Past entries
Past Project Log:
Tuesday 4/10/2005: Okay, I really need to update a lot more often! There was a bit of a lull in the work, but it has given me time to work on a very special project for my new friend Claude in Hawaii. The intent is to create an heirloom to pass on through his family. As such, he wanted to have images from the island on the horn, as well as very elegant, elaborate floral work. The challenge was how to incorporate the existing engraving, which leaves very much to be desired. I thought about it a lot and decided sometimes the best thing is not to try and hide something weak, but bring it out and make it come alive. I did a very special technique engraving around and through the existing work, then filling it in. I then added very detailed work the winds around and behind the stock pattern. I did the fill on all the additional work in straight cuts. So far I have engraved the Hawaiian state bird, the Nene, a waterfall scene and very intricate details on the bow brace. It's a work in progress, but here are some photos:
The Nene
The Bow
The side with the waterfall on it
Friday 4/1/2005: It's been so busy lately that I never seem to get time to update my page. I've been playing quite a bit with the Noah Teicher Quartet, as well other gigs here and there. I'm going to post a few collages here of recent works -- most notably Kenny's Reference 54 alto which drew some inspiration from Jim's. I also did an expedited job for BAC Horn Doctor on a trumpet that will be a gift from some dedicated music students to their director. I engraved a copy of his signature as well as "Custom Special" underneath it. It also has JCCC 2005 under the logo in commemoration. I just completed an SML tenor for World Wide Sax, and of course Kenny's R&C soprano what seems like ages ago. I also engraved a special King 3-B SilverSonic trombone and finally my own alto in a Celtic pattern, which I believe turned out even better than the Conn tenor I did. I still have one Conn tenor to engrave, and that one may turn out to be the most elaborate yet. We'll see! I'll be gone the next 5 days on a much-needed vacation. Up next is going to be a very special heirloom tenor project.
Kenny's Reference 54 Alto
My Yamaha alto
Wednesday 3/2/2005: Fresh off the bench is Scott's Reference 54 tenor, which I did in an Art Nouveau style, with a central portrait surrounded by floral work. I used an elongated lilly attern throughout and added some extra flowers throughout. This tenor had two necks so I did them each with their own personality. Coming in tomorrow is Kenny's R&C soprano.
Sunday 2/20/2005: I just completed the 2 trumpets from BAC Horn Doctor, 1 is an Olds Recording model and the other is a Conn Victor. The Olds was incredibly tricky to re-engrave, as it is done in some of the finest straight cut work found on any trumpet. I also put the finishing touches on Jim's amazing Reference alto. It deserves a picture here on the front page!
I'll be adding it to the favorites page this week. I also took some pictures of my Buescher Artist Model C tenor -- without a doubt the nicest engraving I've ever seen on a horn! It's even got the original engraved, gold plated ligature and mouthpiece cap! The body is quadruple gold plated,
and the engraving is all filled in silver. It is absolutely stunning!
Tuesday 2/15/2005: I've been too busy to update of late! I have almost completed Jim's Reference alto and will be posting updated pictures in the next day or so once it is complete. I also managed to finish David's soprano, which is one of the nicest vintage sopranos I've ever had the pleasure of seeing! I'll be engraving the another Conn tenor and putting it on eBay in the next few weeks. Up and coming work -- Scott's Reference 54, which may wind up being the nicest themed horn I have ever done. It's going to be done completely in Art Nouveau style. I've also got 3 trumpets coming in for re-engraving from the BAC Horn Doctor. Look for lots of pictures soon. I just haven't had the gumption to spend a lot of time in front of the PC, especially since I have been playing a lot of gigs and working on my new solo CD project.
Thursday 2/3/2005: Lots of projects in now, and more updates on the way... up next, Jim's showpiece Reference alto, a little more work on Tom's trumpet, and a nickel plated soprano for my old friend David. The Celtic Conn is on eBay right now, although I am not the one selling it.
Monday 1/17/2005: Quick update... I just finished Jim's penguin neck. Here are some photos: Left View Right View The Penguin.
Saturday 1/15/2005: The weather is finally getting Winter-like, so it's a good time to stay inside and cozy up next to my engraving tools. I am done with the body of the "Celtic Conn" and once I am done with the neck, it is up for grabs, so let me know right away if you are interested in it before I list it on eBay! Here she is:
Sunday 1/9/2005: Not much of an update, but I figured I'd share pictures of my current personal project, the first of the two Conn Wonder tenors. I've never engraved so much in one sitting before, but once you start working on Celtic knotwork, it becomes almost hypnotic. The trick is to always make sure lines go over and under, and never under-under or vice versa. I
did this completely spontaneously, with no planning or guides. I just followed the knot wherever it took me. This one is going to be stunning when it is done. I am going to do the body, neck,
rim, and probably keys too. While I have it apart, I may put a new set of Conn Reso Pads in it. It's had a little past damage, but has a great smokey sound and deserves to be played. Hopefully all of this work will give it a new lease on life. One thing is for sure, there's no other horn even remotely like it out there!
