Help with bugle repair

That's not a euphemism, or a clever name for something else.

My son inherited a 20's Boy Scouts bugle, and it's falling apart. I know that they are not particularly value, but that doesn't matter here. I want to send this bugle to someone, have them solder it back together, polish it up, and send it back.

Is there an animal such as this?

Thanks

There certainly are brass instrument repair people.  It mostly involves hammers and shaped dollies and forms.  No idea where to find one, but I would guess larger cities.

Bing says that there are a couple in NC, at least semi-close to you. Both seem to have good reviews. 

Un-Asked for Advice:  I was a teacher once upon a time and the music teacher told me that brass instrument repairs can rapidly increase past the value of the instrument, even if the damage doesn't look too bad.

Likely best to call each company and describe what you want and, if they are interested, send them some pictures.  Think I would want to be clear in my own mind what I am looking for as well.  Do you want it to work properly or do you want it to work properly and look pretty?

Finally, I would get a firm bid before I committed to the repairs.

SweeneyBrass

https://www.sweeneybrass.com/

919-617-1520

1520 Brookside Dr, Unit 1

Raleigh, NC 27604

Morse Instrument Repair LLC

https://www.morseinstrumentrepair.com

I've fixed a few brass bulb horns for the cars at work. Depending on how bad it is, you might want to have a go at it yourself.

A ball bearing welded to a piece of 3/16" rod can be handy to shove down the tubes and work the dents out.

Soldering the brass back together is pretty easy if you can sweat copper pipe and make it look good.

Make sure the joint is clean and use the heat in the metal to draw the solder in, don't melt the solder with a torch.

I too would suggest giving it a go (depending on how mangled it is).  I used to collect old paintball markers, many of which were mostly made of brass.  I have successfully repaired some of them with a MAPP gas torch and silver solder, and some of those were joints needed to be air tight at several hundred PSI.  Polishing brass is also not difficult.  Doing this can be a fun hobby.

Any music store in your area that deals in band instruments should be able to help.  If they don't have a repair person on staff, they'll have someone they send instruments to for repair.

Like any industry these days there aren't as many instrument repair people around as there used to be.  A lot of them are still in the Elkhart, Indiana area, which historically has been home base for a number of instrument manufacturers.

/\   What Stuart said.  Most small shops or rental outfits can yank the mouthpiece off after a kid drops the horn and wedges it in, if nothing else they whow where to send you.

Good luck.

Here in the Richmond area, we got in touch with the local Music and Arts store to address some damage to the euphonium my son was playing in middle school band.  It was carried in a soft case, which my son apparently dropped (probably more than once) resulting in a kind of spiraling crush to the bell of the instrument.  The guy at Music and Arts looked it over and said he could get it back into shape for 50 bucks.  I was not expecting that low a number.  A week or so later I picked up the instrument and got another pleasant surprise.  For 50 bucks, it looked better than I figured it would.  The finish showed some work marks, but it wasn't perfect to begin with. 

So yeah, google "brass instrument repair" in your area.  Or go to your nearest Music and Arts, if such a thing exists.

Edit:  Important note.  If you want an old or damaged horn to "look good" then you are getting into a whole 'nother world of dollars.  Anything requiring finish work will be fairly expensive.

A music shop that handles band instruments will know someone. There's usually someone in the area. Have looked into learning how since I use to play Trombone when young and have a few of them around. One very old that was passed down to my dad. Supposedly late 1800 to early 1900's vintage. Not playable anymore but had it repaired enough to appear playable. Joints and braces are soldered. Dents are removed using varying sizes of what they call bullets, are cone shaped and pulled through sometimes using a little heat to remove creases and help resizing. That much I've learned. Oh yeah, stuck mouth pieces are removed using a special designed puller that's similar to a steering wheel puller. There's a bunch of YouTube videos on how to.