I recently purchased an L.A. Benge, serial number 10XXX and am intending on eventually playing it with my church band. Although the band plays praise music, it has a real jazz flair. I would also like to be able to play with a jazz quartet. Does anyone have any comments either way about this horn and my intended use for it?
Also, could anyone make a recommendation regarding a mouthpiece. I am actually a beginner in some respects. I started playing a trumpet several years ago but have not been very strict to drills and practice. I`ve now gotten to a point where I`d like to get serious and learn to play the instrument for real. The mouthpiece I am currently using is a Schilke 13A4A.
Any comments or suggestions regarding my horn, mouthpiece, or practice methods would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Robin

Well i dont no really wut to say.Lik itz an ok mouthpiece to have an all.But an Xz lik hella sacrifice tone quality an all.Basically wut u have iz ok an all.Jus go over to lik an A,B or C.Those will give you u lik amazin tone quality.Also use a Bach mouthpiece
But for lik any kind of warm up or wutever, lik jus buzz ur mouthpiece b4 u actually play.

you`re going to have a jazz flair if you play a 13a4a... that`s a semi narrow rim with a small cup and small backbore. if you like the rim size of that mouthpiece than try a deeper cup with a more open back bore otherwise you`ll stick out horribly in an orchestra. also if you like schilke rims then there is no point in trying bach. try out a 13B, a 13, a 13c4, 14 and just for the heck of it a 16c4. Those would probably be your best bet for orchestra or regular band. for lead jazz and screamer marching band a 13a4a would be ok but if you walked into my orchestra with a 13a4a I`d make you wish you`d never played the trumpet

I appreciate the comments so far. Does anyone have any thoughts on the horn?

The horn should be fine. it should be pretty dark but versatile.

No offense MMHS trumpet player, but could you please type in english?