Expert: Kenton Scott - 6/2/2007

Question
I own a mellophone made by James L. Hatch Instruments, Altoona PA.  My parents bought it for me about 1956 (I was 10) and It was old then.  I can't find a s/n.  It is a traditional shape like french horn.  It has three valves.  silver plated.  Do you know anything about this maker.  I would like to determine if it is worth buying a new mouthpiece and relearning to play it and join a group?  Or should I use it as a decoration and buy some other wind instrument to learn?  I do not plan to sell it (gee I've owned it for 51 years its older than my children).

Answer
I only live about 1.5 hours from Altoona, but I have never heard of Hatch.  My guess would be that he may have been a dealer, not a maker.  

I certainly can't discourage someone (my age) from getting back into music performance.  But the question whether to pick up the mellophone or another instrument is a more difficult question.  

Mouthpieces are not particularly expensive, and you can pick them up off eBay, so assuming that the mellophone is basically ready to go, that would be your cheapest route, and something that will probably come back to you.

On the other hand, the mellophone is not written for in concert bands of today, so you would either have to read French horn music - if your mello is pitched in F or off the alto sax music  - if your mello is in Eb.  

To go to a different instrument, the learning curve would be a factor.  The cheapest to pickup would be a used trumpet, but developing the embouchure for that will take some work.  The French horn would use a similar mouthpiece but it is a more difficult instrument to play than the mellophone.  Or you could go larger, and select a baritone, the instrument might be a bit more expensive.   

You may want to go to a local band in which you may be interested and see what instrument the director recommends.   Or, you could get a mouthpiece for the mellophone, and use it as a practice horn to get your lip back in shape, and then decide what to do next.