Extremely RARE Boston Musical Instrument Cornet!! Ne Plus Ultra - 3 Star - Amazing Condition!! MUST SEE Start Price USD 100.00 Current Price USD 1,325.00 Time Left - Bid Count 14 Buy It Now Price - Reserve Price - Start Time Tuesday, September 02, 2008 End Time Tuesday, September 09, 2008 Location Overland Park, KS See more about 'Extremely RARE Boston Musical Instrument Cornet!!' Description BACHornDoctor Auction Extremely RARE Boston Musical Instrument Cornet Ne Plus Ultra (A.K.A. Three Star) Serial number 20xxx - Circa 1912 - (.480") Bore - 4.5" Bell Flare - Amazing Original Condition - Awesome Player!! This is something you just don't get to see every day for sale!! Photos Below Description: Up for auction is arguably the MOST desirable Trumpet or Cornet in the world!! There are a lot of very desirable Trumpets that appeal the collector, or the professional gigging musician. There are plenty of trumpets that appeal both the collector AND the gigging professional... The same story goes for Cornets, however there are a LOT less desirable vintage Cornets that current giging pro's really dream of. With one instrument that was made in the early 1900's, you will find that both Collectors and gigging Trumpet AND Cornet players (yes, that's right... I think we all know there is a large enough society of folks that specifically play Cornet and not trumpet, and plenty of trumpet players who hardly or never touch a cornet...) ALL drool over!!! The Boston Musical Instrument 'Ne Plus Ultra' aka 'Three Star' Cornet. If you've not had the chance to ever play or hear one of these instruments you're missing out! You are really missing out. If you have heard of this beast I'll bet you already scrolled down to the pictures to see how nice this particular one is. And by now you're likely wiping the drool off your chin! I'm going to take a second to clarify with those who are less familiar why this particular horn is the more rare and even more desirable than it's slightly older brother bearing nearly an identical engraving and name... The Boston Musical Instrument Company can almost certainly be referred to as one of if not the absolute FINEST crafted brass instruments of all time. This is really saying a lot considering the company was in existence 1869-1928. The Ne Plus Ultra Cornet is certainly the most desirable instrument ever made by this company. Considering musicians such as Doc Severinson actually perform on this as a main axe compared to todays standards, and custom instruments that are currently available!!! That's right Doc Severinson plays on this same exact model and aprox. vintage of Cornet!! Among the scare examples of the Ne Plus Ultra Cornets that you will find, you will find two slightly different versions. The older vintage Three Stars out there are set up much like other vintage turn of the century cornets. They have different bits for tuning the horn in different pitches. The wrap is slightly different from the latter models, and the water key mechanism is the dual arm style with one lever. The instrument you are bidding on is the more rare of the two models you will find. Designed more like a modern horn you will notice it has a fixed leadpipe. The wrap is slightly different and has the newer style waterkey. These features are what make this particular horn that much more desirable to musicians. There are many features that attribute to the very desirable way this instrument plays. The first and most obvious thing to point out is the very large .480 bore!! The bell is quite thin and soft which is why the horns are so responsive and rich in character. The way this instrument was made is completely different from anything you'll find anymore as well. Where as back in the early 1900's instruments were crafted from seamed tubing, now days instruments are drawn from seamless tubing. It is also important to note that this instrument was made back in a time when the Cornet was really the preferred solo instrument in many different settings. As the cornet has been gradually phased out and replaced by the trumpet, companies have seemed to pay much less attention to design based off the traditional features of a cornet. This horn plays so dark and rich you would almost compare it to a flugelhorn. Yet it still has a fluid responsive feel that you would want on dixie land charts! That is how a cornet should be!! This instrument was discovered by my mother at an antique mall in New Hampshire several weeks ago. When I got the call she was still at the store debating wether she should get it or not. Over the phone I asked the store clerk about it's past. All they knew was that it had just been brought in by a vendor that week... I was floored by the condition of the instrument when I received it!! As you can see it is in remarkable condition. What I found was the horn showed no signs of ever being even repaired in the past! The bell flare needed some slight rolling out. There were some various yet insignificant dings here and there. Nothing serious. The horn has never been taken apart! The plating is all original and is in excellent condition. The VALVES!! Let me tell you about the valves!! As you will see in the pictures they look great!! That is all original plating!! And not only do they feel great, they are tight!! The slides are all in great condition. The main tuning slide actually does show some slight marks as if it was stuck at some point and pulled out. We removed a few small dents in the bell bow and one knuckle, and there are a couple of small dings in the leadpipe that were lifted. (One of