Old School Contra Guy Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 (edited) My 13 year old daughter already plays clarinet in school, and has shown interest in learning trumpet. (dad sees great things ahead !) I'm looking for the board's thoughts on a decent beginner trumpet. I am not opposed to used. Brands, models, etc. I am an old tuba guy, so brass in my ballywick. I've told her I am going to be a drill sargeant about practice. Help me, Obi Won's !! Edited February 5, 2009 by Old School Contra Guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sonofjabba Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 My 13 year old daughter already plays clarinet in school, and has shown interest in learning trumpet. (dad sees great things ahead !) I'm looking for the board's thoughts on a decent beginner trumpet. I am not opposed to used. Brands, models, etc. I am an old tuba guy, so brass in my ballywick. I've told her I am going to be a drill sargeant about practice. Help me, Obi Won's !! Olds Ambassador (Fullerton, Ca) Cheap Plentiful Kid Proof.. Before I realized I sucked at trumpet I learned on one.... :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HornsUp Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Olds Ambassador (Fullerton, Ca) Cheap Plentiful Kid Proof I second the motion. Has a bulletproof valve cluster that'll last 4ever. A hundy will get ya a decent one on eBay. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorNik Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 agreed,, hard to beat the olds.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martybucs Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 The Olds is a great choice. New, I would look at the Blessing ML1 trumpet. When my old Bach was destroyed in an accident, I was looking for a new pro horn. The ML1 is Blessing's version of a pro horn. Well, to tide me over, I bought one. I forget the price, but it was very reasonable. It turned out to be a great horn. I played it about 3 years while I searched for a perfect fit horn. Very, very solidly built and played easily in tune. The only minuses would be Amado water keys - I personally don't like them and the 5 inch bell is a bit big and some mutes get lost in it. Powerful horn though. I sold it to a student for $300.00 silver finish and very nice case. The kid was overjoyed and his single mom was happy with the price also. Check out the Blessing ML1. I don't know what their student horns are like, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadow_7 Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Wouldn't it be simpler if you just started playing banjo and scared her away from music completely? (just kidding) I had an old bundy that wasn't too bad. Built like a tank, with an armored case to match. It was technically my brothers horn, for the six weeks that he tried it. I hung onto it for another decade, then sold that $75 horn for $100 and forwarded the cash to my brother. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 Olds Ambassador (Fullerton, Ca) Cheap Plentiful Kid Proof.. Before I realized I sucked at trumpet I learned on one.... :D Olds is a good choice, no question about it. However, there are a couple of things you should be aware of.... Amado water keys. Not really an issue unless they are worn out. The tuning slide inner tubing OD is a few thousandths too small, so the slide tends to move too freely on some horns. Again, not really an issue. I've see a few rental horns that had this problem. It could be that the slides were stuck previously and an inexperienced tech got a little too ambitious cleaning them up. Of note: Consider renting for a few months before you buy. Kids at that age see green grass on the other side of every fence they come across. In your daughter's case, it could even be a guy she wants to know better. Years of experience dealing with kids at the local middle school have contributed to these comments. One more thing - Once she gets going, if she wants lessons outside of school don't try to save money doing it yourself. Usually it doesn't work out very well - even if you know exactly what you are doing. Been there, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kickhaltsforlife Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 tell her to play trombone but yeah, Olds, Bundy, I know Yamaha makes beginner level horn.. but the one I played sucked... and I'm sure they are overpriced. But yeah get a used horn. My favorite beginner level was the Olds ambassador... on trumpet and trombone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DoctorNik Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 agree with the beginner yamaha,,, was not impressed at all,,,, in fact,, it never left the store i tried it in,,, lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDale Posted February 5, 2009 Share Posted February 5, 2009 agree with the beginner yamaha,,, was not impressed at all,,,, in fact,, it never left the store i tried it in,,, lol Many of the student-intermediate horns are actually made in China and finished in the country they are sold in. The quality is good, just avoid Ebay like the plague and go with what your local music store uses for rentals. You can often buy out of their "used" stock. They will back up what they sell and will do repairs. They will also have durable brands, as they were meant for rental use. Trumpet is a great beginner brass instrument, especially coming from clarinet, as they both read the same or similiar Bb parts. Her band director will also love the fact they she has a musical parent, supportive of the child and encourages the doubling of instruments. I do the same myself. Clarinet for concert band and brass for varsity band. If she really likes it, mellophone or F horn would be a great next step. Let her doodle a bit on piano or keyboard, as that opens up a whole new world of music for a kid! Good Luck!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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