Are they good horns?

Yes! They are 'sleepers'. Many people don't realise how good they are and youcan get them for a lot less than the Conns. Absolutely go for it.

I've heard very good things about that particular model. I don't think Reynolds made a bad horn. My student's first horn was a Reynold's single F. It's a very sweet horn, badly care for school instrument, dented all ove the place, but what a gorgeous tone it has.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/

When I was in college many long years ago, I took the opportunity to play a fellow hornist's Reynolds horn. Outwardly it was much like my Holton 179 - same wrap, nickel silver - but I was amazed with the ease it produced a big, beautiful sound. I really liked my Holton, but I toyed with the idea of getting a Reynolds horn of my own. Even if I could have afforded it, Reynolds had ceased production by then and buying a quality used horn was not that easy at that time.
But I never forgot that horn. In the past couple of years, I decided to take up horn playing once again. (Valerie, I have been following your posts and blog with great interest.) I finally found the model horn I wanted - brass Reynolds Contempora Horn Chambers model - at a price I could afford. Even in a state of disrepair, mine and the horn's, it still played with the big, sweet sound I remembered. I'm now in the process of having it cleaned plus some dent work done, and I'm looking forward to playing it.
Before buying it, I did a bit of research to see if it was a horn worthy of consideration. Here are a few of the things I found which might be useful:

1. Contempora Corner gives a concise history of the development of the Reynolds horns. http://contemporacorner.com/hrn_contempora.html

2. John Ericson wrote a review of the Reynolds Pottag model horn in Horn Matters. http://hornmatters.com/2009/08/review-the-reynolds-pottag-model-horn/

3. Mr. Ericson mentions the result of Ken Pope's "Horn Taste Test" Which Mr. Ericson concludes (rightly I think) that there is a certain amount of bias for and against various brands of horns. The results can be found at: http://www.poperepair.com/news/wp-content/uploads/2008/08/horn-taste-test-results-complete.htm

4. Finally, there are some interesting discussions of Reynolds horns such as the one found at:
http://www.mail-archive.com/horn@music.memphis.edu/msg21333.html
The main propionate of Reynolds horns in these discussions maintains that the later Reynolds horns suffered as a result poor soldering where the various horn components are put together. Furthermore, if you get a horn repair technician to remove the excess solder, you will have a horn as worthy as the earlier models.

Are Reynolds horns good horns? Taste is a highly individual thing. Also, keep in mind that Reynolds stopped production in 1979, so your horn will be 30+ years in age. You may need to invest extra money in some repair work. However, in my opinion, you would be hard pressed to find a better value in a horn.

WOW! What a wonderful post! Thanks so much. I'm going to enjoy the links. I know there's a lot of prejudice against Holtons, but I don't care. I love my Holton Merker; it sings like no other horn I've ever played, and I've played lots of horns.

It's wonderful to be an amatuer hornist. We can play any horn we want to w/o pressure to conform to what's currently fashionable in the pro-circuit! In fact, that's how I got my Merker. A graduate student sold it to me cheap because she was pressured to conform to the music conservatory she got accepted to. She had to buy some uber expensive Geyer wrap thing. (I hate the Geyer wrap!) I'll bet it doesn't play one tiny bit better than the horn she sold me. How sad is that?

BTW, I strongly recommend you get a copy of Jasper Rees's fabulous book, "A Devil To Play." It's the story of Jasper's come back to the horn. Very funny & a riot to read. I find a piece of my own experience on every page!

Valerie Wells, a happy come-back amatuer hornist
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/

Thanks,
I agree. I really liked my Holton. I am puzzled by the prejudice against Holton horns. I've always chalked up my lack of understanding to my lack of professional experience. It was a very secure horn to play, it had great response in all registers, great tone, and I never had any valve problems. I gave my son the horn to play in his school band.
I am looking forward to playing again. To borrow a phrase from a teacher, you could describe me as a "recovering hornist", but I guess I have fallen off of the wagon. Now all I have to do is find time to practice and a group to perform with.
Rees' book has been on "get and read" list for some time. I think I will order it this weekend.

I'm not at liberty to mention names, but I know four "older" semi-retired pros who swear that Holton's made some of the finest horns ever. I have no official reference for this, but one of my semi-retired friends told me a very interesting story.

He said at an IHS symposium a few decades back, someone hosted a horn "tone" taste test. Several artists played several horns behind a screen and the listeners judged which sounded the best in various categories. The horn that won best overall tone was Barry Tuckwell's Holton 180, the one he used to make most of his recordings.

The people that conducted the study were stunned. In fact, nearly everyone present was stunned. How could a reasonably priced American-made factory horn possibly compare to a custom made, uber expensive European-made horn?

The "big boys" couldn't accept that the humble Holton won, so they explained it away by saying that it was probably "customized" just for BT. But that's not the case according to my friends. They insist that BT bought a stock Holton just like everyone else. (Holton didn't give away horns to artists in exchange for "unspoken" promotion like some companies do.) Anyway, whether it was customized or not, it proved that Frank Holton knew how to make excellent horns.

I think there are several reasons Holtons have a bad reputation. (1)Holton marketed heavily to schools, so there are just thousands of poorly cared-for Holtons floating around. Haven't we all seen a few crummy Holtons? (2)Quantity and low price makes people assume low quality. (3)And, sadly, there were a few years, that Holton DID produce some low quality horns, but even after correcting things, the reputation stuck. I guess this is similar to the Reynold's story.

Valerie Wells
http://bebabe.wordpress.com/

Well ... BFrijas ... inquiring minds want to know. Did you buy a Reynolds Contempora?

Oh, and speaking of older, less well-known horns ... a new guy showed up to band the other day with a silver plated York double with piston change valve. It's a beautiful looking horn and plays with a beautiful tone, good response in all registers. He lucked out winning it on E-Bay for $500 and hasn't had to spend much fixing it up either.

Valerie Wells
http://www.beforhorn.blogspot.com/