Great Source of Information on Buying Tips for Musical Instruments
How do I choose a good trumpet? What about bore size, bell size, valves, expression slides, etc.?
There are many web sites with a lot of information about trumpets, unfortunately not many of them talk about what qualities one should look for in a trumpet. We have some information on our "Related links" of interest that has a number of very good trumpet information sites listed.
I can give you a few basics to help. The most critical feature in a trumpet is the valve system. The lower priced trumpets have nickel plated valves and many of them have a loose fit or tolerance between the valve and the valve casing. The loose fit causes air to bypass and leak around the valve which causes more than one of the tuning loops for the notes to be active at once. In short it makes the notes harder to center properly especially for a beginning student who hasn't developed their embouchure yet. The better quality trumpets have a close tolerance fit of the valves and use a monelalloy for the valves instead of a nickel plated brass core. The best valves are now found in the Winston, Amati and Olds instruments that are using a new nickel silver alloy which has the best thermal expansion characteristics of all the alloys. This new alloy matches the
expansion rate of the valve with the valve casing better than any previous alloy. Since the thermal expansion characteristics are very close to each other they are now able to maintain a fit of less than .001". This extremely close tolerance allows the most precise fit of the valves and gives superb sealing so that no air can bypass the valve and cause more than one note to try to play at a time. Basically it makes the trumpet a lot easier to play and the valves last a lot longer.
The vast majority of the trumpets sold have a bore size of .460" which is a good middle of the road size for all players. Some professional trumpets can have a little larger bore size ie: .464 or even larger. This allows for a little more volume and has a little less resistance to blowing than the .460 size. The larger bore size tends to make the instrument slightly harder to center the notes with in the upper registers and isn't recommend for a beginning player.
The Bell size for a student instrument is not a critical item to really worry about. Most bells run between 4.6" to 5.2". The finish on the trumpet varies from very poor quality clear varnish on the cheap trumpets to a very fine lacquer or epoxy finish on the higher quality trumpets. The instruments that are plated run the gambit from inexpensive nickel plating on low cost instruments to very fine
quality Silver Plating on the higher quality instruments. One note about the finish on an instrument: The clear or painted finishes on an instrument are like the finish on a car, it can be dinged, scratched and chipped. The plated finish is usually much more durable in that it is harder to scratch, won't chip and if dinged or dented it won't flake off as the other types of finish will.
As for the construction of the rest of the instrument: the tuning slides need to have a close tolerance fit and slide freely for tuning when necessary. The low cost trumpets generally have a loose or sloppy fit where the higher quality instruments have a close tolerance fit. The fit of the slides is very critical for a different reason than the valves. If there is any leakage of air around a slide joint it has exactly the same effect as an open hole on a flute, Clarinet, sax etc. The leakage causes the trumpet to try and play a note that is equal to the length of the tubing from the mouthpiece to the point of exit. This makes an instrument more
difficult to center the notes and get a nice clear sound out of it.
Features such as 3rd valve expression slide or 1st and 3rd valve expression slides are definitely not needed for a beginning student but are nice to have as student gets more advanced and is able to use them although in reality they aren't used extensively by professionals except for an occasional special effect.
What is the difference between a "student", an "intermediate", and a "professional" Instrument?
The primary objective of any student-level instrument is to be inexpensive and affordable nothing more or less. Student instruments are real instruments that are the same size, have the same number of keys, function the same, and can last someone a lifetime if proper care is given them. Intermediate level and professional instruments are primarily built for better tone quality and response characteristics that an accomplished advanced student or professional musician can take advantage of.
Professional and Intermediate instruments are generally all hand built and carefully fitted. These instruments usually come with features not typically found on student instruments i.e.: low B foot, open hole keys, solid silver head and body on a flute, First and 3rd expression slides, one piece bell, heavy weight braces and valve caps on a trumpet, High F# key on a saxophone, all Grenadellia wood body and trill keys on a clarinet, key change triggers on a trombone, etc. etc. These are features which an entry level student will have virtually no use for in the first years of their studies.
There is no major musical advantage for an entry level student to purchase an intermediate or professional instrument at the beginning other than the psychological appeal of owning a very expensive instrument. The time the student has progressed to the level of expertise that they can take advantage of an intermediate or professional instrument's capabilities, will generally take a few years for them to achieve, usually around the 9th or 10th grade level is common. Since each musican is unique and has completely different playing charicteristics and physical requirements, trying to choose the appropriate advanced or professional instrument for a beginning student is like trying to predict and pick the winning "Power Ball Lotto" numbers. You will have equal success with either endeavor.
The only major thing that is going to make any difference in how well one plays or sounds is very simple....practice.
Which make and or model is the best for a student instrument?
To put it simply, there is no best. All of the major manufacturers' student instruments (i.e. Amati, Selmer Bach, Buescher, Getzen, Blessing, Holton, Leblanc, Vito, UMI's Conn and Armstrong, Jupiter, Yamaha etc., are all very comparable from both a musical and quality standpoint. Given that they are all in equal playing condition they will be equally as easy or as difficult to learn to play and they will all sound very similar. Given the same environment, use and care, they will all hold up and last equally well.
Since the US dollar is currently very strong against foreign currency, the majority of the new instruments today are either coming out of Taiwan, (Yamaha, Selmer, Vito etc.), or Europe (Amati Kraslice, E.M. Winston, Olds, etc.). Only a small portion of the student instruments are actually being made in the United States currently.
If there was only one best brand or model of instrument made, then the majority of the professional musicians in the world would be using it. This is obviously not the case!
Amati Trumpet valves vs. Standard Trumpet Valves.
Many basic student trumpets have a loose tolerance nickel plated valve with more clearance around the valve to allow them to work under poor maintenance conditions that the beginning students tend to give their instruments. Trumpets with loose tolerance valves also require copious amounts of oil to get the valves to make an air seal so that the instrument can be played. All Amati valve instruments have very close tolerance precision valves. When excess oil, more than one or two drops, is applied to the Amati valves it will slow the valve action down. In addition close tolerance valves are sensitive to food debris and sugar from soft drinks blown into it by students that haven't learned to rinse their mouth out with water prior to playing the instrument. Furthermore, Improper playing techniques such as using the middle rather than the tips of the fingers can cause binding with these precision instruments.
The main disadvantage with a basic student instrument with loose tolerance valves is that it will never play quite as well as an instrument with close tolerance precision valves like the Amati has. Since the Amati requires a little more care in maintenance than a basic student trumpet with standard nickel plated valves, I recommend that you read our paper on Trumpet Care and Maintenance first to be sure that your son or daughter is ready for an advanced instrument like the Amati.
Kent Allman
