John EricsonThings moved pretty quickly at the end of this build. The last major thing to fix was the first valve slide.
This slide was all wonky. My guess as to why was there was damage and a prior repairman used parts at hand to make it work. When I took it apart I could also see that the brace broke, something very unhappy happened to that slide.
To fix it I had to make a new “leg” for the slide, which involved matching the ferrule. I used the lathe and I’m happy with how close I came to the original. The one I replaced, it was not original to the horn
The ferrule was made with a piece of a slide from another Mirafone horn, and the brass tube is from a Yamaha. You can tell it is not exactly the same, but it is close enough that on casual inspection you would not notice.
And with that the horn is essentially done except for some polishing on slides and such. As I write, I’ve been testing it for about a week.
What do I think of the resulting horn? I love how it looks. I’m inclined to think it has a rich sound that projects, and I absolutely love the slurs. Intonation is manageable with the Lawson mouthpipe I put on it. The main slide needs some significant “pull,” but actually it is about the same as my vintage Kruspe to be honest. A minor negative is you need bigger hands to play it comfortably, even with the buttons I added. The big negative is the horn weighs a ton. I have not played a horn this heavy in a long while.
I’d say it is certainly significantly better than the average student model horn, However, I honestly think this horn is just too heavy for me. Weight very comparable to my Paxman compensating triple, which I also rarely play as it is so heavy. So — this horn may be put up for sale! I’d hope someone out there will find it an intriguing and unique instrument.
