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Thread: Boosey & Hawkes round stamp Sovereign, completely restored!

  1. #1

    Post Boosey & Hawkes round stamp Sovereign, completely restored!

    Hi, it's been a while since I posted on this forum, but I think this one is worth sharing!
    Last summer, I came upon an opportunity to buy a 1980 Boosey & Hawkes Sovereign globe stamp (sn 647xxx). These are very hard to come by, especially on mainland Europe where I'm located at.
    The seller told me that the horn had been in the possesion of an older gentleman, who quit playing due to old age and was, presumably, the first and only owner yet. The horn itself was in a decent state, with some wear an tear and some dents, nothing to major. It had an aftermarket trigger installed that worked fine, but wasn't as smooth as a modern trigger system and lacked a belly guard, so it constantly blocked due to contacting the body while playing.
    I bought the instrument on the spot because, while it wasn't near any perfection, it had a sound that no other instrument could beat, coming from my experiences with Sterling Virtuoso, Besson Prestige and more modern Sovereigns.
    Now, last december I fell pretty hard with my bike while carrying this instrument and as you could already have guessed; the horn was near total destruction. I decided to send it to Mcqueens Musical Instruments located in Manchester, a very fine shop in brass instrument repairs and refurbishment. (Check out their facebook page!) and last week, I finally got the horn back.
    You can see in the picture that the instrument is now near perfection, with no signs of repair or damage at all. The horn has been completely disassembled, undented, reassembled and replated.
    As far as playing goes; soundwise it's still pretty much the same, I could tell no difference from memory. The trigger still has the same problems, but those can be easily dealt with. The one notable difference was the air consumption; this thing is no joke! Maybe it's because of the resoldering, but the instrument has almost no resistance at all! This is great for the sound, but it takes a lot of effort to keep it going so to speak.
    Maybe someone could recommend me some tips or even some mouthpieces to try out? I'm currently playing a Wick 4al, having changed back from sm4 since I got the horn back and I found the responce a tiny bit improved on the 4al. Sm4u was too big to match with this instrument. Maybe I should try out a Shilke 51d or 52d?
    Please let me know your thoughts, and enjoy the picture! I'll try to upload some more in the coming days, including some from the refurbishing process.
    Kind greetings,
    Vito
    Click image for larger version. 

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
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    Nice looking horn. Be careful with it now!! And with yourself, also!! It is interesting that the resistance has changed so much. A silly question, but are you sure there are no holes where there shouldn't be (joints where air may be leaking)?

    Would be nice to see the before and after.
    Last edited by John Morgan; 03-07-2019 at 07:45 AM.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    West Palm Beach, FL
    Posts
    3,853
    Man that horn looks gorgeous!! Not used to seeing the ‘round stamp’ logo on such shiny horn. These horns are notorious for having a sweet sound.

    Don’t know if another mpc would help with the horn requiring more air. Like John mentioned, maybe there’s a air leak some place. But... if the tone is still excellent maybe there’s no air leaking. Were you injured badly with the fall?
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    Nice looking horn. Be careful with it now!! And with yourself, also!! It is interesting that the resistance has changed so much. A silly question, but are you sure there are no holes where there shouldn't be (joints where air may be leaking)?

    Would be nice to see the before and after.
    Actually, the first thing that my colleague in band said after playing a few notes on this horn were ''Isn't there a leak somewhere?'' so I guess it's not a silly question! I haven't found a leak yet so I just assume it's just how this horn blows. I don't think it actually changed so much from before the restoration, but after playing a totally different instrument for more than three months I guess I just have to get used to it again.

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by RickF View Post
    Man that horn looks gorgeous!! Not used to seeing the ‘round stamp’ logo on such shiny horn. These horns are notorious for having a sweet sound.

    Don’t know if another mpc would help with the horn requiring more air. Like John mentioned, maybe there’s a air leak some place. But... if the tone is still excellent maybe there’s no air leaking. Were you injured badly with the fall?
    No, I wasn't badly hurt fortunately, but thank you for your concern!

  6. #6
    Here you can see the restoration progress in a more or less chronological order; from the damaged Instrument to what the horn is now!
    Kind regards,
    Vito
    Click image for larger version. 

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  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Netherlands
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    Regarding mouthpieces, I wouldn't go for a Schilke 51D. I used one on my Round Stamp for a while (mainly to get the horrible intonation in check on the 6th partial which... actually worked), but I HATED the additional resistance (that might just be my preference), and the sound was quite a bit less open compared to using my 5AL.

  8. #8
    The photo with your disassembled horn in a basket reminded me of C3-P0 in The Empire Strikes Back!

    Glad you got your horn back, and I hope you can settle this mystery about a possible air leak with some satisfaction.
    Clayton M.
    Musician for Fun
    Euphonium Newbie - XO 1270S
    Trumpet Novice - XO 1602RS

  9. #9
    Usually an air leak will make the horn feel stuffy. It's possible that the repair job corrected some joints that were not smooth, which happened in many cases with the English Bessons. Some players have had good repair shops go through them and correct the misalignment. This is probably the case with some other brands as well. If any friends within reach have a Besson 2052 or a newer German Sovereign, you might give the horns a blow and see how they feel. The response is better with the German horns, probably because the factory has a method for more consistent alignment. Anyway, if the German Bessons also make you feel like it takes effort to keep the sound going, you may just have to work at playing in the new realm. If the horn feels freer, you may be playing more loudly than before, which is why the air goes away faster.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
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  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
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    1,867
    Quote Originally Posted by Vito View Post
    Here you can see the restoration progress in a more or less chronological order; from the damaged Instrument to what the horn is now!
    Kind regards,
    Vito
    Thanks for posting the pictures. Pretty neat. And out of the scrap pile and a bucket of bolts comes your amazing "new horn". Don't drop it!!!!!!!!!
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

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