nukeme70

Didn't mean to confuse things, but the guy with the 16 year old horn was someone else...I just kinda jumped in later on in the thread... No idea when mine was built - I *think* that it came to me by way of Madison Scouts, but I'm not sure of that. When I got the horn, it had the square slot for a thumbring, but didn't have the hardware. I looked online at the DEG parts list, and the part # for the contra and their 2v baritone were the same, so I took the ring and set screw off my bari and put it on the contra. The thumb ring isn't the most useful thing - it isn't really a structural component, and it kinda flops around a bit, but it does locate my thumb, and as long as I'm at factory tuning (all the way in...), it works as a decent place to kinda grip. The serial # is 127xx (don't know if actual numbers are a good thing to post...), and it has the Willson valve cluster. I got it 3-4 years ago, and it was in really good shape at the time, so I don't think that it's any more than 6-7 years old...could be way off on that though. I haven't been able to find a database anywhere that has a listing of DEG serial numbers like other manufacturers do.

I would love to know if my horn is a custom job, or just maybe a later design. Mine is great for marching - balance is perfect (it's sometimes easier to leave it balanced on my shoulder, no hands, than it is to set it down). Balance is good enough that I can spin it up if I want. It has the tubing bent for a perfect hand-hold and a reinforced plate where it hits the shoulder. The thumb ring I have is attached to the tuning slide as a Tune Any Note type feature (I have the chromed thumb ring from my 2V DEG bari...it's the same part number listed on the Dynasty website though.) Everything on it looks production, but I have wondered why my horn was different than the one pictured on the Dynasty site...I just figured it was a later model. Here's the only pic I had handy, from when I had it apart for cleaning. You can see the "handle", and kinda the plate. If you have an inside line on the horn designs, or would like other pics or anything else, just ask...BTW, I went to Kantsul's unveiling in 1990 of their Contra Grande prototype - it had a 4th valve horizontal that you played with your left hand, and the pinky ring would've broken your finger on a vigorous horns up/down. Here's my DEG 5/4 4V.

I would throw my vote in for '91 - I really wish that I had been able to march that year (I had a spot, just ended up having to take some courses over the summer). 1990 is great (good use of the first line of 3 valve contras), and of course, odd as it was, 1992 was a great show to march. I think that 'Coats have been a great corps every year they've been around - always classy and entertaining. I could've marched pretty much anywhere I wanted to back in the day, and I never regret marching with Bluecoats...just that I didn't do it more years!

I'm assuming you've seen a 4V DEG before, just not one of that vintage. I know that Bluecoats had the 3V DEGs in 1990, but no idea when they added the 4th valve as an option...but I know they exist, as mine is about 4' away at the moment...

That would be great! It's always great to have an audience, even if it's just 1 person. Watch out though, you just might get drafted into the line! Hope to see you (and others) this weekend.

Stay tuned for a big announcement after this weekend...should be the topic of some interesting discussion!

You know - I think I may just stop on by!

Just to play devil's advocate (not Blue Devil's, BTW...) There's a reason that contras quite often get the accommodation of different headgear. THE HORN IS IN THE WAY! Drummers march crabstep because their drums interfere with slides, contra players wear alternate headgear because the helmets/shakos get in the way of the horns. Can it be done? Sure - I've marched with helmets and shakos - I even did the Aussie thing in High School with a convertible tuba (backwards from the rest of the band). I also have to deal with the fact that with absolutely no headgear on, I have little to no visibility to my left, the fact that I carry a 29lb chunk of brass asymetrically with a center of gravity 7' off the ground, and the fact that if my nose itches, I can scratch it without removing my hand from the valves. I do this by choice, because I love playing the instrument. I think a bit of accommodation can be made... Should the pit keep their headgear on the entire time? Should all percussionists wear gloves? Why doesn't the DM keep their headgear on the entire show? Seems like similar arguments.

The helmets we wore in Bluecoats (at least in '92) had been altered for the contras - the flare along the entire left side of the helmet had been chopped off and covered with white duct tape to keep from cracking. I have no problem with the contra players wearing something different from the rest of the line - the horn is already setting us apart visually and the accomodation is made for the horn to sit on our shoulder and extend behind us, as opposed to being played out in front, so there really isn't any reason not to extend the accomodation to having appropriate headgear as well. Same thing with the gloves - we wear black leather weighlifting gloves, pretty much out of neccessity. We wore white cotton, like the rest of the corps, for one season, until we marched through the hurricane at DCA finals. No way to get a good grip on a 30lb horn when the gloves are soaked and stretching all over.

