Restoration of Two Graves Bugles
Graves & Co. of Winchester, NH was the most prolific maker of
keyed bugles in the US, producing them in that town from 1838
until about 1849. After the move to Boston in 1850, they made
very few as they were loosing demand to the valve brass
instruments. Also, E.G. Wright had become the leading US maker
in those years. There is much demand for Graves' instruments
today, however, and collectors pay high prices for them in any
condition. The story here isn't so much about the restoration of
these two bugles. That would be repetitive: They both needed a
lot of work cleaning, removing dents, re-mounting parts,
reproducing missing parts and setting up in for playing. These two
instruments, both belonging to Boston trumpeter, Chris Belluscio,
are an excellent illustration of how different two major restorations
can be. I suspect that based on the "before" photographs, most
readers would guess that the Eb bugle in the top photo would
involve a larger job than the Bb bugle in the fifth photo down. The
latter had previously been restored and was described as being in
playable condition. Judging by what I could see, it must have been
very badly damaged in the past. Dents had been roughly removed
and numerous patches had been applied. I assumed that there
were leaks under these patches, but about half of them were
covering rough areas without leaks. Removing dents can be time
consuming in a badly damaged instrument like the Eb bugle, but
dealing with previous repairs is almost always more difficult. Dent
removal goes even slower and parts that were made incorrectly are
rarely usable in a more careful restoration. In this case, it appeared
that several keys had been taken from a European made bugle and
modified to fit. I was able to use only the touch piece end of one
of these in reconstructing a correct replacement, however.
Saxophone pads had been used in an attempt to make this
playable. These never work very well because they require the
support of the sides of key cups. Without this support, the thick
felt underneath the leather deforms and won't maintain the seal
against the chimney. Even worse, the keys need to be bent to
accommodate the thicker pads. Occasionally, when I am bending
the keys back they break, adding another step to the repair.
Several keys were bent in very odd shapes, presumably from an
attempt to straighten some damage. It appeared that the end of the
mouthpipe had been reamed with a drill bit; I can't think of a
reason for this other than to enlarge it. This left it ragged and
shortened from the original. There's not much I can do to lengthen
it without loosing even more of the original material, so I smoothed
and cleaned up the end as best as I could and made the new crook
to fit it. Another detail that the average repairman who is not
accustomed to dealing with keyed bugles may miss is that the
narrow soldered joint where the tonehole chimneys attach are
rarely secure. Solder deteriorates in instruments that are being
played or suffer other harsh conditions and it doesn't take much
physical damage to open a leak at the base of these chimneys. In
my experience, only about one in thirty or so have a good enough
joint. In about 50 keyed bugles that I have restored, I have only
come across one or possibly two instruments in which all the
toneholes were completely attached. The only way to ensure that
the soldered joints are secure is to remove every chimney, clean
the joint surfaces and reattach them with fresh solder. Graves
bugles always seem to be excellent playing instruments when they
are treated correctly and that was certainly the case here.
Click on images for larger views.
keyed bugles in the US, producing them in that town from 1838
until about 1849. After the move to Boston in 1850, they made
very few as they were loosing demand to the valve brass
instruments. Also, E.G. Wright had become the leading US maker
in those years. There is much demand for Graves' instruments
today, however, and collectors pay high prices for them in any
condition. The story here isn't so much about the restoration of
these two bugles. That would be repetitive: They both needed a
lot of work cleaning, removing dents, re-mounting parts,
reproducing missing parts and setting up in for playing. These two
instruments, both belonging to Boston trumpeter, Chris Belluscio,
are an excellent illustration of how different two major restorations
can be. I suspect that based on the "before" photographs, most
readers would guess that the Eb bugle in the top photo would
involve a larger job than the Bb bugle in the fifth photo down. The
latter had previously been restored and was described as being in
playable condition. Judging by what I could see, it must have been
very badly damaged in the past. Dents had been roughly removed
and numerous patches had been applied. I assumed that there
were leaks under these patches, but about half of them were
covering rough areas without leaks. Removing dents can be time
consuming in a badly damaged instrument like the Eb bugle, but
dealing with previous repairs is almost always more difficult. Dent
removal goes even slower and parts that were made incorrectly are
rarely usable in a more careful restoration. In this case, it appeared
that several keys had been taken from a European made bugle and
modified to fit. I was able to use only the touch piece end of one
of these in reconstructing a correct replacement, however.
Saxophone pads had been used in an attempt to make this
playable. These never work very well because they require the
support of the sides of key cups. Without this support, the thick
felt underneath the leather deforms and won't maintain the seal
against the chimney. Even worse, the keys need to be bent to
accommodate the thicker pads. Occasionally, when I am bending
the keys back they break, adding another step to the repair.
Several keys were bent in very odd shapes, presumably from an
attempt to straighten some damage. It appeared that the end of the
mouthpipe had been reamed with a drill bit; I can't think of a
reason for this other than to enlarge it. This left it ragged and
shortened from the original. There's not much I can do to lengthen
it without loosing even more of the original material, so I smoothed
and cleaned up the end as best as I could and made the new crook
to fit it. Another detail that the average repairman who is not
accustomed to dealing with keyed bugles may miss is that the
narrow soldered joint where the tonehole chimneys attach are
rarely secure. Solder deteriorates in instruments that are being
played or suffer other harsh conditions and it doesn't take much
physical damage to open a leak at the base of these chimneys. In
my experience, only about one in thirty or so have a good enough
joint. In about 50 keyed bugles that I have restored, I have only
come across one or possibly two instruments in which all the
toneholes were completely attached. The only way to ensure that
the soldered joints are secure is to remove every chimney, clean
the joint surfaces and reattach them with fresh solder. Graves
bugles always seem to be excellent playing instruments when they
are treated correctly and that was certainly the case here.
Click on images for larger views.