Interesting hybrid alto on eBay

[JohnL]

.509"/.562" with what looks like a 7.5" bell (based on the relative size compared to the King tenor- pretty sure it's a 5B - in a couple of the pictures).

https://www.ebay.com/itm/285149766940

[Finetales]

That looks like a very long bell section for Eb...it looks like it should really be a C tenor section rather than an alto section. Explains why the slide only has 6 positions.

Still, regardless of key, I would love to try it! Intonation would be my main concern, but good large bore altos are awesome and there's not enough of them so it could be a solid horn.

[JohnL]

Still, regardless of key, I would love to try it! Intonation would be my main concern, but good large bore altos are awesome and there's not enough of them so it could be a solid horn.

ROAD TRIP!
It's only about eight hours from the LA area to Carson City.

[Matt K]

I’ll give you all a review once I get it next week

[JohnL]

I’ll give you all a review once I get it next week

Aw! No road trip through the desert!

[Finetales]

I’ll give you all a review once I get it next week

Ha! I should have known it would be you that would buy it.

Aw! No road trip through the desert!

Next time

[JohnL]

If it plays decent, you need to swap the Ambassador bell out for something cooler; like a Studio or a Super.

[Matt K]

Yeah, this is essentially what I've been trying to build since like 201...9(?). Covid and some supply chain issues have stymied that, combined with some of the parts on the Wessex I have being less-than-ideal from a structutal standpoint. It's the the 525/547 variant, which I like, but was planning on putting a valve on and rebuilding with a larger tuning slide, much like this one. Always wanted something that was a compact tenor, kind of like the YSL350C, but higher pitch. Couldn't resist this one since it does have mostly Bach 42 parts as best I can tell (and a Bach 50 lower slide???), so hopefully gets me closer to a tiny tenor.

If it plays well, I have a few things I might do to it... first I was thinking about was the bell. I have a old pro model King bell that looks like it might make a good conversion to alto. Probably make the valve modular and play around with that or see if I can get maybe a "Q" series bell or something.

Bucket list has always been to have an alto with a thayer valve for... reasons. Given that the receiver seems to be Bach parts, that should be easier. Depending on how the valve range plays, I have a Yamaha rotor I might switch it out for too but it looks like they did some custom work to shorten the slide receiver, so I wonder if they took care of the wonkiness that is typical of 42 rotors. It looks like the clearance between the lower bell brace is much less than on a normal 42, so I'm wondering if I'll be able to use a bullet brace or something. My Conn 36 wasn't too bad to hold w/o anything, but I do really like having my thumb go over something.

Not a good sign I want to modify before it's even shipped

[Finetales]

Considering it's already a hacked-up Frankenhorn to begin with, I think that's actually appropriate!

[Matt K]

Package left NV and was en route but took a brief detour at NaN from Tuesday to yesterday. (NaN is my favorite destination, beautiful this time of year!). Now it's in Wyoming but FedEx assures me it will definitely arrive at my doorstep on the east coast today

[Matt K]

Finally arrived yesterday!

First of all, this plays way better than I thought it would. To the point where I’m questioning if I should touch it because the work seems to have been done VERY well.

The bell section, weirdly enough, is almost in Bb with a normal length slide. It’s like a super sharp Bb, but not quite a flat B. So the bell is almost a full length tenor. As such, the instrument is actually really close to what I’ve kind of always wanted out of an alto… which is to say not an alto but a small tenor! It still does have an alto sound. It it’s less obvious that it’s an alto while on the Eb side but the Bb side is much closer to tenor. The slide is therefore too short to be a full 7 positions, so one is reliant on the valve for full chromatiscism. Down that low, the difference between say D in the staff on either side isn’t that big. I’m the higher registers it makes a big difference. Part of that might be that I haven’t played an Eb in several years.

The valve mechanism drives me crazy. The slide receiver is short and the linkage is attached really close leaving very little room for my thumb. I’ll absolutely have to have that modified for it to be comfortable at all.

The bell is very resonant and has a beautiful halo of sound to it. So I don’t think I’ll be playing with that either!!

The tuning slide is reversed and is actually not a Bach 42. Previous owner said they couldn’t remember it or the leadpipe were but the TS might be a Holtonniirc.

The slide crook is actually custom made from a cornet bend and was expanded to be 515 or something to taper to the OD of the outer.

May post some recording… after I fix the ergonomics. And reacquaint myself with Eb!!

[elmsandr]

Might be worth just finding a lever where the spring goes above the thumb paddle to move that saddle out of the way a bit. (Every lever in the room I have is like that, so shouldn’t be too hard to find one).

Cheers,
Andy

[Matt K]

Yeah that's a good idea. I'm on the fence about whether or not I want to add some kind of bullet brace or something to it. It is pretty light, but I also can't stand not having support for my hand. It definitely isn't a big enough receiver for a Greenhoe or the old Shires-style ones that solder to the slide receiver. So it'll have to be something that clamps to the bell brace, so I'll need to make sure whatever I use has enough clearance that way too.