Ok - so here is what I'm looking at for the plating: http://www.caswellplating.com/kits/plugnplate.htm From the above posts (thank you, BTW), it sounds like I would need to get the nickel plating kit for sure, and maybe the silver kit on top of that. I suppose I'd really like to know the best way to return my MP back to factory finish (and maybe make some other things shiny). Here's the MP: the rim and shank had all kinds of burrs and scratches, so years ago I sanded them down to the bare brass. The bowl is still whatever the factory sent it out the door with. Is nickel inert on the lips? Any idea if it would plate on the silver areas just as good as on the brass areas? Anyone ever use one of these types of plating kits? I had a MP gold plated years ago by a guy who had just bought one of these types of kits...it lasted for quite a while, and for $20, not a bad deal.

Other than the exceptions (gold, stainless, plastic, etc.), are standard mouthpieces straight up silver plated, or are they typically something like nickel or chrome. I'm looking to get an electroplating kit and redo a mouthpiece or two. I have some MP's that I've had tarnish on me, but most of them seem to hold up a whole lot better than I would expect silver to, and much better than my silver plated horns. I would also expect that plain silver would leave some trace around the lips (I know the horns would leave "sparklies" on our wrists where they were in constant contact with the horns...), and this is probably not a good thing.

Give Florida a large dose of the little blue pill?

Entire opener on the field, and playable! We'll be cleaning today and ensembling our other tunes. Great weather for drum corps, already have the first almost sunburn of the season!

I hear you...just the sheer size of the beast is prohibitive...it doesn't fit too well in a shower stall, or a bathtub, and most of them don't have cases, so they tarnish much faster than a cased up horn. I think it takes me at least 2 hours to do an adequate job cleaning...probably twice that if I pay special attention around the valve cluster. Even when you take the time to do what you think is great job, you still find either tarnish, gunk, or leftover silver polish in some out of the way place a week later. Just for reference, here's a pic of mine torn down prior to cleaning...

Well, we've been having regular rehearsals on Thursday evenings, but this weekend we will be hitting the field and putting drill to our opener! Not to rub it in too hard for ya'll up north, but the weather report for the weekend has a high of 81 degrees on Saturday! If you happen to be in the area, feel free to drop by and check us out, we'll be practicing both Saturday and Sunday. If you're still looking for a place to march, and you're somewhat close by (or at if you don't mind commuting), we could probably even get you signed up for the season.

Just out of curiosity - what was Legion? When I was marching, we would compete against PR Cadets, and at the home show, they would actually show off the PR Pre-Cadets, but never heard of Legion. We also competed against Madison Jr. Scouts....can't really think of any other 'feeder' type corps from my day...we never saw any of the BD or SCV feeders - they never toured outside of their local region at the time.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Kelloggs-Rice...ipe/Detail.aspx there's a calculator on there that scales the recipe to whatever number of servings you desire. I think you might be on your own for the technique though.

nm

In '92, one of our contra players got married to one of the bari players right before the season started - I think they checked with management ahead of time to make sure that there wouldn't be any problems, and that they assured them that they would behave. I seem to remember that they didn't cling to each other too much - we (the contras) probably spent as much or more time with him, on and off the field, than his wife did.

sent a PM a couple days ago - did you get it? If it makes things easier, you can just send 2 to Everett and I'll get it from him. Thanks!

I have the exact same horn, except mine is labled Mercedes-Bach! There was a guy here in Houston who had one like yours, the Olds. We put the horns side by side, couldn't tell the difference. These are great horns for playing in community bands or even marching with if the opportunity arises (not on your shoulder, but you can either carry it in your left arm, or clip a strap onto the hoops). Mine pretty much only comes out for TubaChristmas. It's a great horn as far as playing on also, plays nice and easy through the full range (for a non-compensating 3-Valve horn).

I really enjoyed the production, and was quite impressed with the customer service in getting the DVD to me - not only did I receive it about 3 days after ordering it (that is including the New Year holiday), but they slipped in a bag of popcorn with the movie! I agree with the other posters - the movie shows much of the behind the scenes of the drum corps season within the corps - there isn't much reference to interactions between other corps, but I don't think that was the focus of the production. I was somewhat disappointed that there wasn't a "making of", or other special features. I seem to remember back in '06 or '07, when the discussions first started about this film, that there were some clips going around showing the camera booms out on the field, with the director working with the staff to run a drill set repeatedly until it was just right. I think there were some other ones showing the cameraman getting clocked by a drill move, but I might be imagining that... It was good to see Gunther again...though when he was with us, he was safety orange...

Just got my copy today - ordered it last Tuesday, so very quick shipping. Plus, I got a couple postcards and a bag of popcorn in the package! Hopefully, I'll have a chance to watch it this weekend, just the promos made me shiver, I can hardly wait for the full thing!

Not sure if you were referring to them, but I believe Blue Knights used to sell the dark blue T-shirts with the dot triangle on them, much like their old unis. EDIT Apparently they still do... http://www.bknights.org/bknights.org/shop/...tockNumber=1023 Since this is probably what you were alluding to, I'll shut up now...

Star used to sell these at their souvie booth (The t-shirt with the star on it, as in the illustration).