Menu
Account

£2000 Pro Trumpet Tests…

18th July 2013

Tues July 18th 2013 – Pro Trumpet Test:

We were joined today by a young man on work experience, one of the tasks we ask these visitors to do is to try some instruments and write a quick review about how they get on. On this occasion Lewis is a Trumpet player so we locked him in a room with 5 of our most popular instruments and this is what came out…

 

Bach Stradivarius 43L – Lacquer

Bach 43L

 “A very centred sound is easy to get on this horn, so it would be ideal for classical trumpeters – one can imagine an excellent second movement of the Haydn concerto being played on it. However I found I had to ‘force’ the notes out at first, and passages demanding good flexibility were difficult to play, although I got better as I warmed up. The weakest point is probably the valves, I found them a little clunky and they don’t move all that fast, even after oiling, they may need a little more bedding in than some of the others.”

Current Price – £2170 inc.vat

 

 

Getzen Custom 3050L

“A very mellow but not particularly clear tone for me – sounds great when played with a little vibrato. An excellent jazz horn. However when I tried to play very centred long tones they came out slightly fluffy/muddy on my set-up. Still, superior to the Bach Strad.”

Current price – £1959 inc.vat

 

Blessing BTR-1580RVbtr-1580rv

“This 1580RV had a lovely, ringing sound and it was very easy to play, even difficult things seemed to come out with ease. An absolutely gorgeous horn.”

Current Price – £1850 inc.vat

 

Yamaha YTR-8335 Xeno

ytr8335“A very light horn, perhaps even more dextrous than the Blessing, although it doesn’t have the ‘mallet hitting chimes’ sound to it. The valves are utterly excellent, fast bebop licks are an absolute joy. Also, no struggle to get the high notes out (this is probably the reason why Xenos are favoured by lead players world-wide). The Xenos two faults in my opinion are 1) it’s hard to get decent low notes, especially pedal notes and 2) I can’t see most players having much stamina on it.

Current Price – £1819 inc.vat

 

 

Cannonball 789RL Silver Plated

“This had, I felt, a similar lyrical, ringing sound to the blessing, although perhaps more subtle. Feels delightful to hold, ‘solid’ but not heavy, nice valves although not as fast as the Xeno’s. Still, overall the best horn of the bunch.”

Current Price – £2285 inc.vat

Cannonball Silver

 

 

Lewis currently plays a Bach Strad 37 model with a Yamaha 14A4a mouthpiece.