Tips for Buying A Trumpet
SILVER OR GOLD?
Trumpets are made of brass, which is an alloy of zinc and copper. The sound of the trumpet is dependent upon good brass materials. Raw brass is yellow in color and will tarnish over time. Some trumpet players think that unvarnished brass has more freedom to vibrate and improves the sound. Most trumpets are finished with either a clear lacquer or plated with nickel. Lacquered trumpets will maintain the yellow brass color, and plated trumpets will have a silver color to them. The vast majority of professionals use plated trumpets, as it is widely believed that the plating unifies the trumpet into one vibrating unit, thus improving the sound quality. Also, nickel plating gives the trumpet a beautiful shiny, silver look. Student trumpets tend to be lacquered, as it is less expensive and easier to maintain. Trumpets can also have a reddish tint if the alloy is heavy on copper. Copper generally makes the sound more mellow, and manufacturers often use it for flugelhorns or student trumpets. Trumpets that are bright red, blue or any other color are simply finished with a tinted lacquer. QUALITY OF MANUFACTURE The finest manufacturers of trumpets are located in the United States and Japan. The brass is of consistently excellent quality as are the fittings, dimensions and general quality of the trumpets. Trumpets that are made in other parts of the world simply have not been shown to be made of good materials, stand up over time, or play well. Check to see where the trumpet was manufactured before your purchase. CONDITION A small dent in the bell will not cause any perceptible harm to the sound of a trumpet. A dent in one of the four slides (each of the 3 valves has a slide, and the tuning slide) may cause slight problems with intonation or movement of the slide. Dents can easily be repaired by a brass technician as long as the brass is of good quality. If the brass is of poor quality, the trumpet may not survive the dent removal process which involves heating the metal. The valve casing should not have any dents. This is much more difficult to fix. If there are no dents and the valves do not work, they may simply be in need of valve oil. There are four slides on the trumpet, each of the three valves and the tuning slide. The tuning slide should slide with some resistance. The third valve slide should move freely. Some trumpets have a moving first valve slide and some do not. The second valve slide should not move at all. |