Adam's Horn Store and Display
Q: Hi, I am looking for a trumpet for my 7th grader (going into her 4th year playing).
She has played a Swing Street trumpet up until now. I know-we were very lucky - it played great until it was damaged this spring.
I am not sure if I should be looking for one of the trumpets you list in your "beginner trumpet guide" or should be moving up to something else. I would have to buy used and probably couldn't go much higher than $500.
Any advise would be appreciated!
A: Thank you for the email. I am glad your last trumpet worked out for as long as it did! There are decent no-name horns out there if you get one from a good batch, so you lucked out :)
I think that for her the Conn 22b ($210) will serve her well for years, though she might want to upgrade in late high school or college if she goes on and downgrade the Conn to "marching horn" status. It is a fine horn with great valves and a nice sound.
I have two more very nice student horns right now that aren't pictured. One is a Conn Director and one is a Holton T602R. They are from the 60s and completely refinished from the ground up. They are built like tanks and will last for years (they don't make them like this anymore at the student level). In addition to being restored in terms of the valves, taking out dents, etc, I also had them Silver plated. They are both beautiful horns. I don't have pictures at the moment unfortunately but let me know if you are interested. I saw the market for high-quality student horns and basically took the best horns from the 60s and 70s and redid them so they play like they did when new. Either would cost $350.
Thanks for checking out my site and taking the time to email me!
She has played a Swing Street trumpet up until now. I know-we were very lucky - it played great until it was damaged this spring.
I am not sure if I should be looking for one of the trumpets you list in your "beginner trumpet guide" or should be moving up to something else. I would have to buy used and probably couldn't go much higher than $500.
Any advise would be appreciated!
A: Thank you for the email. I am glad your last trumpet worked out for as long as it did! There are decent no-name horns out there if you get one from a good batch, so you lucked out :)
I think that for her the Conn 22b ($210) will serve her well for years, though she might want to upgrade in late high school or college if she goes on and downgrade the Conn to "marching horn" status. It is a fine horn with great valves and a nice sound.
I have two more very nice student horns right now that aren't pictured. One is a Conn Director and one is a Holton T602R. They are from the 60s and completely refinished from the ground up. They are built like tanks and will last for years (they don't make them like this anymore at the student level). In addition to being restored in terms of the valves, taking out dents, etc, I also had them Silver plated. They are both beautiful horns. I don't have pictures at the moment unfortunately but let me know if you are interested. I saw the market for high-quality student horns and basically took the best horns from the 60s and 70s and redid them so they play like they did when new. Either would cost $350.
Thanks for checking out my site and taking the time to email me!
That’s a fine article, but in the area of an excellent used horn to buy $100, AND EVEN $ 50 AND BELOW YOU MUST ADD THE HOLTON T-602'S. NOT ONLY ARE THEY BUILT VERY SOLIDLY AND SLOT WELL, THEY ARE A .460 BORE HAVE EASILY FOUND REPLACEMENT PARTS AND HAVE SUPERB STAINLESS VALVES THAT IN A PINCH CAN BE SWAPPED DIRECTLY BETWEEN HORNS W/O LAPPING...(JUST BUY A CRAPPED OUT 20 DOLLAR PRTS HORN) Darn caps lock, sorry. Speaking of Holton, under a $100 will get the older more intermediate model/collegiate, and often a T-602 LP w/ 1st valve saddle! A final note, expanding on the concept of beginning on a cornet; horns such as the ambassador, even the revered King Master Model is at least 50% less than their trumpet counterparts...and their quality far surpasses newer designs costing ten times as much. I've purchased over 200 horns so far and I am hard pressed to find any horn as fine a player as my 125 and 110 dollar 1940's vintage Master Cornets, of excellent cosmetics, compression, valve action and most importantly versatility and tone. A young student could start on one in 4th grade and later play it professionally. Same is true of the Ambassadorw/later lead pipe change. Thanks again for the article, just wanted to add my 2 cents.
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You hit the nail on the head with that. The T602 is a great horn, I have played a couple since I wrote the article and they are fantastic. I love a number of the Holton horns. They have always been somewhat undervalued and I have never understood why. Even the "intermediate" Holton MF horn at about $1000 plays better than many "pro" horns costing 2 or 3 times that.
I didn't really touch on the relative value of the cornet, they are less expensive and like you say they are fine horns.
I may add reader comments to my website at some point in the future. Would you mind if I posted the message you sent? People find this kind of information really useful.
