Custom Hand Hammered Tenor Alto Convertible

[hyperbolica]

The more you look...


I kept expecting to see a B.A.C. label on it. Hand hammered! No doubt. Check out the bell. It's hammered alright. Sterling silver. It comes with a second tuning slide that turns it into an alto trombone? Is that plate actually welded to the tuning slide, or is it just such a bad solder job that it looks like weld? And look at those custom grips. I'll bet he cut up his best hoodie to make those.

"Slide works smoothly and can perform technical passages and slide vibrato..."

And of course a wooden mouthpiece and a hose clamp to keep it in there. "Wood"n't want to lose that wooden mouthpiece.

This thing has to have a story.

[JohnL]

Link:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Custom-Hand-Ha ... 3106757243

Current and past items from the same seller:
"American Triumph" trumpet by Pedler: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153097122950
Bundy trombone: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153106721914
Unnamed trumpet: https://www.ebay.com/itm/153069198777
Supertone Artist Model trombone: https://www.ebay.com/itm/152938406808

I think there may have been a thread or two about this seller at the old place. What truly boggles the mind is that not only do people buy this seller's stuff, but (s)he has 100% positive feedback.

Thing is, the only way to hold a seller accountable for this sort of thing would be to buy the item and then post negative feedback. Even then, most of their item descriptions don't have actual false information. The bells are "hand hammered", after all. That convertible tenor/alto is a different case but, even on that horn, the wording is such that "intent to deceive" isn't entirely obvious.

...one that tunes the instrument to a high Eb

It looks like the short tuning slide probably raises the pitch about a 1/2 step. That would raise the D above the staff to an Eb, so someone could (very) loosely interpret that as tuning the instrument to a high Eb.

Now as to the instrument being sterling silver? Particularly the tuning slide? Doubtful, but the seller could simply be "mistaken".

[mrdeacon]

I'm pretty sure we saw something like the "alto" on the old forums that was in fact a early BAC creation. It had a similar giant piece of brass slapped on and a intentionally beat up bell.

These new ones don't seem to be made by BAC... instead someone much worse seems to be creating these frankenstein horns!

[mrdeacon]

John, you should take a closer feedback. You'll get a kick out of it.

It seems he has only made 4 sales in the past year... 1 was a Yu-gi-oh trading card game lot, 1 horn was purchased from Russia, and 2 horns were sold in the states over 6 months ago.

I'll count that as 2 sales over the past year. Prettttty sketchy if you ask me.

[JohnL]

It seems he has only made 4 sales in the past year... 1 was a Yu-gi-oh trading card game lot, 1 horn was purchased from Russia, and 2 horns were sold in the states over 6 months ago.

I'll count that as 2 sales over the past year. Prettttty sketchy if you ask me.

Nah, I wouldn't necessarily call that sketchy. It's just small volume. The seller probably buys super cheap horns locally for next to nothing. Even the typical craigslist beater is too expensive, so raw material isn't all that plentiful.

And remember, feedback doesn't tell you the whole history of the seller. Some buyers never leave feedback. Searching completed listings, I found another horn they sold.
Customized Olds Ambassador Trombone (coin Braced)Raw Satin W/smooth Satin Finish: https://www.ebay.com/itm/152995716827

I also found some completed but unsold listings for the convertible tenor/alto.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153067905107
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153080469819
https://www.ebay.com/itm/153093490752
The original asking price was $1,999.99 USD

[mrdeacon]

Haha I got a good laugh out of the coin bracing

[imsevimse]

The one who buys that horn (at any price) is a lunatic. That horn is 100% crap and the description is so dumb. The seller is hoping to find an ignorant fool. I doubt there is such an idiot. "Every horn is customized in my shop" (hahaha)

/Tom