The Connstellation is pretty amazing in many ways. Designed in the early 50’s based on good research, it has some unusual features, especially compared to a bach, which now is a basic standard. Pretty much no company makes a horn anymore that plays very much different than a bach. The 38b has a really small bore of .438 compared to the standard 0.459 of nearly every horn made today. Even though it has a tiny bore, it play huge because of the huge bell. Some people think that the 38b/36b has a big leadpipe but it does not. The leadpipe starts at .430 which is small compared to most that start at .450. The leadpipe tapers more slowly than a Bach 25 which flares out pretty quick and then the rate of taper is less. The 38b leadpipe has a more constant taper. Some may say more conical. The bell Starts flaring as soon as it leaves the valve casing. I think this is where the open-ness comes from.

    Even though it plays big, it has great response and very easy to play soft. When you play soft it feels small, and when you play loud it feels huge. WOW, nothing like it. Interestingly, the 36b (with the smaller bell) does not play anything like this. It is a little harder to play soft, and a little harder to play loud. It feels a lot more “normal” that way. At first it can be hard to get the hang of pushing the 38b. You are tempted to play too loud maybe.

    The 38b is a real head turner because nothing sounds like it. The sound is really dark. You may hear people say that it is bright, but if it is, it’s because the valves are WAY out of alignment. The darkness does have a real projecting quality and you can really hear yourself on it in an ensemble. The notes get a very clear and sharp attack if you want, with good impact. It kind of sounds like a cornet. That is until you put a shallow lead mouthpiece in it. Then, it sounds great and very normal. With a shallow mouthpiece, it sounds like a bach with a deep mouthpiece, except the upper register is easy and huge. It is a real head turner. Maynard sounded his best on one. Cat Anderson played an extremely shallow mouthpiece and sounded pretty normal on one too.

    So why doesn’t everyone play a Connstellation? I remember not that long ago, connstellations were scoffed at pretty bad. It still happens, and i can think of a few reasons.

1. 1)connstellations look weird, and the art deco styling looks cheap. The nickel playing looks cheap, the lacquer looks heavy. Actually the nickel is a big part of the sound, and so is the lacquer, which lasts forever. There is evidence of manufacturing shortcuts which also make it look cheap. I got used to that though.
   

2. 2)Connstellations feel weird in your hand. The “wide wrap” is freaky. I even made a thick felt pad to go under the bell at the casings so that i could operate the 3rd slide. Also, if the valves are not set up correctly, they bounce badly and feel all wobbly. Almost every single one i have ever looked had that vibe, because the felts and springs were wrong.
   

3. 3)Connstellations are super sensitive to good valve alignment. If they are off a little, the whole horn sucks bad. Real bad actually. I remember when I was at Steve Dillards house (of horntrader,com) and played one of his and was blown away by the sound and feel. That was when i became interested, but did not spring for one until Mike Bogart and Carl Fischer kept raving about their’s.
   

4. 4)The bracing is minimal, and can make the horn unstable when playing fast. (martin committee’s get this problem too). I fix this with an extra brace between the receiver and the bell. Works perfectly with no side effects. Not all of the ones I played needed it though. Maybe a tension issue, but relaxing tension with heat did not seem to work. Interestingly, you can heat the lacquer hot enough to solder and the lacquer does not burn. Amazing.
   

    So to get your  CLEAN 38b/36b working you have to first do an alignment. See my article. When you do it. really try to get the cone shaped corks (anti-bounce, they only work if your top caps have a cone shaped recess under the hole). They are much better. The valves tend to bounce if the spring tension is too light. Get new springs or stretch ‘em carefully. I would say that 100% of the connstellations that have been in a “repair” shop have totally wrong felts in the top caps. If the felt sticks up out of the groove, it is about .070 too thick. You need put a washer under the button, because you probably cant get a washer that fits in the top cap. You could slice the red felt with a razor blade, but if you make it even with the top edge of the cap, it is still too thick. Just remove the red felt and use a washer under the button.

The “gap” should be a little longer than “normal” because the effective leadpipe wall is about .030 to .035. That is because the opening is only .330. Connsellation receivers tend to be on the small gap side. If you play lead on it, make sure it’s not too small. Pretty much the best way to get this dialed in is to make the exit wall of the mouthpiece thinner by beveling it. That would then call for a shorter gap. Be sure you really love the Connstellation first! Check to see if lengthening the gap might work by doing the tape around the shank thing. See my article ;)

The valves on conn’s are usually made and fitted well, and they last. The compression is usually good on connsellations. Still check it though. It is the main reason that horns can be hard to dial in. You just have shell out the 400 bucks if they leak too much.

If the horn vibrates in sympathy with your fingers when you play fast, try wedging a wine cork between the receiver and the bell. If it’s better, you need a brace there. This is over-simplifying of course but it’s a place to start.

If you have a mouthpiece specifically for C trumpet, try that. For a dark sound and great response, and playablility, I use a mouthpiece with a little bigger throat, like an orchestral mouthpiece, and it works great. Not required though of course.

Both the 38b and 36b have great intonation. The low register is not flat, and is  very resonant. The 5th harmonic is great, and so is the upper register intonation. To be honest, the 6th harmonic is about as sharp as a bach, but that is about the only intonation issue. The intonation is way better than a Bach or just about any other horn (except a 22B)

The horn is well designed all the way around.

If the horn is working well, the slots are nice, and feel kind of like a monette. Slotted in tune, and a little bit flexible for shading. Whereas a Bach 37 slots deep and is kind of notchy, the 38B is a little more flexible, but easily holds in tune as you change dynamics etc. Easy to be accurate on as long as you dont try to play it the limit all the time (38b). It’s easy to get through a long salsa gig too. 

You may need to wrap a towel around it so that other guys in the section don’t make comments :) ....