(bottom of page)
Ads
Well-Known Member
- 4,296
I`ve just had my two horns back from Connolly Musical intrument repair so thought I`d comment here as we need more resources on repairers .......
I got a Fixer uppper Jupiter Semi-Pro 787 Tenor to replace the Corton as secondary tenor . Jupiters, all of them from cheap to full pro have soft bodies (it`s part of the sound apparently) and this one had taken a side drop pushing the upper stack pillar and RH pinkie pillar inwards, it had (thankfully smoothly) bent a couple of rods in the process too .
Second Horn was the 1959 Conn 14M "AmeriConn" which although in decent nick cosmetically fo the age had taken some hits resulting in dents all over the place, wildly bent wire-guards, one of which partially ripped from the body and the main tube was banana shaped .. a real mess but worth it as it`s an Elkhart made 14M with the decent keywork ..
As with the JP Sop I sent to them previously, they were very communicative throughout the process and did what I asked them to do, they advised that the Conn really would benefit new pads but would play well on the existing ones .. they quoted me and kept to the quote with no nasty suprises , both horns cost the same as the Jupe also needed 2 pads replacing, the Conn more bending back into shape ..
The work too One week for both , they don`t mess about ! , didn`t with the soprano months back either so a swift service and I had the courier pick them up ..........
Tried the Jupiter tenor first .... Charlie did the work and the report states removed the keywork & octave pip, repair the dents (inc the curved rods) , Check and cure leaks inc replacing 2 pads, lube reassemble and setup . £85 . this is a superb horn which really does have that lovely thick deep MkVII alike bell note sound if the thing is working properly and Charlie did a lovely job, those bell notes are thick and pure as they should be , he`s setup the keywork just right and it plays top to bottom like a dream ..
Then the Conn 14M Alto , remember that this horn may not have needed pads but was dentwise in quite a mess, Charlie again did the work - Remove numerous keys, Straighten body, remove numerous dents , starighten bell guards inc resoldering, replace cork and felt as required, check and cure leaks , setup . £85....
he`s got this old conn really singing and the keywork is most excellent, better than the YAS21 in fact, more like an artist series than a director, low, fast and nicely balanced especially on the upper stack Higher but balance on the lower , sound is soulful whilst having bags of power and not lacking clarity - I`d describe it as an iron fist in a velvet glove .......
given the dented and banananana shaped nature of this horn, Charlie has worked wonders . there are less and less of these horns still on the road as people deem them not worth spending out on (and Elkhart made ones aren`t common anyway) so they`ve helped another stay playing and for a very good price for the work done..
Connollys did both horns in record time - their dentwork is legendary anyway, but they setup the horns well too and got a 55yr old very abused Conn back on the road and singing ,, many would have passed this over as a write-off due to being a director series but I think these Elkhart-USA made Shooting stars horns are very underrated as are the Pan-Ams ......
I have no connection with Connollys past getting three horns serviced including these two .
Recommended
I didn`t know whether to make this an "Article" but didn`t without the go ahead from pete , there isn`t a servicing section in the articles anyway so posted it here
I got a Fixer uppper Jupiter Semi-Pro 787 Tenor to replace the Corton as secondary tenor . Jupiters, all of them from cheap to full pro have soft bodies (it`s part of the sound apparently) and this one had taken a side drop pushing the upper stack pillar and RH pinkie pillar inwards, it had (thankfully smoothly) bent a couple of rods in the process too .
Second Horn was the 1959 Conn 14M "AmeriConn" which although in decent nick cosmetically fo the age had taken some hits resulting in dents all over the place, wildly bent wire-guards, one of which partially ripped from the body and the main tube was banana shaped .. a real mess but worth it as it`s an Elkhart made 14M with the decent keywork ..
As with the JP Sop I sent to them previously, they were very communicative throughout the process and did what I asked them to do, they advised that the Conn really would benefit new pads but would play well on the existing ones .. they quoted me and kept to the quote with no nasty suprises , both horns cost the same as the Jupe also needed 2 pads replacing, the Conn more bending back into shape ..
The work too One week for both , they don`t mess about ! , didn`t with the soprano months back either so a swift service and I had the courier pick them up ..........
Tried the Jupiter tenor first .... Charlie did the work and the report states removed the keywork & octave pip, repair the dents (inc the curved rods) , Check and cure leaks inc replacing 2 pads, lube reassemble and setup . £85 . this is a superb horn which really does have that lovely thick deep MkVII alike bell note sound if the thing is working properly and Charlie did a lovely job, those bell notes are thick and pure as they should be , he`s setup the keywork just right and it plays top to bottom like a dream ..
Then the Conn 14M Alto , remember that this horn may not have needed pads but was dentwise in quite a mess, Charlie again did the work - Remove numerous keys, Straighten body, remove numerous dents , starighten bell guards inc resoldering, replace cork and felt as required, check and cure leaks , setup . £85....
he`s got this old conn really singing and the keywork is most excellent, better than the YAS21 in fact, more like an artist series than a director, low, fast and nicely balanced especially on the upper stack Higher but balance on the lower , sound is soulful whilst having bags of power and not lacking clarity - I`d describe it as an iron fist in a velvet glove .......
given the dented and banananana shaped nature of this horn, Charlie has worked wonders . there are less and less of these horns still on the road as people deem them not worth spending out on (and Elkhart made ones aren`t common anyway) so they`ve helped another stay playing and for a very good price for the work done..
Connollys did both horns in record time - their dentwork is legendary anyway, but they setup the horns well too and got a 55yr old very abused Conn back on the road and singing ,, many would have passed this over as a write-off due to being a director series but I think these Elkhart-USA made Shooting stars horns are very underrated as are the Pan-Ams ......
I have no connection with Connollys past getting three horns serviced including these two .
Recommended
I didn`t know whether to make this an "Article" but didn`t without the go ahead from pete , there isn`t a servicing section in the articles anyway so posted it here
.