On a personal note, it's really been a good new year so far. I'm doing a lot of playing, and sticking to my resolution to play my sax every single day of the year. I am going to be recording at least
one solo CD this year, as well as recording with the Jazz Express Big Band, which I am the artistic and musical director for. Other plans are to get the Jason DuMars model saxophone rolled out, maybe find some more project horns, and whatever else comes my way. Here's to 2005!
Saturday 1/1/2005: A slight diversion for the New Year... Today is my birthday, and I had a couple of surprises. Yesterday, I went to Beaverton Music to buy some music books, and saw a lovely King Super 20 Silversonic alto on the wall. I didn't intend to even try it out, but the guy behind the counter convinced me to. Boy am I glad I did! I fell in love with it almost immediately, and oddly enough found the Link Tone Edge randomly selected to try on it a perfect match! I went home and mulled it over and went back to buy it. I played it for several hours yesterday and today, and feel like an alto player again! Anyway, I decided I wanted to spruce it up, and well, went a little crazy on it. I did the bell keys like the earlier versions, engraved a very nude
woman watching a butterfly on the unengraved side of the bell, engraved the bow, the bow brace, the body and even the pants guard! For now I'll leave the neck alone. The other surprise was receiving the new prototype for the Jinyin professional model alto. I don't have any
pictures, but I can tell you it is an absolutely awesome design with some cool features like rolled tone holes and a C# speaker key. There are some changes I need to suggest to them, but it's definitely a solid start. It will be interesting to see how the Jason DuMars model comes out. I should be receiving a prototype in the next month or so. I'll post pics on that one too.
Thursday 12/30/2004: I've wrapped up my vacation for the most part, having just completed Bill's Mendez. You can see an overview here. Bill gave me some ideas to mull over, including Our Lady of Guadalupe, and the Mission San Juan Capistrano. I decided to do the body in a traditional floral like you might see on an original Mendez, but did the pictoral work in a Southwestern theme including a Native American lizard and Thunderbird design. The difference on this trumpet is the extremely small and detailed patterns that run along the body tubes and valves. I also did a very quick job in the Selmer style on the King alto bell. I may take pictures of that one in the near future. I spent a lot of time the past few days getting my Conn C Melody tenor functioning properly, and right now it plays absolutely great! Combined with an old Dukoff Hollywood tenor piece, it sounds as good or better than most of my other horns. I made some impromptu pieces for it by hacking up a Lakey and a Meyer. Let me know if you have a C tenor and need a mouthpiece, because both of these play very well. I just happen to like the Dukoff more. Let's see what else is happening... January 1st is my birthday, and I'm not sure what I
want to do to celebrate it yet. I wish there was some giant vintage saxophone emporium or museum I could wander around in all day. My closet is getting close to that now, especially with the addition of the ultra-rare Buescher Artist Model C tenor and all the Conn horns in there! Up next... Jim's Reference 54 neck (with Penguin!) and who knows what else.
Sunday 12/19/2004: The Holidays are upon us, and I am going to take a little bit of a vacation for the week. I just completed Tom Green's trumpet, and I have to say it may be the best-looking trumpet I have ever done. The Celtic knotwork runs all the way around the bell, with fill work up to the rim. I did it completely freehand, and let the knots go where they wanted. The result almost looks like highly-stylized Arabic writing. Up next -- shipping stuff out, Bill's gorgeous Mendez trumpet, the two Conn tenors, finish the Buescher True Tone (which I
just repadded myself), the King alto, and whatever else comes in! Have a very happy holiday!
Monday 12/13/2004: This is just a quick update to show the projects I mentioned below. Tom Green's trumpet is turning out absolutely wonderfully! So far it is done in all Celtic knotwork surrounded by fill work. Then there's my soprano, which I engraved a "Mucha-esque" figure
on, standing only 4 inches high! I also did all of the key cups, even the smallest ones. My camera was running out of batteries, so there aren't as many pictures as I would have liked. On the way is a wonderful Olds Mendez trumpet which I plan on engraving extremely elaborately. I received the three project horns (the two Conn tenors and King alto) and was extremely impressed with the playability of them all. I'm going to repad the tenors, add nice new Protec bags, and engrave the heck out of them. The end product will be two very nice horns! The alto is still a bit of a mystery for me. I am tempted to experiment on it, since it is not a pro horn. I have yet to do a completely art deco horn, and that one may be it... we'll see!
