B&S are designed after the Bach Stradivarius. I think they are okay, from everything I have read, but I have never played one. Monette is definitely the way to go if you happen to have money just floating around. Not too much silver happening there. Only the real finishes...

I would recomend bach or yamaha, i started on my trumpet by renting a bach from teh local music store, then i bought a yamaha, both are great in quality, but whatever u get, if u take care of it, it will be good

Hmmm to answer the original post i`m not exactly sure how much 300-400$ is with living in England. I know you get a lot more for your money in US neway!! I`m guesing it`s about £200-250 in which case i`m not really sure what you will get if you buy brand new. Possibly something you will want to get rid of quite quickly when you progress. Your best bet is definately look on ebay!!! You could probably get a decent student/intermediate model yamaha on there. That`s what i would go for. The 4335 model are quite good. Not too expensive but will last you for a bit until you wanna go pro.
I personally own a Bach Strad and i don`t think it can be beaten!!! However the quality control on Bachs is very poor as someone mentioned before and so you do have to really watch out for what you`re getting!! Mine is about 15/20 years old and it is fantastic!! It`s quality is absolutely superb and everything about it is first class. The new ones have been churned out though and so a lot of you who have got newish ones and say they are pants are probably right, but this doesn`t account for all strads!!! That is why the older strads are really, really hard to find coz they are so good, no one wants to part with them!!
At the end of the day it is each to their own so go and try them out!!
I tried Shilke B5 i think it was and they are very good indeed as are Courtois and Yamaha xeno`s but i just personally prefered the strad.
Mine is Silver by the way and the finish does make slight difference to the tone but it`s mostly down to personal preference and how the player responds to the instrument. I had silver because i think it looks nice and my flugel is silver and i personally think silver suits me . The plating isn`t on the inside anyway so it shouldn`t dramatically effect the sound. Have whichever you think feels and looks best!!

I am the lead trumpet pl;ayer in Detroit`s hottest swing band.
Candace has a 13 pound solid silver trumpet??????And a student model Bach at that!!!!!!!!!!
Look for Calicchio, or Schilke or LA Benge for Jazz. The New Conn Vintage One is a GREAT horn also.
Legit....A Bach or Kanstul is very good.
Other good hoprns are Callet Jazz & Superchops, before he quit making them and Roy Lawler makes great horns.
Courtois makes a very good sounding legit horn, although hard to blend with.
For 400-500 dollars, look for a King Silver Flair, that MUST have been built in the 1966-1969 era. Not the trash King Flair now made.
Chuck Willard
Lead Trumpet,
Rhythm Society Swing Orchestra,
Detroit,
www.rhythmsociety.net

Monette!?! Yea, right! If you want to spend $20,000 on a boat anchor!!!

Well, if you are too weak to hold a heavy instrument, then you can just have a thin brittle sound. However, in the trumpet world, there is nothing with a richer, more resonant tone than that $20,000 (and the Nirvikalpa Samadhi`s now reaching as much as $50,000) boat anchor. But I suppose you have probably never played one, since you can`t even lift it.

Look on E-Bay. The early 70`s Elkharts go for over $1,000. I paid $350.00 dollars for mine in 1972. I could have gotten a Getzen (Great horn) for $300.00.

Thanks to everyone who posted to this forum! I havn`t laughed this much in a while!
I think (based on everything I`ve read here) that my I will try to find one of these:
1. Old King Silver Flair
2. Good condition King 601
3. Any Bach Strad

To test how good the horn is hold it up by the valves and flick the rim of the horn. You should hear a high pitch tone, the longer it lasts the better. If you get a clang, bin it. Its all about how good the jig set up is and consistency of material used, even the same models can differ. One of the best trumpets for tonal quality are Blessing ML1`s followed closely by Callichio. For the price you can not beat a an Ml1 in terms of sound. Lets face it, sound is where the real quality is. No good making a highly polished tin can in a solid oak case with no soul...............

Give me a break!!!!
The Blessing M1 horns are major student trumpets!!!!!!!!!
The tonal quality is very poor. The horns do not play well in the upper register.
As for clanking the bell......watch some more movies.
And what is a good high pitched sound? How do you tell the difference?
Buy a good reputable horn and stay away from student or upgrade horns. They are not worth the metal in them.
Chuck
Lead trumpet
Rhythm Society Swing Band
Detroit
www.rhythmsociety.net

I agree with an earlier respondent who stated he had a good laugh over the responses to this topic. Having played trumpet for 20 years and playing an eclectic variety of music, for what it`s worth, I believe most brands offer something for everyone. Yes, you`ve got to try out several brands and levels (beginner, intermediate and professional) to decide what is best for YOU. If you like it, great. So tell me, how far does a pineapple have to bounce to know when it`s ripe?

I have a fairly new (7-10 year old) Blessing ML-1. I was wondering if by having it replated from where my hands have worn off the laquer would make much of a difference or if I should just get a new Blessing LSML-1. I was also looking at some of the Getzen pro models. By the way; I play in both a marching band and Symphonic band with the same trumpet so go easy on me.

Matt, the ML-1 is a good horn, I used one at school for a few years...

Relacquering done by a professional can be just fine, but in the hands of someone who is lacking in knowledge of the proper chemicals will render you a useless instrument. I use to work in a music store that used off-the-shelf spray on lacquer from Ace Hardware for every instrument and it was ridiculously thick.

I suggest niether of your ideas, but rather, that you go and buy a valve guard that covers all of the spots you touch...

http://www.dillonmusic.com/trumpet_accessories/valve_guards.html

Model number: TRPT VALVE

Your horn still has many years of use left in it...don`t worry about what the paint job looks like.


If you are adamant about it being terrible, instead of buying another ML-1, spend a hundred more bucks on a Bach Strad on eBay...you can get a nice horn for $600-800.


Cheers!
Aaron

Talkin` about a holy war waiting to happen.. LOL

Personally, I like Yamaha, even though I play Bach & Getzen.

My Bach has been with me since grade school. And my Getzen was given to me by a fellow band mate.

If I was gonna buy a horn, I`d buy Yamaha. I have played lots of horns. Yamaha gives the most bang for the buck.

In college, I use to trade with a friend who had a Yamaha so that I could blast out loud upper register stuff. The Yamaha has a certain vibration when you get loud and high that I love. And, just general playing it has a nice mellow sound. My Bach is good too, just not as good, IMHO.

http://homepage.mac.com/shaffer.david
http://www.cdbaby.com/shaffer2

BTW.. the Getzen is a flugelhorn.

The best thing to do is do a search and go to The Schilke Loyalist. He has a VERY in depth section on what quality used trumpet to buy. Actually it is his Trumpet Gerhead page.
Look at this link
http://www.dallasmusic.org/gearhead/New%20trumpet%20Guide.html

That will give all the unbiased information you need.

Chuck Willard
Lead Trumpet
Rhythm Society Swing Orchestra