Recreating a Boston Three Star Echo Cornet
In their 1887 catalog, Boston Musical Instrument
Manufactory illustrated a Bb piston valve cornet with
fourth valve and echo attachment. Nobody that I knew
had ever seen one, but many collectors have told me that
they would like to have one. I don't remember whose idea
it was, but Steve Ward wanted me to convert a standard
Boston Three Star into an echo cornet. I would have to
make quite a few parts and modify others to accomplish
this. I named my price and he told me to go ahead. He
supplied a cornet that was restorable, but not economical
to do so and not of any historical importance. To get the
design as close as possible, I enlarged the catalog
illustration to full size. Assuming a large degree of
accuracy, which seems to be true of all the engravings that
Boston published, I could get some rough measurements
and visual designs from this. It would have been
convenient if I had a wrecked rotary valve cornet around
to supply the fourth valve, but I had to make this one all
new. It appears to be the same as the valves in the
Orchestra cornet. I had made several echo bells before
and find that they are not difficult. From experience, I
knew that the cone on the end of the echo was not going to
work well acoustically, so I made it slightly longer and
more flared and also with an insert in the small end, that
when pulled out about 3/4" improves the response of the
echo notes. There appears to be an attachment between
the end of the echo bell and the inside of the main bell
curve. I assumed that this must be a sliding brace giving
the only support for the echo other than where it leaves the
change valve and allows for the necessary tuning of the
assembly. I had to re-bend the original "shepherd's crook"
into the shape as illustrated and be sure to get the length
just right. The second photo to the right shows that I got
the design fairly close to the original. The original pistons
were plated and refit, insuring that this is an excellent
playing echo cornet.
Within a year of completing this project, Steve Ward
managed to buy the real thing, shown in the last photo.
This instrument is now restored and featured on its own
webpage. Some details are slightly different from both the
catalog illustration and the replica cornet. If you look
closely, you will notice that the third valve slide crook is
narrower than on a Three Star Cornet and it is otherwise
of an earlier design, more like E.G. Wright's piston valve
cornets and the very earliest Boston examples known.
This cornet must date from before the introduction of
Three Star or Two Star cornets sometime in the 1870s. It
also lacks the sliding brace to support the echo bell, so not
surprisingly it has become detached and is just laying loose
under the cornet for this photo. I would assume that later
Boston echo cornets were more like the engraving and the
replica, but nobody has found one that I know of (let me
know!).
Manufactory illustrated a Bb piston valve cornet with
fourth valve and echo attachment. Nobody that I knew
had ever seen one, but many collectors have told me that
they would like to have one. I don't remember whose idea
it was, but Steve Ward wanted me to convert a standard
Boston Three Star into an echo cornet. I would have to
make quite a few parts and modify others to accomplish
this. I named my price and he told me to go ahead. He
supplied a cornet that was restorable, but not economical
to do so and not of any historical importance. To get the
design as close as possible, I enlarged the catalog
illustration to full size. Assuming a large degree of
accuracy, which seems to be true of all the engravings that
Boston published, I could get some rough measurements
and visual designs from this. It would have been
convenient if I had a wrecked rotary valve cornet around
to supply the fourth valve, but I had to make this one all
new. It appears to be the same as the valves in the
Orchestra cornet. I had made several echo bells before
and find that they are not difficult. From experience, I
knew that the cone on the end of the echo was not going to
work well acoustically, so I made it slightly longer and
more flared and also with an insert in the small end, that
when pulled out about 3/4" improves the response of the
echo notes. There appears to be an attachment between
the end of the echo bell and the inside of the main bell
curve. I assumed that this must be a sliding brace giving
the only support for the echo other than where it leaves the
change valve and allows for the necessary tuning of the
assembly. I had to re-bend the original "shepherd's crook"
into the shape as illustrated and be sure to get the length
just right. The second photo to the right shows that I got
the design fairly close to the original. The original pistons
were plated and refit, insuring that this is an excellent
playing echo cornet.
Within a year of completing this project, Steve Ward
managed to buy the real thing, shown in the last photo.
This instrument is now restored and featured on its own
webpage. Some details are slightly different from both the
catalog illustration and the replica cornet. If you look
closely, you will notice that the third valve slide crook is
narrower than on a Three Star Cornet and it is otherwise
of an earlier design, more like E.G. Wright's piston valve
cornets and the very earliest Boston examples known.
This cornet must date from before the introduction of
Three Star or Two Star cornets sometime in the 1870s. It
also lacks the sliding brace to support the echo bell, so not
surprisingly it has become detached and is just laying loose
under the cornet for this photo. I would assume that later
Boston echo cornets were more like the engraving and the
replica, but nobody has found one that I know of (let me
know!).
Click on images for larger views.