Members A_Gitarman Posted November 17, 2008 Members Share Posted November 17, 2008 Let me start this off by stating that this is not your typical 'I need a new axe' thread... I recently started playing trumpet again after several years off & have come to the conclusion that my faithful old L.A. Benge definitely needs an overhaul due to various dings/ dents, a sticky valve, & probably a few leaks stemming from a fall off of top of the bleachers back in high school (~20 years ago). At the very least, I'll need to straighten out the sticky valve & replace all the felts & springs. For some background, I'm a former 1st chair jazz/ symphonic/ concert/ marching band player & former college music major who all but quit playing/ practicing for the better part of 15 years (dropped out of college, but that's another story). A year or so ago, I joined a Classic Rock cover band (on guitar... see my sig for more info). When they started talking about songs that required horn parts, I picked up my Benge and got to playing again (though my stamina & upper register haven't quite come back yet... I'm working on it). Most of the stuff we're doing calls for some pretty bright horn stabs (Love Shack, Walkin' On Sunshine, etc), but others call for more subtlety (Santana's Smooth, for example). Well, after hearing my tale of woe regarding my old horn, my wife has offered to get me a new horn for Christmas (as long as I keep it under $2k). I started looking through the WWBW catalog & was seeing all these things like weighted caps & leadpipes, titanium bells, and so on. I quickly realized that a lot has changed & that I really have no idea what I'm looking for. So, I decided to turn to the most knowledgeable forum that I know of for advice. What I think I need is a free-blowing horn that will give me both good bright leads yet also mellow out when I want it to (I'd like to get back into jazz improv at some point). I normally play on my old Bach 3C mouthpiece, going to a Schilke 14A4A for the higher stuff. What are the quality brands in my price range that will meet my expectations? Who should I consider outside of the 'usual suspects' (Bach, Benge, Yamaha, Conn, etc)... remembering that it's been 20+ years since I bought a horn. Mouthpiece suggestions are also welcome. Thanks in advance! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members TimOBrien Posted November 17, 2008 Members Share Posted November 17, 2008 Check out Prowinds.com instead. When I went to get a $3K pro horn a couple of years ago, I traveled up to WWBW to try them out and they were very rude and bait/switched me. I dropped by Prowinds on the way back and got warm friendly service and a better price.... (It's tough here in Florida--- just no real horn shops around.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted November 17, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 17, 2008 (It's tough here in Florida--- just no real horn shops around.) That's no joke! I grew up here & you'd think that with all the pro-level musicians that seem drawn to this place, there would be at least a few decent horn shops around. I picked up my Benge through my old high school/ college teacher. He acted as the middle-man between me and another one of his students. I've had my problems with WWBW/ MF as well... shipping things out poorly-packaged, missing items, or sending damaged goods. thanks for the heads-up on prowinds. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted November 20, 2008 Members Share Posted November 20, 2008 For $2000 you can get some very good horns new and used. I personally play a Kanstul 1600. This is a very open horn. Note that too open a horn can actually be detrimental to your playing, as you'll have no resistance to help you out. High notes can sort of "air out" if the horn is too open for you. Kanstul makes a wide variety of horns, including "new" Benge trumpets (called the Chicago) that are made with Benge tooling, which the actual Benge trumpets are not made with. I'd contact them and see what they say. Bach makes a huge variety of trumpets. The most popular is the model 37, followed about equally by the 43 and 72. Personally the 72 I really like, but the other two don't really gel with me. A lightweight 72 should be a good match for the playing you do; the 72 tends to sound a bit larger than the others and the lightweight adds some "sizzle to the sound." Schilke and Calicchio are probably out of your price range, but are made for a commercial/studio sound. Used ones are easily found under $2000. I recommend the Schilke B5 or B6, and the Calicchio 1s/2 personally. Then there are Getzens, Conns, Phaeton, Yamaha, and so many others. Find a trumpet shop and play a few, see what fits you! