Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The human factor

I recently bought a 1927 Buescher on eBay; doubt I will be keeping it. It is in a rather good condition, with the original brass straight mute and those non-standard short-shank early Buescher mouthpieces still in the case. As I was digging through the stuff, I felt something move inside the mute. A closer inspection revealed a folded sheet of paper bouncing in there. As I was pulling it out, the paper - which, I surmise, sat there for at least 50 years and possibly more - deteriorated. I noticed some writing on it and tried to put it back together.



James Harrington
Virginia Blanchard
Angelina
Dorothy Grout

Who the hell are those people and what are they doing inside a mute? I truly can't think of an explanation...

As a PS, this was an early Buescher with their early-model non-standard mouthpieces and a tuning slide for a Bb/A; very well preserved except for the valve wear, and quite beautiful once cleaned and polished - but I did not care for the sound too much.

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