these dings is still slightly visible as a result of the double wall design) The engraving is crisp and clear. The instrument was ultrasonically cleaned and chemically treated at our shop. It was also put through a silver dip solution to remove any tarnish, then hand carefully hand polished. We also gave this instrument a precision valve alignment using premium porting materials and a bore scope. This comes with the original case which is excellent!!! AND It actually comes with TWO original Boston Musical Instrument Company Cornet mouthpieces!!! They do not have a number differentiating the two however you'll notice in the pictures a slight variance in the outside decorations. The instrument comes with an original mouthpiece adaptor as well. We took a picture of the receiver with a modern style Bach cornet mouthpiece (not included) for reference to how your own piece may fit. The BMI mouthpieces are what we'd consider a small shank and fit well into the adaptor. In summary, you have the opportunity to own the more rare and quite desirable of the Boston Ne Plus Ultra cornets. It is offered in excellent and all original condition. This truly is a treasure and I sincerely hope it finds a good home. Good luck and happy bidding!! :o) Below you'll find our terms. Many questions about logistics of this auction may be addressed in this section so please read it all if you have any questions! Terms: We are a full service custom shop. Our entire technicians staff has graduated from Repair School and has apprenticed at a custom shop. We are tooled up enough to actually manufacture custom brass instruments. All of our auctions are as accurate as you can get. We provide plenty of pictures and are available to answer any and all questions. We can provide a one week trial period for customers within the U.S. if requested prior to the closing of the auction on all items unless otherwise stated in the auction. Full refunds less shipping will be issued provided the instrument is in the mail within 7 days from the time you receive the item and returned in the condition it was sent out. Longer trial periods may be available if requested prior to the auctions close. We WILL ship internationally. Shipping within the lower 48 States is a fixed price for all instruments. Flutes - $15, Clarinets - $20, - Trumpets/Cornets - $25, Alto Sax/Low Clarinets/Flugelhorn - $30, Tenor Sax/Trombones - $35, Baritones/Euphoniums - $40. Insurance for more than $500 will be $1 for every $100 of insurance and is optional for high bidders. International shipping will vary so please inquire prior to bidding. Expedited shipping is available for an increased amount. We typically ship Via FedEx. If you have an account with FedEx or another vendor and would like us to use your account for shipping, or would like to specify another shipping method, we're glad to do so. For any other questions fell free to contact us. We do reserve the right to cancel any bids from customers with zero or negative feedback, so please contact us if you fall into that category and would like to bid. PAYMENT METHOD: We accept Personal Checks, Cashiers Checks, Money Orders, Wire Transfers. Please contact us if you prefer to use PayPal prior to making a payment! Thank you for visiting B.A.C. Horn Doctor Inc's eBay sales. We are based in Olathe, Kansas just outside of Kansas City. You can always visit our show room to view our inventory. We also provide instrument documentation and appraisal services. This service can include a history of your horn, professional quality photographs for your records, and high a definition video clip. www(dot)horndr(dot)com     Photos On Sep-04-08 at 10:12:16 PDT, seller added the following information:Hello everyone! I have had a couple of people ask me about the pitch, (Low Pitch or High Pitch) because these often came with two auxiliary tuning slides for this purpose. This horn did not come with an additional crook, and there is no place for one in this original case... I believe I may have misrepresented the original adaptor that comes with the horn. It seems to be the same shank size as the leadpipe. So the only thing I can figure is that this adaptor was an alternative to an additional crook to bring the horn down in pitch. With the original mouthpiece adaptor in the leadpipe, and the original mouthpiece provided, and with the main tuning slide out about a half inch, I am tuning (on a strobotuner) A 440. With a NEW Standard Bach 3C cornet mouthpiece, I found that I had to pull the slide out just a hair more. Just a 'smidge' over have inch. So this is in fact in low pitch! Without the adaptor I need to pull the tuning slide out another half inch to tune it in. I also played this with one of my technicians on a new Bb Sonare' trumpet that we have here in stock. The horns lined up effortlessly in tune up the scale and sustaining long tones on several different partials. So... I really don't know if this horn has more special sauce than I originally thought, or if it is even more rare... But this horn is unquestionably in Low Pitch A440 Bb and compares to a modern horn. If anyone would like I will try to upload a video clip of me playing this against the strobotuner and with my technician on a trumpet... I realize from looking at the pictures compared to other Boston horns this might not line up with what has been previously believed, or that maybe this is really completely different in some other respect to make it look one way and play another... But rest assured that this is 'without any doubt or stretch' in Low Pitch Bb. Place a Bid!