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Jupiter Brass/Quality Control


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I have no doubt that they are cheaper, and that Jupiter has great PR and customer service, but nothing changes the fact that Phantom doesn't sound as good as they did with Kings. Or Boston. Or Blue Stars...

As someone who marched last summer on a Jupiter trumpet (and has marched a King previously) - I'd like to chip in a few points:

1. Yes there are intonation issues, but I think they have been vastly exaggerated. Once I got used to the horn, it wasn't too difficult to play in tune.

2. The horn slots pitches extremely well (better than the King) - which is a HUGE plus for playing on the move and maintaining stability of pitch.

3. My biggest complaint would probably be the major backpressure - you have to blow very hard to produce any volume, and it oftentimes built tension in my neck and shoulders. If they made the trumpet more open blowing (like a Xeno or King) it would go a long ways towards making Quantum brass even better.

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I have no doubt that they are cheaper, and that Jupiter has great PR and customer service, but nothing changes the fact that Phantom doesn't sound as good as they did with Kings. Or Boston. Or Blue Stars...

Yeah. That's my biggest beef. Hopefully they keep tweaking until they can find a good sound. It's not a bad sound I hear from Jupiter lines... but IMO it is no where near the awesome sound a King and Yamaha line can put out.

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Funny how Phantom's show was still my favorite last year though.

Edited by skajerk
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Funny how Phantom's show was still my favorite last year though.

They sound great. I loved the sound last year and in '10, but you can hear the trumpets and mellos getting buried in the texture whenever they have a large impact. You can hear last year when each section does a soli- and I heard this many times- they were playing very well, with good sounds, and very loud, but when they play as a hornline it's apparent which horns really shine.

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Best customer service. Cheapest. Interested in designing the horns to meet the corps needs - every year. Sounds like a good deal to me.

Jupiter isn't blind to the fact that their horns aren't the best and that they have problems. They are constantly working to improve their horns to MAKE them the best. The crappy ones that PR marched in '09 aren't the same ones that they will be marching this summer.

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I have no idea how Regiment does it now, but windex wipes were the bomb back in the early 2000's.

I don't march Phantom Regiment. But over the past two summers, I could count the number of times I've silver polished my horn on one hand. Windex wipes and a really good polish cloth (I use the Blitz silver jewelry brand) are all you need for a perfect shine in half the time. Why waste EPL if you don't have to??

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Just talked to someone who plays on a Shires bass trombone. He loves it. He was at Dillons in jersey and tried out the Jupiter professional model. He almost traded in his Shires. He actually liked it better.

I've heard similar things about their professional model instruments. Half the price and they still sound and play great, and I know there was a development period for those horns.

These Jupiter horns are still quite new to the drum corps scene. So I will give them time to develop, and from reports here it sounds like they are working on it. Great to hear.

Still doesn't change my opinion on the sound though. And they have a long way to go yet with their high brass.

I'm happy to hear of good customer service... because I know with other brands, you don't get that.

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