C Trumpets: Bach vs Yamaha vs Vintage Besson vs....
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I'm thinking of getting myself a C trumpet again. I've played a lot of C trumpets and used to own various Bachs. I'm most familiar with 229/25H combo, but I've played Yamaha Chicago, Bach Chicago and even a Schilke C which was dreadfully out of tune. My goal is to play in a local, community orchestra. Naturally, I'm leaning toward Bach because I am familiar with it, but I was curious if anybody has experience with these vintage Besson Brevete / Meha horns. I've seen a few for sale and they piqued my interest.
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I wouldn’t really go for a vintage C if you want something reliable unless you’re certain it’s in good condition. Many of them do not really have great intonation, and were built with a different sound concept in mind than what’s currently acceptable for an orchestral setting. However, I play a vintage Schilke, it plays quite well in tune, but I use it more for church services and brass quintet than anything else. My last C was a French Besson Classic and they are quite good for any situation- built by Kanstul and can be picked up at a fair price. Good one to look for - I only sold mine because it didn’t suit me as well as my Schilke does. We have plenty of Yamaha in stock, and my favorites are the Chicago and the NY with Malone bell. PM if you’re interested in one of them and I can tell you my personal favorites in stock as I play test them all. When testing, I check for intonation, resonance, and general ease of play, and if the horn meets that criteria and I could gig comfortably with it tomorrow, I recommend it first to customers.
www.brassandwinds.comDaily players: Adams A1, A4LT, F2 flugel , CN1 cornet.
Schagerl Raweni
Puje 3am(named for me), Benge pocket
Schilke P5-4, C5L
Yamaha 761 Eb/D
Lots of vintage toys -
For the last 30 years I have played my Selmer Radial C 99 in Church and Orchestra, never had any complaints about sound or blending. I use 4 Selmsr Radials for orchestra, Bb. C, D and Eb..
Regards, Stuart.
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@flugelgirl said in C Trumpets: Bach vs Yamaha vs Vintage Besson vs....:
I wouldn’t really go for a vintage C if you want something reliable unless you’re certain it’s in good condition. Many of them do not really have great intonation, and were built with a different sound concept in mind than what’s currently acceptable for an orchestral setting. However, I play a vintage Schilke, it plays quite well in tune, but I use it more for church services and brass quintet than anything else. My last C was a French Besson Classic and they are quite good for any situation- built by Kanstul and can be picked up at a fair price. Good one to look for - I only sold mine because it didn’t suit me as well as my Schilke does. We have plenty of Yamaha in stock, and my favorites are the Chicago and the NY with Malone bell. PM if you’re interested in one of them and I can tell you my personal favorites in stock as I play test them all. When testing, I check for intonation, resonance, and general ease of play, and if the horn meets that criteria and I could gig comfortably with it tomorrow, I recommend it first to customers.
www.brassandwinds.comThanks. I think that I will save up and purchase a Yamaha. They are incredibly reliable and hold their value. It's like a Toyota. You always know what you're getting. Maybe a bit "boring" in that regard, but it's a tool and those tools perform their job very well.
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I've had my fill of Cs... I started off with a Bach C/Bb combo which was out of tune as a Bb and even more out of tune as a C. It only started working when I added an A and even an Ab slide... Fortunately, a friend of mine borrowed it for a theatre job and managed to get it stolen. The insurance paid up ande that pqaid for a Bach rotary C. Nice horn, but not universally useable and rather a hard blow. I had a couple of Besson Mehas afterwards - the Bbs are good, on the verge of fantastic, but the Cs are quirky and extremely mouthpiece sensitive. I then went for a Couesnon C/Bb combo: Easy for the C, with a nice sound, but almost a peashooter on Bb. Anything below the stave is sharp. Another C rotary crossed my path when a friend asked me to advise him as to a rotary C with all the trimmings, NOT a Lechner (he had a colleague who always flaunted his gold-plated Lechner), with a budget of $ 6,000. I had Votruba of Vienna build him a gold-plated, three Vienna keys rotary C, with four different leadpipes - the works - and supervised the build for him. It turned out "the best C I ever played, and it easily outplays the Lechner", at a final price tag of $ 5,400 including shipping. resulting in the other guy selling his Lechner and ordering another Votruba... Another friend of mine has an Inderbinen Alpha C - costly, but not for me. and recently I came upon a Gaudet C. Thiw was the "second choice" brand of Antoine Courtois, horns that had some kind of optical glitch like missed bits of lacquering or an unaligned water key - things like that. The valve block is correctly stamped "Courtois". And that has been m go-to C for the last five years. Nice, mellow tone, yet caqn strip paint if you want to do so; perfectly in tune; and an easy, precise blow. One of the few horns that will only come on the market if you shoot me first - But I've always been a fast draw...
