German Silver Tenor Helicon

[OldHorn]

This German Silver tenor horn arrived the day before Easter '11 from EBAY. (See old post, "Soldering German Silver"). Yes in spite of various previous posts, this horn IS made of German Silver, not brass or silver plate, and Yes GS will tarnish over time. It was pretty rough, covered with heavy greenish black tarnish, stuck slides, cracks, holes, and missing the lead pipe. After MUCH cleaning, the horn was disassembled for repair. I call this a repair job, not a restoration. 6 patches of German silver sheet were made and soldered on to patch cracks and holes. The lead pipe brace was reattached, and the slides were freed up and removed. Only the 2nd valve slide was desoldered to remove the tubes. Repairs were made to the circular brace, and only gentle dent removal was done. A couple of the longer cracks on the top bow near the bell were soldered rather than patched. The valve cluster and the circular brace were soldered back on, and a new tapered lead pipe was fashoned to fit. A tuning bit was made too, and the bell reattached last. The valves were sticky, so a table top lapping job was done using a thin paste of diatomaceous earth and valve oil. It worked well, and they are slick as butter now. The horn was cleaned again with Flitz Polish. After a very thorough bath; scrubbing all the tubes, valves and slides, new corks and felts were made, slides greased. The horn plays rather well, and close to in tune. look for it at TubaChristmas!

[David Richoux]

Very nice!
Is that pitched as Eb Alto Horn (as some Tenor Horns are called in the USA) or Bb Tenor (small bell Baritone/Euphonium) ?

[OldHorn]

It is Bb tenor, baritone / euphonium, Thanks!

[imperialbari]

An alto has even more fake tubing:

[OldHorn]

Here is another picture...

[lowpitchmoravian]

Good job Paul---------------------For info,Paul has built some serpents, repaired other vintage instruments, and is an excellent machinest.He can be seen on Washington,DC Tuba Xmas vidio 2010 playing his Russian Basoon.

[lowpitchmoravian]

Good job Paul---------------------For info,Paul(oldhorn) has built some serpents(and plays them), repaired other vintage instruments, and is an excellent machinest.He can be seen on Washington,DC Tuba Xmas vidio 2010 playing his Russian Basoon.