Unlacquered Bach Stradivarius Bb Trumpet with Melk "Upgrades"
This is an unlacquered Bach Stradivarius Bb trumpet. It is a medium-large bore instrument with a #37 Bell. It was constructed between 1970 and 1972, so it is about 45 years old .(https://www.conn-selmer.com/en-us/resources/serial-numbers/bach) When it came to me the only alteration I could detect was the attrition of a thumb hook, which was not factory issue. It had no signs of damage or of repaired damage. There was a small bit of hidden damage at the bottom of the 1st and 3rd valve threads. That damage is not visible when the valve caps are on and it does not impact the operation of the threads. The lacquer was looking dated but was in tact.
Since I purchased this horn, I had some professional upgrade work done on what was already a good Bach Strad. At that time, Dec 2012, I had Charlie Melk put on a Melk/GR leadpipe and “tune” the instrument including a valve alignment, adjusted the bell brace, and whatever else Charlie found to correct. Also I had him strip the old lacquer to make is a raw brass horn. I did purchased a Melk semi-rounded tuning slide for it at that time. That was $830 worth of equipment/work put into it.
In addition to the semi-rounded Melk tuning slide I have the original tuning slide, which is the standard boxy Bach slide (with lacquer), and also a fully rounded tuning slide that is a Jupiter XO part. I switched tuning slides on this horn to fit the blow I wanted to have. I am selling it with all three of those tuning slides. In addition, I am including two heavy valve caps along with the original valve caps. I found this horn played best for me with extra weight on the 2ndand 3rdvalves.
The blow is what you would expect from a Bach 37. The upgrading work I had Melk to did not largely alter the resistance (I liked the resistance to begin with), but rather livened up the sound and made the intonation better as well. I had a hard time replacing this horn because I love that old Bach sound. I have played it as my gigging Bb trumpet for six years now and have only recently found something that I like better, and that only after switching mouthpiece designs.
I put a small dent in the bell and in the bell bow. I had them both removed. I tried to picture the remaining evidence of those repairs. None of the blemishes alter the playing of the instrument.
I purchased this trumpet without a case and am selling it without a case. In the six years I owned the horn I got one ding and one small dent. I had both professionally removed. BTW the original valve slide catch is included, but I never had the nuts to it. That didn't matter to me as I put on my own slide catch that will allow you to extend the 3rd slide for a nice low "F."
I’m asking $1350 shipped to the continental USA.