Hoss asked in another post about Alex 103s...I have been using one as my main horn now for three years. I bought it from Barbara Burt who lurks the list. To me, it is just a great horn. It is very free blowing, has good intonation, I have played it in sections with guys that are driving 8d's and I have had no problem matching sound with them. The Principal horn of the Lake St.Clair Symphony and my very good friend, ( fellow lister Bob Losin) liked mine so much that he found an Alex 102 on Ebay and he got his for a great price. His is even more free blowing and has a larger bore than my 103. Hoss, if you can get ahold of one to try, by all means, do so. My alex has a good dark sound, but I can also do lighter things such as Woodwind ensembles too, it is very versatile. I also use my Alex for Brass Quintet work If you want to hear (to me) the epitome of a great Alex sound, listen to Hermann Baumann's recording of the Strauss Concerti on the Phillips label. The picture on the CD shows Hermann with his Alex103.
I use (depending on what part I'm playing) a MooseWood RB, B, or an A cup with a Schilke 29 rim. Bob and I were in his little shop of horns playing duets one evening, we were curious about the bore, so he measured it, and it read out at .475, compared with the .468 of the Holton's and Conn 8d's. I went to the larger Alex, because at one time in my life, I was as large physically as Phil Meyers. I had a bariatric procedure and have lost over 200 pounds. Losing the weight caused me to be able to very easily over blow my Holton 77 (it has it's 40th birthday this year, and I still use it as my second horn).
I guess I will quit rambling on,
Walt Lewis Hornist: Artistry in Brass, Brass Quintet Lake St. Clair Symphony Orchestra (St. Clair Shores, Michigan) Grosse Pointe Symphony Orchestra (Grosse Pointe, MIchigan) Warren Concert Band Member: Warren Cultural Commission (Warren, Michigan)
(Jeez, this signature almost looks like Prof G's, all I need is for bookings call... hehehe)
At 02:15 AM 10/3/03 -0400, you wrote:
In a message dated 10/2/2003 1:06:55 PM Pacific Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes:
> There are some differences between Reynolds horns marked just Contempora
> (horns made after 1963-64) and those marked Chambers Model. Mainly in throat
> size, and perhaps bell diameter. $3K might be a little pricey, but then
> again we don't know what modifications were involved, and the fact remains
> that Reynolds horns are finally developing a mystique about them.
>
>
The Chambers horns may or may not be marked Chambers. The horn didn't change
much with the move to Abilene, but there are Cleveland horns, perhaps all of
them, that were made with a heavy bell, .018", I believe. In his interview on
the Osmun web site, Chambers talks a little about the horn. Apparently he
played it about three seasons in the New York Phil, then had a falling out with
Reynolds new owners. The heavy bell must have been a real bear in production,
but in the hands of a strong player, no horn comes close to matching the
sound and power. I have never found an FE-01 (Chambers) with a five digit serial
number (Cleveland) that didn't have the heavy bell. Trying to find one for
sale is near impossible. However, after I got through reaming excess solder out
of the Abilene horn I restored for my wife, she much prefers it to her
Elkhart 8D. Since we weren't using the 8D, I put a Lawson pipe, I believe the one
most often put on the 8D, on the horn. I much prefer the way it plays now, but
the Abilene Chambers sounds more like a really good Elkhart 8D than the 8D
did with the factory pipe. At some point in time someone got it into my head
that many 8Ds tend to sound a bit trombony. In side by side comparisons the 8Ds
and the Chambers sound very alike, but the Reynolds sounds like it has a
better choice of mouthpiece.
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