Wednesday 12/8/2004: It's been a while since I updated as I was very sick for over 2 weeks! I just completed a very, very difficult but fun project for Sarge at World Wide Sax: a gorgeous Conn Portrait alto that needed complete re-engraving. Working on this horn felt like restoring a Rembrandt painting! The engraving was pretty faint, so I had to make up a lot of the fill work, and especially the detail on the portrait. I also went a little crazy tonight and engraved all the keys on my Conn soprano... pictures will be coming soon of that. A little while ago, I engraved my Conn 6M exactly the same as my tenor, and it turned out great. I always dreamed of having a matched set of alto and tenor, and now I have it! The soprano in the back is the 'before' picture. I have two really nice 1921 Conn tenors coming in soon with no engraving, and I plan on giving them the works! They will be up for sale by mid-January. If you want to reserve one of these for Christmas, let me know! I also have a nice vintage King Cleveland alto coming in that I plan on engraving like a classic King. That one should be for sale by February. That's all the news for now... stay tuned for Tom Green's trumpet project, and some other goodies!
Wednesday 11/23/2004: Well, the cold hit me really hard, and I have been out of ommission. Today I felt better for a little while and finished all of the additional requested work on one of Martin's tubas. It turned out great, but the thin brass is very, very challenging. I also updated the gallery page with my favorite work from other engravers. I have a ton of other non-instrument engraving photos I'll put up eventually too. The work load is going to be increasing soon with some work from Tom Green and Mark at saxquest.com.
Sunday 11/21/2004: Over the past couple of weeks I have been working to finish the long term projects. And, at long last, I have completed most of them, including Martin's tubas. I am going to do a tiny bit more wok on them and ship them out this week. I put together a special page for William to showcase his remarkable soprano, which I feel comfortable saying may be
the most elaborately engraved saxophone ever. Most of the engraving patterns are small enough to fit on a nickel! I also completed his Selmer tenor neck, and it turned out great! I did a
few special projects including a gorgeous Buescher True Tone alto, and sold them on eBay. The only project horns I have left are my disassembled Buescher True Tone tenor, and the early Conn Art Nouveau alto. I also did some work on my own tenor, a 1949 Conn 10M. Unfortunately I think I am coming down with a cold.
Monday 11/1/2004: I haven't been updating this site as regularly as I should, but will try and do better. It's been a very busy time of late, especially with all of the political things going on. I
have been continuing work on "Rosetta" as well as finishing one of Martin's tubas -- no small feat considering the complexity of copying a pattern from scratch. I just completed engraving a Dukoff Hollywood mouthpiece that was plated in chrome. This was easily the most difficult job I've done in ages because of the slipperiness and necessity of holding it in my hand while I worked on it. No blood spilled this time, thankfully! I also completed a special job for Anke in Germany. She sent me her C tenor for engraving, and I did it up like a Conn Artist model. Left to do: finish William's jobs, finish the other tuba, and then work on my own projects which will be for sale.
Saturday 10/2/2004: I took a little hiatus last week thanks to a sore right hand, but went back at it with a vengence today. I worked on the Conn nickel plated alto that I am going to sell on eBay for a while, but haven't got pictures up yet. I completed a quick-turnaround on a Yamaha trumpet, and continued work on the tubas which should hopefully be done before too long. I got some great books on firearms engraving, and it was a major inspiration. The hummingbird on the trumpet wouldn't have happened had I not looked at those books today. I still need to complete the other of the two Conn altos (the second will be done in Art Nouveau style and sold on eBay eventually), William's tenor neck, which will be very experimental and crazy, the tubas, and then my plate is clear! I'm continuing work on silver engraving and may post pictures of that soon. Maybe I'll try my hand at some gun engraving soon...
Thursday 9/23/2004: I finally completed the Jupiter bari. I will be putting some photos up in the permanent gallery in the coming days. Now it's time to finish a few backlogged projects: the two tubas and William's Super 80 soprano and tenor neck. After that, it's on to my custom Conn altos that I will be selling on eBay. More news on that later...
Tuesday 9/14/2004: I fixed the broken image links on the main page and did some more work on the Jupiter bari.
Sunday 9/12/2004: I decided it was time for a total redesign of my site. Many of my most recent projects weren't posted, and I wanted the site to reflect my current artistic style which has expanded quite a bit. I am currently working on a Jupiter bari that came completely nengraved. The owner requested roses and classic floral. It's about a quarter of the way done.
1 Comments:
GREAT ENGRAVING ARTIST. I'VE SEEN BORN AGAIN SOME OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SAX EVER MADE!
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