After graduating from high school and needing a horn of his own, Scott Avenell tried several instruments at a local music store and bought a first-year production King Fidelio model 1178. Compared with the school horns he had been playing, the Fidelio was a revelation: light, responsive, quick in the action, and comfortable in the hands.
That horn served him for many years. Eventually, he wore a hole through the bell tail with his trigger thumb. By that time he had met Doug Hall, who helped patch the damage and shared more of the back story behind the Fidelio and its designer, George McCracken.
Some time later, Doug ferried the Fidelio back to George’s shop in West Point, Virginia, where George installed one of his leadpipes and cut the bell to accept screw rings. Scott continued playing the instrument hard, but progressively leaky valves made the need for something new and more substantial increasingly clear.
When Doug later mentioned that he was building three horns with piston change valves, Scott struck a deal to buy the third one. He received the horn in March 2020 and found the intonation excellent on both sides throughout the range, an improvement over the Fidelio. The transitions through the piston change valve were notably smooth as well.
Over the following years, Scott and Doug made minor adjustments while sorting out the instrument, and Scott has been very happy with the result. As for the Fidelio, Chuck Ward plated and refit the valves, and Scott still plays it occasionally for perspective.
