TubaForum.net

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 343024874/

Just looks like a big cornet in F. Never seen one of these.

I wonder how they play/sound.

And I wonder how they differ, playing-wise and sound-wise, from the ill-conceived "Frumpet."

Probably Donald E Getzen-sold, and not the Getzen Company-sold. Yes, made in Switzerland. I've seen some with larger and smaller bells and with other slight variations. I'm not a fan, having played them. The best mellophone design ever is the King design. King are almost musical instruments.

This is a DEG model 1220. It was marketed in the catalog as a "marching alto/French horn", but it is really an alto cornet in F (just as it appears). Made by Willson as mentioned, who also sold an Eb version in their Swiss home market. Most of them have the small 6" bell that this one has, but there were also 2 bigger bell sizes that I know of. None of them show up very often for sale, but when they do they are always listed as a mellophone.

I had a 1220 for a long time. They are really fun to play - free-blowing, pretty good intonation, no weird quirks, works best with an alto horn mouthpiece. The sound on its own isn't the most interesting but certainly pleasant, and does indeed sound like a big, lower cornet (at least with the small bell). It is actually not much bigger physically than a normal cornet either, making it a great travel or desk instrument to noodle around on.

I got a ton of use out of mine in recording sessions, if you can believe it. Its sound blends with pretty much anything, especially trombones or flugelhorns. So when writing for bigger horn sections that I would record, I would often score it in between the flugelhorn(s) and trombones and have it play with both. A good circular mellophone like the Yamaha YMP-201 (non-M) also does this job well, but the DEG 1220 is more convenient with its very small size and front-facing bell. I never had a case for mine, but it was nickel plated and built like a tank so it never got so much as a dent getting thrown around without a case. They were designed for marching band use, after all.

That's a good price for the one posted. I wouldn't mind owning one again...

arpthark wrote: ↑Wed Oct 18, 2023 8:52 amAnd I wonder how they differ, playing-wise and sound-wise, from the ill-conceived "Frumpet."

Night and day! The frumpet is truly awful in every way. I own one of those too, and it is horrendous. The 1220 is an actual musical instrument.

I am hazy between the relationship between Donald E. Getzen (DEG) and Getzen, so apologies for the mix-up.

Many thanks to @Finetales for the background info and first-hand account!

It's been up for a while for not-very-much-money, so I'm tempted to make a low-ball offer out of sheer curiosity.

Getzen makes most of their stuff (I'm not aware of any tubas other than possible assembly of parts, but I'm willing to be proven to otherwise), and DEG didn't make most of their stuff.

DEG was in a huge quonset hut, sort of out in the country.

DEG was the Willson importer, yeah?

And Getzen made ("made") the G-50 thing. That's pretty much all I know.

Is Allied an arm of Getzen?

DEG/Dynasty had horns made first by Willson, then Allied, then Weril. Not sure if there was overlap, or if there were additional sources. That's just what I know from the G bugles.

Back in the 1800's these were made in Eb, and known as "Solo Alto"s.

I have been told by someone who knows more about brass taxonomy and history than me that the difference between a solo alto and an alto cornet is that a solo alto has a cylindrical leadpipe (like an alto horn), while an alto cornet has a conical leadpipe (like a cornet, or the DEG 1220).

The end result is pretty much the same though.