UNWANTED BELLTREES GIVEN NEW LIFE AND BEAUTY

I found this old Latin Percussion hand-held belltree that a previous owner had ruined by shaving down the handle so it could be squeezed into a clamp and mounted on a cymbal stand.  As a result, no one else wanted it, and I got it for a good price.

As most sellers will tell you, the fourteen bells on this instrument had also developed a "lovely patina" that enhanced their antique appearance.  This is just a seller's way of avoiding what I believe to be obvious: They are dirty as heck and need a thorough cleaning, something most people are not willing to take the time to do.

Instead of replacing or rebuilding the handle, I decided to build a traditionally-styled housing, just on a smaller scale.

This bell tree now looks and sounds beautiful.  The brightly-colored, custom wood frame makes it stand out and appear much more appealing than the ugly metal racks on which other belltrees of this size are mounted.

From the smallest tree I next moved on to the largest, this neglected and abandoned string of thirty dirty bells on a threaded rod.  Most people wouldn't know what this assemblage was, and such was the case with the anonymous eBay seller who offered up this item that they supposedly "found at an estate sale." (This is another dubious claim often made now that everyone on eBay seems to think they are a professional picker.)

It was a long, hard battle but I emerged victorious, paying way too much than I should have to acquire this stack of bells so that I could build them a proper housing and restore them to their intended gloriousness.

It took one whole day just to clean all these, and the results were not all that drastic as far as improvements were concerned.  They didn't shine up all that well.  Another day I wasted building what I thought was an impressive-looking, altitudinous housing, but when I got the tree mounted into it, the bells were too close together.  Some dampened each other and others buzzed vociferously.

Therefore it was back to the workshop to rework the whole instrument.  Felt spacers were added, the height of the tower was increased to a skyscraperous level, and now this has become the most awesome belltree ever!  What a monster!

The graduation of the bells for this tree I reversed, so that the largest bells are at the bottom and the smallest are at the top.  This was to alleviate some of the weight issues (the larger bells are heavier) and also because a downward stroke of the belltower just produces a better effect in my opinion, and looks really cool.

One more belltree that I acquired recently was a rare LP 5-bell Pakistan model.  Yes, I already had one that I miraculously found just a few months ago, but this other one popped up and nobody wanted it.  I couldn't let the poor thing die of neglect so I bought it.

So when people ask me why in the world I have eleven belltrees I smile and tell the truth:

"Because I don't have twelve yet."

The auction ends in a few days.