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Thank you for the quick reply Adam. Your page is top rate and if there is some part of any comment that I made worth inclusion to you, please do. I started to sound like a Holton employee, but like yourself I have recently become a fan of their horns. I was fortunate to get bitten by the cornet collecting bug in the purchase of a very early silver Holton #29, followed up by a #28 and then a #29 of a somewhat newer vintage (mid 40's). The horns simply amazed me. As it was, because it appears that they had excellent contracts with the services of the US at the time as all three were 'military' nickel silvers. After discovering what fabulous cornets they were I picked up a vintage Collegiate, Super Collegiate, and 'Special Deluxe' models. All somewhat inferior to the 29's and 28 but everyone a winner that a pro could blow with assurance. Since then, in a shop/swap/donate program that I put in place for young students of need in local schools, I've had the pleasure of passing thru dozens of T-602's needing little to no work outside of cleansing. Another couple of Holton's worthy of praise, the T-401's...inexpensive and outrageously good player for an intermediate'. The 100 series, 300's 500's the list goes on, even without breaking into the vintage years. Anyway Adam, I am still looking for a Stratodyne, I'll keep that one if I find it..only played one, my 'next chair's' in H.S. . Incredible horn, same with the Symphony...but I digress. I hope you keep me apprised of your site's progress, and that you might distill the information shared on your site, research same and edit it back into an authoritative first person as opposed to the many forums that eventually degrade into foolish diatribes into such areas as "those 'Bad' Chinese Trumpets and the like. Take care and keep up the good work,
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You hit the nail on the head with that. The T602 is a great horn, I have played a couple since I wrote the article and they are fantastic. I love a number of the Holton horns. They have always been somewhat undervalued and I have never understood why. Even the "intermediate" Holton MF horn at about $1000 plays better than many "pro" horns costing 2 or 3 times that.
I didn't really touch on the relative value of the cornet, they are less expensive and like you say they are fine horns.
I may add reader comments to my website at some point in the future. Would you mind if I posted the message you sent? People find this kind of information really useful.
--
Thank you for the quick reply Adam. Your page is top rate and if there is some part of any comment that I made worth inclusion to you, please do. I started to sound like a Holton employee, but like yourself I have recently become a fan of their horns. I was fortunate to get bitten by the cornet collecting bug in the purchase of a very early silver Holton #29, followed up by a #28 and then a #29 of a somewhat newer vintage (mid 40's). The horns simply amazed me. As it was, because it appears that they had excellent contracts with the services of the US at the time as all three were 'military' nickel silvers. After discovering what fabulous cornets they were I picked up a vintage Collegiate, Super Collegiate, and 'Special Deluxe' models. All somewhat inferior to the 29's and 28 but everyone a winner that a pro could blow with assurance. Since then, in a shop/swap/donate program that I put in place for young students of need in local schools, I've had the pleasure of passing thru dozens of T-602's needing little to no work outside of cleansing. Another couple of Holton's worthy of praise, the T-401's...inexpensive and outrageously good player for an intermediate'. The 100 series, 300's 500's the list goes on, even without breaking into the vintage years. Anyway Adam, I am still looking for a Stratodyne, I'll keep that one if I find it..only played one, my 'next chair's' in H.S. . Incredible horn, same with the Symphony...but I digress. I hope you keep me apprised of your site's progress, and that you might distill the information shared on your site, research same and edit it back into an authoritative first person as opposed to the many forums that eventually degrade into foolish diatribes into such areas as "those 'Bad' Chinese Trumpets and the like. Take care and keep up the good work,
Q: I found your information helpful. If you have a moment to answer my question I would greatly appreciate it.
My 11 year son has been playing an old used Director Conn Cornet for 2 years (band at school). It says Conn USA and has stars and 3 marching band people on it. We were just given the instrument from someone when school required him to be in band for 8 weeks in 4th grade. It is very tarnished with many dents. The slides don't easily pull out but slide smooth. The largest dent is in the beginning of the final bend before it straightens out to the bell. The valves all seem to be straight and no dents. Occasionally they stick a little, but he keeps them oiled and they move smooth. He wants a different instrument. He thinks this one blows too hard compared to the other kids' trumpets at school. I was looking on line to educate myself and check Craigs list and eBay and I find this exact instrument selling for $125 which is close to what I can afford to spend to get him a "better" trumpet anyway. I am learning used Yamahas and Olds Ambassador are good choices and have been finding some around $200. All that my question--Is the dent causing troubles or would a different mouth piece give for better air movement (Has a Conn4) Could it be that he just wants a prettier instrument or could his peers' instruments really be easier to play. He has a desire to make an effort to play the trumpet and is this possible piece of junk holding him back. In my price range am I going to find a better choice?
A: I am happy to do my best to answer the question. In my opinion the biggest problem with giving an older horn to a child is that, unless the child's parent is a brass musician, no one really has any idea whether or not the horn plays decently. I think after two years playing, your son likely has a reasonable idea of how it plays. I would ask him to have a band director check it out if that is a possibility.
