A friend of mine is offering me his 24H, 1928 built, for a decent 500€. Out of the workshop.
I like horns with personnality, and am familiar to the old King 2B from the same specs. How would you compare these 2 horns ? What can i expect from the Conn, regarding upper register and slide weight ? I play a 12C equivalent, slightly more open backbore.
It has been a long time since I played a 2b, but it's a dual bore, right? I don't think the 24h is a dualie. More than the 2b, I would say the 24h is somewhat similar to the Bach 6. I've only played NY version of the Bach 6.
I had a 1930s silver plated 24h. It screamed in the upper range. It was pretty thick metal, so it could handle a lot of sound. Pretty narrow slide. Small bell, like 7", I think. Nice engraving. You had to back off on the articulation, mostly just due to the small bore. Slide weight, I'd consider it to be not light weight. Slide braces seem short and fat due to the narrow width of the slide.
What was it good for? Big band lead for sure, general jazz instrument, where ever you need a very quick articulating axe. Dixieland music, had that characteristic sound I think of when I think Dixie. Marching band. Makes a hell of a racket and it's pretty sturdy. I used it one time for a solo in church, high range. Mine wasn't as light as you'd expect it to be, just because of the thick bell and braces.
If the slide is good, it's in otherwise good condition and you can get used to how little air it uses, that price is toward the high end of the range you'd find in the US, but not unreasonable. 24h tend to sell for less money than you think. In the EU that's probably a better deal than it sounds in the US.
Four years ago, I bought a 24H (from 1942) on Ebay USA (I'm located in Europe). Based on the description and pictures it didn't seem too risky.
I payed $354 for the horn and $20 for shipping within the States to my favorite repair man. According to his description I had overlooked quite a few dents in the bell, tuning slide, neckpipe, and slide. There was no inner slide wear, but the slide needed some making up.
The repair cost me $100, and shipping to Europe another $92. I don't remember exactly, but import tax must have been around $50.
All in all this amounts to about $600. In comparison, your friend's offer is quite reasonable, especially since the horn has been looked over, and - most importantly - you have the possibility to test it.
The 2B may be applicable in a wider range of situations, but the 24H has a very charming, singing voice of its own. Listen to e.g.
I have both horns and would not want to give away either of them.
