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RE: Pocket Cornets & Instrument dates

Thanks to all who replied and gave info re dating the illustrious pocket
cornets. 1912  looks good.

Now the story -

Whilst searching for a Tuba on the Net we came across an auction site
listing pocket cornets (25 of) for $75 (Oz) each and $15 for shipping.
Location - Bombay India. Now the Oz impression of this situation (rightly or
wrongly) is that it is fairly similar to buying a new car sight unseen from
a bloke you just met in a pub, paying for it on the spot with the promise it
will be delivered next week. However, for $75 it was worth it to find out
what happened. In the end 5 of us thought it would be worth the giggle even
if they only ended up on the wall.

Emailed the Bombay connection to check what brand and was told "Boosey & Co"
so we expected something at least 70 years old and high pitch.

By the way the Bombay connection is Shashi Rochlani -
beekay@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx who provided excellent service and information - can
recommend dealing with him as long as you realise what you are getting.

For an extra $20 (US) we took the option of air freight with
www.airborne.com (another outfit I can recommend) as sea freight from Bombay
to Oz can take anywhere from 3 months to 3 years depending on ship, docks
etc.

Within 2 days of the projected date 5 pocket cornets (complete with case)
arrived in Bairnsdale (3 hours drive from Melbourne.)

Boosey &Co., high pitch, at least 70 years old, never been used -
condition - well -

Recently the list has been complaining of the standard of instruments that
manufacturers have been supplying - try :

All instruments with the same serial number
A stamped number on the finger holder relates to the stamped number on the
valve stems
1st and 2nd valves identical (but so is the tubing design of the horn) and
slightly different for the 3rd.
The solder has either aged to the extent where the pipes on the shanks pull
off or they were never soldered properly in the first place.
More air escapes through the tubes through the valves (made of lapped brass
shim) and out the bottom of the valve than goes on to the valve shank.
A dinky little spit key - pity the hole had never been bored to let the spit
out.
The ends of the valve shanks look like they were chewed off by the factory
dog rather than cut off with a saw.
The threads on valve caps have been cut by someone from the blind institute
suffering from the DT's.
The mouthpiece rim is about 1/8" thick with square edges (you would need 2
packets of band-aids per 2 hour gig) and has a trumpet lead pipe as the
shank with a taper resembling an ellipse.

You get what you pay for.

But :
Four hours with a hacksaw, file, drill, soldering iron, a few puffs on the
pipe for smoke testing, Brasso for lapping in valves and slides, some spare
bits of old horns to get to low pitch and we have ended up with workable
horns that are ideal for feature numbers or for making life easier on the
march. With a 3" bell they take a bit of punching but they are definitely
the size that goes in the pocket to free both hands for drinking in the pub.

Origin : Two options -
Either someone is turning out fakes (doubt it - there would be too much work
to make a quid) or they have been a gift from the British to the colonies in
the days of the Raj. If it's the latter then Boosey & Co won the lowest
price tender and used it as a training run to break in a few apprentices,
most of whom would have been shot.

We're satisfied with what we got for the price and are now forming the
Chicken Vindaloo Cornet Section of the Bairnsdale Citizens Band. There is
hot competition to see who gets to be principal curry.

TiBaR (:- )}
Bairnsdale or the Bush (can happen with curry)




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