In terms of the actual blow of the horn, the kind of thing that would really screw it up is if there is a crack in the leadpipe near where the mouthpiece goes in or if there is air leaking from somewhere. It is hard to determine this yourself, but if you read the beginner trumpet guide on my website you might be able to take a stab at it.
While my opinions on the subject waiver to and fro, at the moment I discourage anyone but more advanced brass players to buy a horn from someone who "had it in their attic" or from a pawn shop or whatever. There are just too many variables. There are good sellers on ebay who stand behind what they sell, but they charge more, and you have to be sure you are buying one. I buy the attic horns and fix them up, but literally more than half the time I receive the horn it can't play a note (either a valve is in wrong or worse, ranging from trivial to major).
By the way, the cornet you describe is likely a japanese conn. They are decent horns when in playable condition. I am not convinced yours is in what I would consider playable condition.
The bottom line is that I can stand behind the horns I sell, but beyond that it is difficult for me to vouch for various horns or sources. Really more important than the horn itself is knowing that it is in good condition, and this isn't always a cosmetic thing. You could try to pick up an olds ambassador or conn director (conn does make good horns) or reynolds medalist or similar and see if that helps. Again, make sure to get it from a reputable seller. There is no reason you can't get a nice horn in the $125 price range, but there is a hefty chance that an ebay special will need to go immediately to a tech (unless you find a good seller! and they are out there!)
I'm not sure if this helped or not. To peddle my own product, the Conn 22b up on my website is a very nice trumpet both cosmetically and functionally. I could ship it for $190 but that is more than you wanted to spend I know. I have some other horns not pictured that I had rebuilt from the ground up and silver plated, but they are more like $350.
I hope this helps some, feel free to ask questions even if you have no intention of buying one of mine!
My 11 year son has been playing an old used Director Conn Cornet for 2 years (band at school). It says Conn USA and has stars and 3 marching band people on it. We were just given the instrument from someone when school required him to be in band for 8 weeks in 4th grade. It is very tarnished with many dents. The slides don't easily pull out but slide smooth. The largest dent is in the beginning of the final bend before it straightens out to the bell. The valves all seem to be straight and no dents. Occasionally they stick a little, but he keeps them oiled and they move smooth. He wants a different instrument. He thinks this one blows too hard compared to the other kids' trumpets at school. I was looking on line to educate myself and check Craigs list and eBay and I find this exact instrument selling for $125 which is close to what I can afford to spend to get him a "better" trumpet anyway. I am learning used Yamahas and Olds Ambassador are good choices and have been finding some around $200. All that my question--Is the dent causing troubles or would a different mouth piece give for better air movement (Has a Conn4) Could it be that he just wants a prettier instrument or could his peers' instruments really be easier to play. He has a desire to make an effort to play the trumpet and is this possible piece of junk holding him back. In my price range am I going to find a better choice?
A: I am happy to do my best to answer the question. In my opinion the biggest problem with giving an older horn to a child is that, unless the child's parent is a brass musician, no one really has any idea whether or not the horn plays decently. I think after two years playing, your son likely has a reasonable idea of how it plays. I would ask him to have a band director check it out if that is a possibility.
In terms of the actual blow of the horn, the kind of thing that would really screw it up is if there is a crack in the leadpipe near where the mouthpiece goes in or if there is air leaking from somewhere. It is hard to determine this yourself, but if you read the beginner trumpet guide on my website you might be able to take a stab at it.
While my opinions on the subject waiver to and fro, at the moment I discourage anyone but more advanced brass players to buy a horn from someone who "had it in their attic" or from a pawn shop or whatever. There are just too many variables. There are good sellers on ebay who stand behind what they sell, but they charge more, and you have to be sure you are buying one. I buy the attic horns and fix them up, but literally more than half the time I receive the horn it can't play a note (either a valve is in wrong or worse, ranging from trivial to major).
By the way, the cornet you describe is likely a japanese conn. They are decent horns when in playable condition. I am not convinced yours is in what I would consider playable condition.
The bottom line is that I can stand behind the horns I sell, but beyond that it is difficult for me to vouch for various horns or sources. Really more important than the horn itself is knowing that it is in good condition, and this isn't always a cosmetic thing. You could try to pick up an olds ambassador or conn director (conn does make good horns) or reynolds medalist or similar and see if that helps. Again, make sure to get it from a reputable seller. There is no reason you can't get a nice horn in the $125 price range, but there is a hefty chance that an ebay special will need to go immediately to a tech (unless you find a good seller! and they are out there!)
I'm not sure if this helped or not. To peddle my own product, the Conn 22b up on my website is a very nice trumpet both cosmetically and functionally. I could ship it for $190 but that is more than you wanted to spend I know. I have some other horns not pictured that I had rebuilt from the ground up and silver plated, but they are more like $350.
I hope this helps some, feel free to ask questions even if you have no intention of buying one of mine!
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