TromboneChat

I saw an ad for an Olds Recording from the late 60s touting Re-O-Lay metal. What was that all about?

What was the bore of the Recording model?

Re-O-Loy... (Reginald Olds Alloy); I've seen it as "Re-O-loy", too.

Looks like gold brass to me. Redder than yellow brass, yellower than red brass.

Any discussion of alloys gets tricky because there's no real standard for the nomenclature - and the terms used by the music industry don't necessarily align with those used by the metals industry.

The number and variance of alloys used in instrument making is actually very small. More often than not, metal names are conjured up by marketing people, to try and instill a sense of uniqueness in their product.

There are some exceptions, like the cartridge brass used by Bach after WWII, (72/28 copper/zinc) but that came about because the government had surplus sheet metal they wanted to off load for cheap, and Bach wanted to save some money. Not because Bach wanted it for any particular acoustic reason.

The reality is the musical instrument industry just isn't big enough to have the clout to go making special alloys at whim.

hornbuilder wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 9:32 am The reality is the musical instrument industry just isn't big enough to have the clout to go making special alloys at whim.

^^^^
THIS
^^^^

Another reality is that if you want an alloy that's available but not in wide use, you need to buy a whole lot of it to keep the unit cost down to a practical price.

Prototyping is expensive.

hornbuilder wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 9:32 amThe reality is the musical instrument industry just isn't big enough to have the clout to go making special alloys at whim.

Definitely. Most metal producers won't even consider producing anything other than standard alloys, even if you're willing to buy an entire heat (which is a whole lot of metal, even for a company the size of Conn-Selmer or Yamaha). The few that might take on the job will want you to buy the entire heat, plus the price per ton is going to be significantly higher that a standard alloy.

My mistake. Re-O-Loy is what the ad said.

Bore?

Bach5G wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 10:09 am My mistake. Re-O-Loy is what the ad said.

Bore?

.495"/.510"; if it has an f-attachment, it's .515" through the valve.