Around the time I discovered red rot in the leadpipe of my favorite and sole (soul?) trumpet, I was giving private lessons to the son of one of my coworkers. My teachers always had their horns at the ready during my private lessons with them, so it was at least somewhat out of obligation that I felt I needed to find a suitable replacement. I was not playing in any local bands (the brass scene where I lived at that time was abysmal), and any other playing was purely for my own amusement and upkeep. Teaching at least kept me somewhat motivated.
The place locally that had the best reputation for having just about anything on the market was Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center. My wife of about seven years at the time, formerly a flute player who also just happened to be interested in learning to play trumpet, accompanied me. I'd always heard great things about Levin's, and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my experience there did not turn out how I had expected on a number of different levels.
CLWMC is sort of a monster of a place, but I found the brass section and asked to sample some trumpets. I was not met with a lot of enthusiasm or friendliness, and I never got the feeling that I was welcome to try the various makes and models. I've had similar experiences at places like Guitar Center when I was trying guitars. Frankly, it was almost intimidating. All I know is it was nothing like visiting my old mom-and-pop store where I'd purchased my Getzen Eterna Severinsen LB about 15 years prior.
Anyway, I played as many Bb trumpets across brands as I could, around 12 different horns, while under the clearly disapproving scrutiny of the salesperson. Everything played like it had a sock in it. Stuffy and honky described just about every one. I couldn't find slots to save my life and I felt like I was fighting them. Granted, this could have been due to a gap issue that my mouthpiece created with these, but it's not like you can deal with that during a play-test at the store. I was totally crestfallen. The only saving grace of the day was a Yamaha YTR-2320 student-level trumpet which played just about as well as the pro horns for me, but seemed to work well for my wife. I'm sure the salesperson rolled his eyes as we bought it. The whole experience really soured me on CLWMC and I've never been back regardless of their amazing selection. Perhaps they've changed; I'll probably never find out.
I temporarily played the 2320 at the time while I began a search to find something different. In fact, I still have the 2320 but I just keep it maintained in case of emergency. I don't list it on the "My Gear" page as I never play it and will be selling it.
After my recently failed shopping experience, I turned to the internet where marketing/commerce had become "en vogue" since my previous purchase in the '80s. There I stumbled across the web page of Flip Oakes and his Wild Thing Bb trumpet. Flip had gone the mad scientist route and come up with something that, while it certainly would be nothing like playing my Sev, at least offered a description that I could appreciate. It was also large bore and purportedly very free-blowing and resonant. Given that it was early into the production life of the trumpet, I could get it at a significant discount. He also offered a generous trial period. I thought I'd give it a shot.
The trumpet I received lived up to its billing. Finally, I was back to a much more familiar sensation and sound. The horn slotted well and had a gorgeous tone. Compared to those I'd played at CLWMC, this was absolutely no comparison relative to both what I wanted and how I sounded. Now, I'd be lying if I said I preferred it to my Sev, but here was a horn I could enjoy and live on for a while. I kept it and wrote Flip a testimonial which he still has posted on his site.
There was a minor issue with one of the valves and Flip kindly offered to reimburse me for a trip to a local tech. There was one guy in DC at the time that had a great reputation on the Trumpet Players' International Network (TPIN) email list (yes, we used mailing lists back then) and I took it to him for the work. He took care of the job but unfortunately, during a play-test, he brought the horn up to his mouth and caught the outside part of the bell on his music stand and put a fairly long scratch into it -- ugh! He attempted to buff it out, but it was unfortunately impossible to get out completely. So her first and only scar came from some other dude. Frustrating.
Not long after this, my last student had to give up trumpet due to other commitments and I, as a result, lost a lot of motivation. It was around this time that I also suffered a prolonged bout of walking pneumonia. I'm extremely susceptible to it and it almost killed me when I was six. I couldn't play and I had nothing to keep my focus on anything trumpet related so I descended into musical apathy. Essentially, I figured I'd never play trumpet again. I was doing some composition work on my computer, and I figured that would probably be the way I'd keep the musical side of me alive... if only barely.
The place locally that had the best reputation for having just about anything on the market was Chuck Levin's Washington Music Center. My wife of about seven years at the time, formerly a flute player who also just happened to be interested in learning to play trumpet, accompanied me. I'd always heard great things about Levin's, and I was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, my experience there did not turn out how I had expected on a number of different levels.
CLWMC is sort of a monster of a place, but I found the brass section and asked to sample some trumpets. I was not met with a lot of enthusiasm or friendliness, and I never got the feeling that I was welcome to try the various makes and models. I've had similar experiences at places like Guitar Center when I was trying guitars. Frankly, it was almost intimidating. All I know is it was nothing like visiting my old mom-and-pop store where I'd purchased my Getzen Eterna Severinsen LB about 15 years prior.
Anyway, I played as many Bb trumpets across brands as I could, around 12 different horns, while under the clearly disapproving scrutiny of the salesperson. Everything played like it had a sock in it. Stuffy and honky described just about every one. I couldn't find slots to save my life and I felt like I was fighting them. Granted, this could have been due to a gap issue that my mouthpiece created with these, but it's not like you can deal with that during a play-test at the store. I was totally crestfallen. The only saving grace of the day was a Yamaha YTR-2320 student-level trumpet which played just about as well as the pro horns for me, but seemed to work well for my wife. I'm sure the salesperson rolled his eyes as we bought it. The whole experience really soured me on CLWMC and I've never been back regardless of their amazing selection. Perhaps they've changed; I'll probably never find out.
I temporarily played the 2320 at the time while I began a search to find something different. In fact, I still have the 2320 but I just keep it maintained in case of emergency. I don't list it on the "My Gear" page as I never play it and will be selling it.
After my recently failed shopping experience, I turned to the internet where marketing/commerce had become "en vogue" since my previous purchase in the '80s. There I stumbled across the web page of Flip Oakes and his Wild Thing Bb trumpet. Flip had gone the mad scientist route and come up with something that, while it certainly would be nothing like playing my Sev, at least offered a description that I could appreciate. It was also large bore and purportedly very free-blowing and resonant. Given that it was early into the production life of the trumpet, I could get it at a significant discount. He also offered a generous trial period. I thought I'd give it a shot.
The trumpet I received lived up to its billing. Finally, I was back to a much more familiar sensation and sound. The horn slotted well and had a gorgeous tone. Compared to those I'd played at CLWMC, this was absolutely no comparison relative to both what I wanted and how I sounded. Now, I'd be lying if I said I preferred it to my Sev, but here was a horn I could enjoy and live on for a while. I kept it and wrote Flip a testimonial which he still has posted on his site.
There was a minor issue with one of the valves and Flip kindly offered to reimburse me for a trip to a local tech. There was one guy in DC at the time that had a great reputation on the Trumpet Players' International Network (TPIN) email list (yes, we used mailing lists back then) and I took it to him for the work. He took care of the job but unfortunately, during a play-test, he brought the horn up to his mouth and caught the outside part of the bell on his music stand and put a fairly long scratch into it -- ugh! He attempted to buff it out, but it was unfortunately impossible to get out completely. So her first and only scar came from some other dude. Frustrating.
Not long after this, my last student had to give up trumpet due to other commitments and I, as a result, lost a lot of motivation. It was around this time that I also suffered a prolonged bout of walking pneumonia. I'm extremely susceptible to it and it almost killed me when I was six. I couldn't play and I had nothing to keep my focus on anything trumpet related so I descended into musical apathy. Essentially, I figured I'd never play trumpet again. I was doing some composition work on my computer, and I figured that would probably be the way I'd keep the musical side of me alive... if only barely.
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