Letter from Mark Roberts
September 2003
I went by the Schilke factory to pick a new 3rd-valve-slide-stop screw for a friend's B7 which he was kind enough to loan me the last couple of weeks.
While the sales manager (Paul Baughman) was writing-up the sale of the stop-screw, he asked me what kind of horn I played. I told him I was on the B7 and gave him the serial number (1969 vintage). Then, he invited me on a little tour of the factory!
Paul showed me the "big" metal lathe they've been cutting mouthpieces on since the early 1960's. He introduced me to all of the craftsmen,"This is Mark......up from Arkansas....plays a B7." They were all very nice and very, very accomplished in their craft. Tom the bell-maker was spinning bells for E-flat trumpets. He showed me how they place the bell wire in the rim of the bell and bend the rim in. As well, he demonstrated how the bells are formed (spun) on the mandrel using a lathe and cutting/thinning tool to get the perfect shape and thickness throughout. (Schilke tolerances allow for only 0.002" difference in the metal thickness over the length of the bell -- from stem to flair--Amazing!). Another of the craftsmen was cutting slide tubes and hollowing them out to the perfect size. This is a very precise activity and is as much a function of feel as measurement with the micrometer. It's worth noting that Schilke does not use any CNC machining (no computers or robot arms in their factory). Every piece of the horn is hand made and assembled.
I watched them hand buff the horn pieces -- again no machine buffing except for very small pieces like bell braces. I met the guy who does all the final assembly of the pieces into a playable horn. Again, a very friendly person. When we walked up he was building/fitting a set of E & F slides and bells for a 4-valve G tpt. I was continually amazed at the focus and attention to detail these folks have.
I got to see the "cleaning rooms" where the horns go before plating; the bell bending room; and met their newest mouthpiece Meister - Karl Hammond. He does all their custom mouthpiece making and was working on a screw-rim trombone set up for someone while we watched.
Needless to say an exciting and informative tour, and a real departure from the lack of customer friendliness that Schilke was often known for. Of course, I saw about $1,000,000,000,000 worth of trumpets. They even showed me a prototype C trumpet which they hope to market in a few months.
They're also putting in a show room where anyone can come and try out horns. I even bought a T-shirt.