Olds (Blessing USA - Merle Johnson, et al) marching baritone

[bloke]

I trying to finish a "school" (and move on to the eight-or-more OTHER schools' piles of torn-up crap).
This was the last of the non-sousaphones, and - so far - the first sousaphone went faster than I had anticipated (always good).

In my view, the Blessing USA marching baritones were THE ABSOLUTE BEST ever made.
> They sounded the best.
> They played the best.
> They featured Bauerfeind valvesets (same as those which outfit most of the existing Willson euphoniums).

I got one in handed to me in pieces, and quoted a bunch to un-smash it and put it all back together.

I managed all of it in roughly half the estimated time. (happy)

The first and main slides were bent W-A-Y over...I knew that putting them where they belonged would "jack" the #1 casing, but I had no choice (if the also-formerly-mangled main slide was to be functional)...but I was able to "unjack" the #1 casing in about a minute.

There is NO lacquer on this instrument...dark brown.

After sticking it back together, there were red and weird-colored places on it as well.

I spray-painted the entire instrument with bright gold metallic enamel.

I'm betting that (knowing kids) they will FIGHT OVER which one of them gets to have this one, because it's "cool".

...no pictures...not hard to imagine how it looks.

[York-aholic]

Please tell us next year, when it comes back for re-un-bending, how the paint job held up.

Quite curious.

[bloke]

Please tell us next year, when it comes back for re-un-bending, how the paint job held up.

Quite curious.

I'm thinking about (before finishing up this school's crap) hitting it with same-brand clear enamel (over the metallic).
After doing that it won't sparkle as much, but should be more durable.
This rattle-can stuff (as many of us have discovered) has greatly improved, in the last decade or two.

Nikolas sells some metallic dyes (to add to their lacquers) which they claim NEARLY look like real polished metal.
I've not yet tried them.

[iiipopes]

No pix? Even one of the finished horn?

[bloke]

No pix? Even one of the finished horn?

' not sure what there is to see that wasn't described or that wouldn't be expected...(??)



' all shined up for the big solo in Holst's 2nd Suite March

bloke "It may look 'weird', but 'weird' and 'torn-to-bits-P.O.S.' aren't necessarily synonymous, and it's no longer the latter.

...I'm thinking that these post-1980 instruments - with "OLDS" engraved on them - were all sold by a single retail outfit in New Jersey, who 'borrowed' (and slightly re-sorted) their initials from a music education teacher association...You know...I believe some of these have achieved their FOURTH full decade of existence. ...OK: back to repairing a crappy recently-manufactured Eastlake 20K with crappy nothing-wrong-with-them-other-than-they-won't-go-up-and-down valves. "

video:



♫♪♪ Sometimes you want to go
Where everybody knows your name
And they're always glad you came
You want to be where everybody knows your name ♫♪♪