ConnHunter's "Destroyed" Horn
Who was introduced to me (by ConnHunter himself) as the new owner of ConnHunter's Conn tenor in late 2010? - EricM (Eric Maldonado Sr.)
Who represented themself as the owner of ConnHunter's Conn tenor throughout 2011? - EricM (Eric Maldonado Sr.) LINK
Who, in the beginning of 2011, authorized tossing out all completed Mk6 keywork mods (originally commissioned by ConnHunter) in favor of the latest MM Ultimate version, delacquering/patinia treating, extensive other keywork mods, spatula inserts, and engraving, essentially starting over from scratch, all at no additional cost to themselves, all on an new, flexible and relaxed completion schedule, and a release date in Los Angeles as the MM showcase instrument dependent upon MM patent filing completion? - EricM (Eric Maldonado Sr.)
Who, when it was requested of him in July, 2011 as a response to ConnHunter's incessant complaining about his "lost" horn, refused to make a public statement on SOTW clarifying for all that:
1. He was the owner of the instrument as ConnHunter had stated back in 2010.
2. He had authorized all the new modification changes and new completion schedule, as per above.
EricM (Eric Maldonado Sr.)
Eric stated, "I don't want to get involved." As a result of EricM's/ConnHunter's now obvious deceptive scheming, all work on the instrument ceased, in mid process of the major modification.
Refusing to "own up", EricM requested that the instrument be sent to him in it's current state. I tried to explain to him the that all brazing modifications on any horn, have basically two stages:
1. the frightfully ugly cutting/brazing/fitting stage
2. the pretty cleaned/finished stage
If you interrupt stage #1, you will be shocked at what you receive and no other tech will be interested in taking over the work. I offered to put the horn in nice, playing condition, omiting the planned modifications that were not already under way, but he insisted upon it's being shipped.
. It is complete with octave key, F# key, and thumb hook (sent in second shipment. Gilson omitted offering info on the second shipment.). He now claims (SOTW posting) that he was just trying to get the instrument back for ConnHunter (which was never an issue anyway - ConnHunter merly had to arrange return packaging/shipping.). Having intentionally misrepresented himself as the horn's owner and having authorized the extensive, new, and now interrupted (because of that misrepresentation) work being done on it, he is responisble for all changes to the instrument and it's current state.
The offer to return the instrument to nice, playing condition (at no cost to them other than shipping/packaging costs) still stands, provided Gilson and ErikM come clean, and tell some truth for once.
I accept no responsability for the "interrupted" condition of the instrument. I feel no need to justify my choice of mod design, materials, keywork used, or anything else pertaining to the interrupted process.......but, to those tech geniuses who consider the aux F# patch to be "Clumsy and barbaric."...
What you see is obviously not a patch. It is a reinforcing brace. The F# hole is neatly patched (brazed) with a form-fitted disk, resulting in no alteration to the instrument's bore. Brazing temperature anneals the work-hardened brass in that area, making it very soft and plyable. Sarge (rip), of WorldWideSax examined picts of the horn, as sent by ConnHunter, and told me the horn had been relacquered at least 3 times in it's life. (I removed the lacquer chemically. No buffing was done). Since the metal was already considerably thinner than normal, and the thumb hook mount can exert considerable stress on the body tube during normal use and handling, I empoyed the use of a not unattractive, work-hardened reinforcing brace soldered to the tube over the patched area. A small price to pay for optimal thumb position on a Conn and tube stability.
A complete transcript of all emails between ConnHunter, EricM, and myself, and all related SOTW postings is being presented to my legal representation.
Lance Burton
MartinMods