Once upon a time there was a Guy who liked old stuff, especially old stuff you could fix up. Or recycle.
So, he was hunting in the dumpster in the church parking lot for cardboard or anything worth passing on to someone else. He pulled out a small black suitcase, certainly not expecting a musical instrument.
He opened the case and, lo and behold, it held a trumpet. He rescued it and eagerly brought it home. Because of COVID restrictions, this trumpet and flugelhorn player is missing playing Christmas concerts this year at retirement homes with the Des Moines members of New Horizons Band.
He began carefully taking it apart, which turned into an ordeal, as some of the slides were hard to work apart, even after saturating the entire horn with oil. He worked with the valves until they worked smoothly.
Researching the stamp on it, it’s a 1945 King Cleveland 600. But the tuning slide absolutely wouldn’t let loose, even after taking a torch to it, so he stopped by Rieman Music, which is where New Horizons Band practices. Mark, who works there, got caught up in the story of the rescue trumpet. He managed to get the dent out that was causing the problem and did some resoldering. He also replaced the third valve slide and ring, the felt pads under the finger buttons, and a cute little knob.
Guy brought home the trumpet to its red nest, which he’d reglued into the case, and he shined up his adoptee with Brasso. This just might turn out to be his favorite horn.
The only thing better than having an old trumpet is having an old trumpet with a story.