overhaul.
There are a few who do it for fun. I'm one of them, but I've only recycled an Eb into an F so far. And the reason I did it was to see if I could, and because I already know how to play an F. I skipped a lot of the above steps, however.
Rick "Mine is no more out of tune than it was before cutting" Denney