Alto horns?

[MikeBMiller]

What would you guys think about this horn?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/402244037226?ul_noapp=true

[notaverygoodname]

No F slide. No mouthpiece. Costs more than brand new Chinesium.

High school had some Olds Marching Altos... I had my own Conn, but I tried the Olds horns a few times to make sure they were in playing condition. I wasn't that impressed with them. Smaller than I liked. What do you want to do with it? It's a Marching Alto Horn. If you want to use it for Brass Band, you might actually be better off with the China junk.

[MikeBMiller]

All I really want to do is fart around with some home multitrack recordings. I was in a brass band for a while but it is a 90 minute drive from home, so that got old fast.

[MarChant]

I can't believe I did not find this topic before...

Last year during the lockdown in The Netherlands I started to play around with Alto Horns. My first one was a Mahillon 510 model I got cheap off of 'Marktplaats' (the Dutch 'classified ads' website) and immediately fell in love with the instrument. I now own 7 (but I am trying to get rid of at least one...):

- Antoine Courtois (1927-1930, nice vintage horn; clunky valves and a leaky leadpipe [patched with tape] but useful if a vintage sound is wanted)
- BM Symphonic (My favourite, despite intonation issues; shaped like a baby Euphonium, beautiful sound)
- Besson Sovereign 950 (Considered 'best of the best' so I just 'had' to get one; very expensive, even second-hand but it truly is a superb instrument, I almost feel unworthy to play it. However it is very sharp so main tuning slide needs to go out very far)
- Mahillon 510 (1937, My first and cheapest, nothing special but I'm keeping it anyway)
- F.E. Olds 'Ambassador' (front bell, side-action valves, a true marching horn, fun to play around with; originally came with two slides 1 F and 1 Eb but my Eb is missing)
- Орфей (Oval form, Rotary valves; Valve block is loose, have to get it repaired to get it to play)
- Schenkelaars (Original Dutch; has a strange double loop in the main tuning slide which I thought was to switch from Eb to F but it isn't...no idea why else they chose this design. Do not need to keep this one)

If your main goal is to just play around with at home, best option is to get a used one for cheap. They're really fun!

Since this topic is almost two years old, I'm curious to know if you've since found a horn and how it worked out for you?

[franz]

The alto flugelhorn was my first instrument that I played in the band of my country from 1965 to 1974. At that time the accompaniment part in the bands was entrusted to this instrument which, over the years has been replaced by the French horn, more versatile and suitable for playing modern pieces for wind bands, but also much more difficult to play: now, in wind bands there is no longer any trace of this instrument, I see that it only resists in English brass bands. Now, after so many years, I think I would have no particular difficulty in playing one (in the band's warehouse there are some old examples, vertical, horizontal and sinil horn) but it doesn't appeal to me: I strongly doubt I'll be able to, with those old scrap metal , to get a decent sound and, among other things, to be played only within the walls of the house, certainly not like the wonderful one of Seona White and Siobhan Bates..............

[highpitch]

The Conn mellophone I had listed has sold locally.

DG