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MarkZ Posted November 20, 2008 Members Share Posted November 20, 2008 I'll be at Dillon Music tomorrow. IM me your credit card info and I'll get you a horn...and a few things for me. Seriously, try Dillon's website and call them. If they don't have it or can't get it, it doesn't exist. From another store, these might be a good choices:http://thompsonmusic.com/store/product3194.htmlhttp://thompsonmusic.com/store/product3427.htmlI bought a trumpet from Thompson's. Good experience. They'll likely work with you on the price and a trial period. They also have a used Schilke B6. Or if your wife will advance you the next 5 Christmas presents:http://thompsonmusic.com/store/product3081.htmlI wouldn't play this in a rock band. I'd probably never let it leave the house! Also check around trumpetherald.com in the Marketplace section for used horns. I have the classic lead trumpet that's perfect for a rock band horn section: a '70s Getzen Severinsen. You can find these cheap, maybe $500 for a nice one. They don't seem to sell well on eBay so someone's loss is your gain. With your 14A4A, you can RIP! SCREAM! Dogs will come running from miles away. Getzen valves are legendary. Mine have no wear and play like buttah. The Severinsen doesn't "darken up" easily without a drastic mpc change. I played mine in a wind ensemble with a Schilke Symphony Series M2 but I should have been on another horn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted November 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2008 Schilke and Calicchio are probably out of your price range, but are made for a commercial/studio sound. Used ones are easily found under $2000. I recommend the Schilke B5 or B6, and the Calicchio 1s/2 personally.Then there are Getzens, Conns, Phaeton, Yamaha, and so many others. Find a trumpet shop and play a few, see what fits you! I think that a Schilke 4 or 6 sounds (on paper) perfect for my needs & Prowinds has them priced at $2200, which is still do-able. I'm also looking at a Yamaha YTR-8335LAS, which has a larger bore than the Schilke's, but is still a bit smaller than my Benge... sounds like a good compromise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted November 20, 2008 Author Members Share Posted November 20, 2008 I'll be at Dillon Music tomorrow. IM me your credit card info and I'll get you a horn...and a few things for me. Seriously, try Dillon's website and call them. If they don't have it or can't get it, it doesn't exist.... I have the classic lead trumpet that's perfect for a rock band horn section: a '70s Getzen Severinsen. You can find these cheap, maybe $500 for a nice one. They don't seem to sell well on eBay so someone's loss is your gain. With your 14A4A, you can RIP! SCREAM! Dogs will come running from miles away. Getzen valves are legendary. Mine have no wear and play like buttah. The Severinsen doesn't "darken up" easily without a drastic mpc change. I played mine in a wind ensemble with a Schilke Symphony Series M2 but I should have been on another horn. LOL @ both statements above. My poor dog used to RUN whenever she saw my trumpet P.S. I forgot about the Severinsen horns... those were nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted December 15, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 15, 2008 update: Well, I ended up with a Kanstul 190 'mariachi'. got it during the Black Friday/ 20% off sale. It's a stunning horn; absolutely gorgeous, & the valve action is superb. It's a smaller bore instrument, but has a large bell, large valve block, and quick taper, so I don't really feel a difference when going between it and my Benge (5x, not 3x as previously stated). The big plus is that I was immediately able to hit higher and more stable notes with the new horn Of course, the warehouse monkeys at WWBW managed to pack it so poorly that UPS was able to damage the bell THROUGH the case . A replacement is due to show up, hopefully un-damaged, today. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted December 16, 2008 Members Share Posted December 16, 2008 Nice choice. Those are very sweet horns. What happened to the bell? Was it squished? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members A_Gitarman Posted December 16, 2008 Author Members Share Posted December 16, 2008 Thanks... Indeed it is a very sweet horn. And I've now received TWO that have been damaged in the same manner, only WORSE this time. :mad: The edge of the bell almost has an 'S' curve to it on one side (opposite the tuning slide). My guess is that the lid to the case was somehow torqued/ twisted in shipping (thrown into a truck, maybe?), pushing the bell into a hard, less padded spot inside of it. The case was tossed into a box roughly 2x its size, but with absolutely no packing to the top, bottom, front edge, & one side edge. The back edge and other side edge were loosely packed with some of that brown paper shipping 'filler' that they use. There are actually dents/ holes on the inside of the box from the case striking against it! I'm currently waiting on WWBW to come up with a solution. They still have one more in stock and are going to ship that one to their South Bend, IN office to have someone actually inspect it prior to re-packing and sending it out to me. If they somehow manage not to screw this one up, I'm expecting some sort of added compensation for all of my wasted time (I'm still hoping to have the new horn in time for my New Years' gig, but it looks like I won't have it in time for our X-mas show). ...they did offer me a lesser Getzen as an alternative I countered with a Schilke B6 for the same price (~$1400), but for some reason they wouldn't go for it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members sunburstbasser Posted December 17, 2008 Members Share Posted December 17, 2008 Call them up and demand priority shipping on their dime. Nice one asking for them to price-match on the Schilke! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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