Conn C Melody Restoration

[PigSquealer]

Little by little it’s coming together nicely. The post alignment on upper stack was time consuming but worth the effort.

I also spent some time sorting out the LH pinky table. You don’t need to be George Atlas to play the table.

Some old production mistakes I don’t mess with. Common for Conns to have little flaws.

Really no reason to mess with a 101 year old fitting just for looks. Nothing in the area was bent. On reassembly no change. Straightening the body didn’t move it.

The support in upper stack isn’t doing much either. The factory cut half off.

 

[PigSquealer]

Conn 1922 catalog. A C melody was $5 more than a similar finish alto. The price didn’t include the case. That would set you back another $13.50 for a square velvet or $19 USD for a “plush” interior case.

A 1930 shows no price change.

No local music store or dealer ? Not a problem. Just write the factory for a free catalog.

 

[PigSquealer]

Well it’s all done. As with any of these ol ones, Check everything again after final assembly!
The rod next to the cup I shortened a fuzz. Bit by the palm key was a illusion.

Another illusion. The roller pin didn’t contact the G# touch, but I did make a adjustment later. The rollers off parallel bothered me.

 

[PigSquealer]

Nice & Clean. Everything works as it should.

 

[PigSquealer]

How does this play ? Tons better than the last report below😉

 

[Littleboyblue]

Nice work. I wait to see another c Mel that will look brand new like the one have acquired from a yard sale

 

[PigSquealer]

Steve, I left this for your entertainment needs😳

 

[TobyB]

Nice! Thanks for all the great pictures, especially.

I have taken only a couple of silver horns apart, and it seems,
just qualitatively, that shellac doesn't seem to adhere quite as well to
the silver, especially if it's tarnished.
But I haven't done enough to have a sense if it's just me noticing more
when a pad comes out of a tarnished cup by itself, or if it's actually
statistically a real thing.
One of them was a mix of glue and shellac,
and the glue, typically, wouldn't let go but several of the shellac'd pads
were loose, despite being bedded pretty well. That certainly could have
been the age of the work, too.

Have you noticed any difference?

t

 

[PigSquealer]

Nice! Thanks for all the great pictures, especially.

I have taken only a couple of silver horns apart, and it seems,
just qualitatively, that shellac doesn't seem to adhere quite as well to
the silver, especially if it's tarnished.
But I haven't done enough to have a sense if it's just me noticing more
when a pad comes out of a tarnished cup by itself, or if it's actually
statistically a real thing.
One of them was a mix of glue and shellac,
and the glue, typically, wouldn't let go but several of the shellac'd pads
were loose, despite being bedded pretty well. That certainly could have
been the age of the work, too.

Have you noticed any difference?

t

Not quite sure what you’re asking? All adhesives have different traits. In general a clean surface will work best.

 

[turf3]

Nice! Thanks for all the great pictures, especially.

I have taken only a couple of silver horns apart, and it seems,
just qualitatively, that shellac doesn't seem to adhere quite as well to
the silver, especially if it's tarnished.
But I haven't done enough to have a sense if it's just me noticing more
when a pad comes out of a tarnished cup by itself, or if it's actually
statistically a real thing.
One of them was a mix of glue and shellac,
and the glue, typically, wouldn't let go but several of the shellac'd pads
were loose, despite being bedded pretty well. That certainly could have
been the age of the work, too.

Have you noticed any difference?

t

I've done a fair amount of pad replacement on silver plated and lacquered brass and nickel plated (keys) horns and I've not noticed anything about adhesion to the different finishes.

I've noticed a huge difference amongst various adhesives, and of course the biggest variable of all is how much - did they put a little 10 mm diameter dot in the center of the pad, or did they fill up the cup nicely so all the back surface of the pad is supported?

 

[TobyB]

yeah, sorry, I meant 'does silver tarnish seem to affect shellac's adhesion?'
or
'Do you think tarnish pops pads loose?'
or something like that.

t

 

[PigSquealer]

yeah, sorry, I meant 'does silver tarnish seem to affect shellac's adhesion?'
or
'Do you think tarnish pops pads loose?'
or something like that.

t

If a cup is clean and then the pad is installed this blocks oxidation. You will have no tarnish production in a sealed environment. So the answer is no tarnish will not pop a pad off. I’ve removed a boatload of hundred year old original pads. Rarely do I ever see any tarnish in the cups.

 

[PigSquealer]

@TobyB although not properly installed it is clearly visible where the shellac, white glue and tape blocked the tarnish. These pictures are from the instrument of this thread. I’m guessing they were installed sometime in the last 20 years.