THIS! THIS! THIS! ^ My one-sentence version is: why was the horn not played previously? If the horn didn't work for the previous owner, it may not work for you.bloke wrote: Wed Dec 17, 2025 11:38 am Please excuse the didactic phrasing, but if I put it in another voice, it would require a bunch of awkwardly-worded verbiage
-------------------
When considering purchasing an instrument based on its impressive provenance, realize that the or those former owner or owners sold it, rather than choosing to keep it.
If it's good it's good, if it's not good it's not good.
A very large percentage of amazingly great players have purchased some very bad instruments, but I would strongly suspect that most of them sold those instruments either shortly thereafter or after those particular instruments collected a certain amount of dust.
If it's good, buy it, create your own provenance with that instrument, and - assuming you're never able to find anything better - keep it until you can no longer play.
me...??
I've sold some remarkably fine (personal use) instruments, but I'm sort of a weirdo, in that I try to govern myself into only being a player, while trying to avoid being a collector. (I've also bought a few bad ones, during my several decades long learning process, which hasn't ended.)
my own stubborn lack of willingness to "agree to disagree":An instrument that may be bad for someone maybe great for someone else.
I seriously doubt that, and suspect that people who hold on to bad instruments are simply oblivious.
Now, a couple of items about the used horns I have purchased: I look for proper moderate wear; for example, where the thumb and fingers may rest against the horn. If there is wear in those places and not others, it is probably a playable horn, or unless any other mechanical issues of lack of maintenance are visible, well taken care of. Also, look for easily fixed issues the previous owner didn't know about. For example, on my Cyborg cornet, it was used - mint condition. When I played it, it played well. But it gurgled. After investigation, the main water key hole on the lead pipe had never been drilled! I fixed it, and it has been my primary high brass instrument ever since.
One positive story: I was privileged with the use of a 1929 Conn 38K for several years. Magnificient souzy! It had just the right amount of wear on the valve slides where a player's right-hand palm would rest, indicating it was played well, and from the overall condition, taken care of well. It was institutional surplus, so no details on its history. But the wear patterns, including the little dark ring on the main tuning slide as to where to set it on a brisk October Saturday when being played outdoors for field and parades.
One point of wear to avoid: On some older instruments that have a tuning/water relief loop in the leadpipe before the valve block, especially on upright valve horns, beware of excessive wear. That indicates the previous player had to "ride throttle" on this loop slide and may indicate intonation issues with the horn.