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Wednesday evening my wife and I were enjoying a local big band at a nearby pub. Also sitting with us was my wife's friend, Nancy, who's husband is one of the horn players. After the set, my wife turns to me, and says, "I'm not going to bug you about how many guitars you have, anymore. Nancy says that Steve has 49 trumpets!"
I thanked Steve profusely! Kind of sounds like carte blanche, doesn't it?

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

I would love to hear how one makes a believable case for having 49 trumpets.

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Once in a while you get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right - Robert Hunter

He told me that he was over 50 for a while, but thinned the herd a bit. He retired last Christmas from teaching elementary school, and ran the school music programme. He buys them, repairs them, and sells them, plus supplying pupils with instruments. He started the 18 piece big band almost 20 years ago, and they make enough money for a Christmas party, and buying new charts. I've been needling him for a couple of years to get the charts for Zappa's Peaches en Regalia, but it's pretty pricey.

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

A believable case would need to be made very strong. I recommend cabinet grade birch plywood, and dovetailed corners. Stout handles and castor wheels also a definite plus.

Edited: Upon further thought and calculation, such a case would require 5 sheets of 3/4" plywood, aluminum reinforced edges, and even so may still be unbelievable. So never mind. I don't know how to make a believable case for all those trumpets.

The next question.... So how much are good quality trumpets?

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Haha, I always remind my wife about an article I read that compared the average cost of a touring guitarists rig with that of a classical musician graduating from university and looking for a symphony job. No mortgage necessary for my tastes...

Steve sold one that he had refurbished to an NYC musician a couple of years ago, and if IIRC, he got somewhere around $3,500 USD for it. I'm sure this is not the norm, though!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

Checking online professional quality trumpets seem to go for $2500 -$3000. Not too expensive, and student quality quite a bit less costly.

Don't we all have a large back log of projects and instruments stashed in odd corners? I probably have an eclectic mix of 50 or 60 in number. Any thing from a French bassoon ( and two oboes, an english horn, and a shawm) to an old Erard pedal harp (and an old Spanish harp, and a Celtic harp copy) to fiddles and fifes and piccolos. Dulcimers, zithers and God forbid - banjo's. And of course, old and broken guitars from the past couple of century's.
After a while you stop counting....

For $3,500 there are a lot of really nice guitars out there. Some of them are made by OLF'rs.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Thanks! I feel much better now, and more important, so does my wife!

At the Portland Hand Made Instrument Exhibit, I talked to a horn builder who had a table there. He builds trumpets and other horns by hand. Incredible workmanship. selling for well into the thousands. I just couldn't imagine how you'd build a horn, I guess like how some people can't imagine how we build guitars.

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formerly known around here as burbank
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http://www.patfosterguitars.com

Funny Alex.
Just make your wife an occasional chopping block or recipe holder.
Works for me!
Merry Xmas my friend!
Dan

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wah
Wah-wah-wah-wah
Wah

Works for me too, Dan, except my wife likes me to build to a different scale - bathrooms, furniture, cabinets, tables, etc! The shine is starting to wear off getting the kitchen redone, aka, "what have you done for me lately?"
Merry Christmas to you and your family, as well, Dan! Have a wonderful holiday!

Alex

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"Indecision is the key to flexibility" .... Bumper sticker

“You don’t love because: you love despite; not for the virtues, but despite the faults.”

― William Faulkner

My wife loves me despite a great many things, including the sawdust and clutter from building guitars. I find it important that she is exposed to people with bigger problems than mine, so that she considers herself lucky in comparison to their spouses.

A worthy strategy and one to which I also subscribe

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Steve Smith
"Music is what feelings sound like"

Hmmm. My wife doesn’t cook. ☹️


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For a wife who doesn't cook, you can do other things around the house, like fix sticking doors, or doors that won't latch properly. There are lots of woodworking maintenance projects around an average house that a guitar builder should be able to tackle.

Of course, be careful. Once your spouse sees that you CAN do stuff like that, you will be on the hook to get stuff like that done. The curse of the competent. It's how I got stuck building vanities for our bathroom renovation.

You must have married for love.

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"Act your age, not your shoe size" - Prince

Exactly! Every year or so, we get together with old college friends. Eventually it ends up with the husbands hanging out doing whatever it is we do and the wives hanging out complaining about the husbands. My wife always ends up feeling appreciative of me afterwards. I may not be the ideal husband but as long as I'm better than most of my friends, I end up looking good. . .

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Bryan Bear PMoMC

Take care of your feet, and your feet will take care of you.