I began experimenting with Yamaha 667 horns in 1988. I had a brand new 667 that in general I liked very much, but the horn was extremely sharp. I ordered a lead pipe from Walter Lawson that was 21 inches long, compared to the 19 inch long standard 667 lead pipe, and was then able to play the horn with the tuning slides only pulled an inch which reduced the gap inside the tuning slide outer tubes. The high Bb, A and G# were now much more secure.The Lawson puipe aslo made the horn play more smoothly. At he same time that I installed the new lead pipe I also stripped the lacquer and cut the bell. I thought that the flare was quite thick and heavy so I replaced the flare with a much thinner flare that I had. The end result was a much more responsive, clearer sounding horn than it was in it`s original condition. The then principal horn with the Milwaukee Symphony played it and said that it was very much like his Geyer and much better than any of the 667 horns that his students played. It was then that I began reconstructing 667 horns using only word of mouth advertising for local horn players. At that time I was working 40 hours a week, teaching, and playing horn with the Milwaukee Ballet, Milwaukee Symphony and three other regional orchestras and was not really interested in making horns.
      
Over the years, though, I continued to experiment with materials and components and in 2000 I did begin to get serious about making a horn of my own. I developed my own unique lead pipe taper and began using one piece, hand hammered bells made by Bernd Sandner of Erlbach, Germany. It was also at this late time that I discovered the joys of a home computer and the Internet ( I`ve always been a little slow ). Since 2000 I have made 54 horns, most of them in the last six years. I also began customizing more horns at that time and have done full conversions on Yamaha 667, 667V, 863 horns as well as a number of Farkas horns.
The full conversion consists of stripping the lacquer and removing and replacing the entire bell and first branch and lead pipe. All branches and tubing are unsoldered and removed and realigned to reduce stress and improve the over all resonance of the valve cluster.Gaps between joints , poorly fit braces and stress points are removed.The bell is replaced with a Bernd Sandner one piece hand hammered bell assembly and matching first branch and my lead pipe. The end result is a superb playing horn for thousands less than a custom horn. Detachable lead pipe system with a choice of four different lead pipes is also available.
My lead pipe produces a horn with smoother slurs and a more even balance and the Sandner bell produces a richer tone quality that is also capable of producing a truer Geyer/Schmidt sound.
I really enjoy the end result of this conversion on the Holton Farkas horns. Holton uses a 23 gauge bell that adds a lot of weight and poorer response and resonance than the original Farkas 24 gauge bell that was on the horn that Farkas originally played in the Chicago Symphony.The Farkas horns also have many gaps between solder joints that causes turbulence and decreased response, and poorly fit branches and braces that have an adverse effect on response and resonance. When all of these issues are addressed the horn becomes an excellent Kruspe style horn.
The price for the conversion is $ 2150.00
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