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I have one of those Amati horns from yankelwarehouse when he tried selling them on ebay and was only getting about half what he has them for on his website. It works OK as far as I can tell, but I'm not an alto horn expert.
http://www.yankelswarehouse.com/altohorn.html

This is what was known as a Solo Alto. M. DuPont was a tradename used by Sears. Some of these are well-playing horns, although I prefer to use an Eb Alto Valve Trombone in the same role.

Oh, come on! What's wrong with the bell up variety? You could try to find an old King or Olds altonium with the front facing bell that looks like a smaller version of what used to be called a concert band baritone (I know -- I should call it a euph, but, well, you know...), and if you're lucky, you can get it with both Eb and F slides.

Or, you could spend the big bucks and get a true Besson, Yamaha, or Willson (or maybe a couple of other makes) tenor horn in the British brass band tradition.

Or, you could get a German style oval horn,

Or you could get an original Courtois Sax Horn (still being made),

Or an over-the-shoulder Civil War era reinactment horn

Or a Bach tenor trumpet in F (one on eBay right now),

Or....

iiipopes wrote:
Or, you could spend the big bucks and get a true Besson, Yamaha, or Willson (or maybe a couple of other makes) tenor horn in the British brass band tradition.

Or, you could get a German style oval horn,

Or you could get an original Courtois Sax Horn (still being made),

Or an over-the-shoulder Civil War era reinactment horn

Or a Bach tenor trumpet in F (one on eBay right now),

Or....

But ya doesn't have to call me Johnson.



Seriously though, I have a Lark Eb I bought off eBay for next to nothing and it's been sufficient for what little use I actually put it to.

The tenorhorn section in the brass band that I play in tell me that a really good (i.e. plays relatively in tune) alto horn is not easy to find. They seem to like the Yamahas and the Kanstuls, though.

Bob1062 wrote:What's a default big mouthpiece for these funny little things?

Dunno, the selfsame tenorhorn section in the brass band all play with French horn mouthpieces and adapters. They have tenorhorn mouthpieces, just refuse to use them. One guy even had a custom (french horn) mouthpiece made for his tenorhorn.

Bob1062 wrote:What's a default big mouthpiece for these funny little things?

I don't know that there's a default...
These days they're often played by horn players, who are more familiar with horn mouthpieces. When the vintage horns were made, they had midway between a cornet and trombone mouthpiece in size.

My favorites are to use a vintage Bach 6 and a vintage Vega 27, both of which seem to have been made for alto instruments.