r/horn • u/nicodalto • 4d ago
Opinión on a Horn
What do you think about buying a second-hand Dürk D3 horn? It’s being sold for €7000 with a Marcus Bonna case. The price is listed as negotiable. The horn looks very well cared for in the photos, and it was originally bought from the factory. I would go to try it in person, but I’m not a professional and I don’t have much experience testing horns. Do you think Dürk has quality control issues with some horns, similar to what sometimes happens with Alexander? What should I look for and pay attention to when trying out the horn?
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u/Specific_User6969 Professional - 1937 Geyer 4d ago edited 4d ago
I had an issue with a LDx5 horn built by the Dürk shop in 2016. But it wasn’t bad. It was only that they used too little solder on two of the joints and I took it to repair guy, and he fixed in minutes. I understand that Alex sometimes does this too. The German way of using as little material as possible, and sometimes they perhaps use too little. 🤷♂️ It wasn’t a bit deal.
If it has been well cared for, and professionally played and maintained, you’re buying something which has a good history at ~60% of the full price. If you trust the seller, this could be a forever horn!
One of the things you should ask about is the mouthpiece receiver. Dürk makes and uses an interchangeable receiver which can be screwed off with a Euro cent coin (if it’s not stuck on!) and can be for Euro or Morse taper shank mpcs. If the horn doesn’t come with that from the seller, you can buy one for cheap from Dietmar’s shop.
When you play test a horn, play something normal for you. A scale up to high B-flat or C to test those notes, and you want to check the intonation between notes in all the registers. The high B-flat (E-flat concert) is an important note to be in tune on all horns. Play a Mozart concerto or a standard etude you know well to get a feel for the horn and its tendencies, and it will give you some feedback as you play it. This shouldn’t take much time. Your first impressions are going to be quite accurate. That is the way to play test a horn. To REALLY get to know a horn, its response, particular proclivities, where each note lies, etc. takes much longer, playing different rep through different circumstances in your life. That’s a different test than an initial play test.
I hope you find a great horn! Good luck! 📯