Posted by Joseph Agnew on September 13, 2003 at 12:06:30:
In Reply to: Rotor BAT posted by wondering on September 12, 2003 at 06:16:21:
First let me thank all of you for your intrest and then I will tell you the story behind this instrument.
I bought this horn a few years ago because it was the same as an instrument that Bob Rusk had made several years ago and then sold to Charlie Schuchat. I have played Charlie's Martin in concert several times over the years and always thought it a superior instrument. I was excited at the chance to build one of my own. When I bought my Martin it had a 23" bell and rotory valves. The original valves were shot. the leadpipe was gone and the branches were rough.
After spending alot of time with Charlie's horn and asking him what he would do different if he could. I trimmed the Bell to 20", bought a brand new from the factory MW valve section.(.770 by the way not Bill Bell)and Built the rest by hand. (valve tubing lead pipe ect) Although it was originaly in BBb the last step was in the tuning slide so this horn was not cut. Like Charlie Schuchat's Martin My horn converted to CC with out there being any change to the legnth of the Bugle.
The final step was the buff and laquer wich effected the sound almost none.(I was quite surprised.)The sound is distinct with lots of overtones and a wondefull complexity.
This really is an orchestra players horn and will no doubt end up in the back row.
This horn was built to live in my studio at the University of Illinois at Chicago but I am a bit sentementle and I wanted it to have a better life than that so I sent it to Dave Fedderly. It turned out far to good to be a dust catcher.
I have photo documentation of the project that I will make available to Baltimore Brass Co. I'm sure David will make the pics available to any serious buyers.