Dana, Your mention of Dennis Houghton and Houghton Horns caught my attention. For the past four years or so, since I've started playing horn again, I've been happy that Dennis has been taking care of my 85-year old Kruspe. He's done everything from taking out massive dents (from when I tripped while I was at the Denver IHS a couple of years ago), to cleaning the horn (then it was chemical cleaning, now it's ultrasound), to installing a new mouthpipe/leadpipe that has done wonders for my horn. Although his shop works on all the brass instruments - trumpets, trombone, and tubas, he's an accomplished hornist and really enjoys working on horns.
I just called Dennis and talked to him about John's problem with his horn. He said that it could be something really simple, such as something stuck in the horn. Dennis's shop is in Keller, TX about midway between Dallas and Fort Worth and right now he's very busy finishing up his usual summer's worth of repairs on a great many school band instruments. If John wants to talk to him about his problem, he can call him at 1-888-749-0210. I want to point out - as I always do when I recommend Dennis's shop - that I have no connection to him or his shop other than as a very satisfied customer. Ed Glick -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Dana Twiss Sent: Saturday, July 31, 2010 12:27 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Hornlist] Regarding the Conn 8D, equipment and geography. John, one thing you said caught my attention-almost every other horn you played seemed to help your playing, in your opinion. That to me suggests that there may be a repair issue with the horn you're currently playing. I would suggest talking to your band director and see about sending the horn to the shop. Since you're in Texas and I'm in Maine it's a little hard for me to suggest or offer and evaluation of shops, but often times, the local shops are more or less (and this varies widely) are good enough for triage and or minor work. More serious work should go to someone who specializes. In Texas, there's Dennis Houghton (http://www.houghtoncustomhorns.com/dennis/index.html), but I don't know where he is in relation to you. Sending/taking the horn to a specialist may not be an easy option, at least if you want the school to pay, due to repair contracts that may exist with the district, but your band director should be able to tell you. As others have said, if you can get by with a school horn until you're ready for college, save your money, get a recommendation from the teacher at your school of choice, and shop around for an instrument. Dana Twiss _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/glick%40unt.edu _______________________________________________ post: [email protected] unsubscribe or set options at https://pegasus.memphis.edu/cgi-bin/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
