How many is too many?

[administrator]

...trumpets that is. I was thinking perhaps a googol might be on the side of "overkill." But then, it just depends on what gigs your doing and your needs anyway.

[J. Jericho]

If you don't enjoy every one of the ones you have, you have too many.

[barliman2001]

Morbus N+1... (N being the number of trumpets you already have). There is one sure sign of having contracted this disease and being in the incurable stage: When you consider skipping meals to finance another trumpet, that is certainly one too many.

[GeorgeB]

@j-jericho said in How many is too many?:

If you don't enjoy every one of the ones you have, you have too many.

I concur with this statement. I own 6 trumpets, a cornet and a flugel. The trumpets get played regularly on a rotational schedule and the flugel and cornet get use for certain pieces of music that seem, to me, to benefit from their particular sound.
George

[Kehaulani]

For me, it's just a tool. To whit I have 2 trumpets*, one Flugelhorn and one cornet. I don't specialize in any one thing to where I need a another horn for that.

*The second trumpet I just got to fill n the gap while waiting for my primary. I actually like it better than my primary but presently the trumpet's weight is a factor, so I'm keeping it for the time being,.

[Shepherds_Crook]

N+1 has caused much personal tension for years. I went through a heavy season of acquiring more horns and really enjoyed that experience... but finally got to a point when I realized that certain ones weren’t getting played often enough and I felt I’d hit the ‘too many’ threshold. Instead of N+1, I would go N-1 or 2, and then +1 again. The tension is when I want to keep them all ... but reason ultimately helps me through that dilemma. 3 trumpets, 1 pocket and 1 Flugel is the current situation. I added the pocket and a DaCarbo in the past year. Not sorry about either ... but that may change.

[Dr GO]

@shepherds_crook said in How many is too many?:

N+1 has caused much personal tension for years. I went through a heavy season of acquiring more horns and really enjoyed that experience... but finally got to a point when I realized that certain ones weren’t getting played often enough and I felt I’d hit the ‘too many’ threshold. Instead of N+1, I would go N-1 or 2, and then +1 again. The tension is when I want to keep them all ... but reason ultimately helps me through that dilemma. 3 trumpets, 1 pocket and 1 Flugel is the current situation. I added the pocket and a DaCarbo in the past year. Not sorry about either ... but that may change.

PS: I have one of his +1's. I have one of Sounds7's +1's. I have one of ANA Mendez's +1's. So does that make me a humanitarian? ...or gullible?

[Shepherds_Crook]

@dr-go YES! Trumpet humanitarian! And don’t stop ….

[tmd]

How many is too many? I'm guessing more than 16.

Mike

[Dr GO]

@tmd said in How many is too many?:

How many is too many? I'm guessing more than 16.

Mike

As a medical professional I may suggest perhaps you need medical help.

[Kehaulani]

As an alcoholic I may suggest perhaps you need to trade your horns for more Cutty Sark?

[GeorgeB]

@dr-go said in How many is too many?:

@tmd said in How many is too many?:

How many is too many? I'm guessing more than 16.

Mike

As a medical professional I may suggest perhaps you need medical help.

Yes, and you can pay Doc so many horns per visit.
George

[Dr GO]

@georgeb said in How many is too many?:

@dr-go said in How many is too many?:

@tmd said in How many is too many?:

How many is too many? I'm guessing more than 16.

Mike

As a medical professional I may suggest perhaps you need medical help.

Yes, and you can pay Doc so many horns per visit.
George

Mike

What he said. Just got to find an ICD-10 code to cover it!

[Vulgano Brother]

@dr-go I used to have eleven trumpets. Now I'm down to seven. Needed to sell four to afford the prescriptions you wrote me under a bridge away from cameras.

Well worth it.

[Dr GO]

@vulgano-brother said in How many is too many?:

@dr-go I used to have eleven trumpets. Now I'm down to seven. Needed to sell four to afford the prescriptions you wrote me under a bridge away from cameras.

Well worth it.

But you see, now you are cured, AND maintained on the appropriate meds. Mike on the other hand... He requires ongoing therapy... but its getting harder to find bridges without camera surveillance.

[administrator]

@tmd do you ever play the alto horn?

[ROWUK]

"Too many" is a term for ones opinion of someone elses collection.

There are performers that play various venues and need various horns, there are players with one venue but like to use various horns, there are collectors with a purpose and collectors without purpose. Then there are those with more money than common sense.

Add to that our own relationship and we see that number of horns is a very dynamic thing. What works this year can be different even after a month or two.

My collection (now 20 trumpets) has always been "right sized". I always had a performance reason (mostly for historically informed playing ensembles) to buy the next instrument, and today I am only missing one instrument - a rotary valved C-trumpet of my own design (not TARV). The covid pandemic got in the way of that one and I have learned some stuff in the mean time that changed the game.

[tmd]

@dr-go said in How many is too many?:

As a medical professional I may suggest perhaps you need medical help.

Yes, I need medical help, or maybe more disposable income.

@georgeb said in How many is too many?:

Yes, and you can pay Doc so many horns per visit.
George

LOL

@dr-go said in How many is too many?:

What he said. Just got to find an ICD-10 code to cover it!

F42.3

@administrator said in How many is too many?:

@tmd do you ever play the alto horn?

What are you my wife or something? (Just kidding.)

The horn is just for fun. I got it at Baltimore Brass. At the time, they had a half dozen of them, all priced to sell. And at only $100, for me, it was worth the price.

I occasionally take it to jam sessions. Only problem is that I have to transpose everything for Eb/F horn. I use a flugelhorn mouthpiece, making it easier to play, although I realize that a real Alto Horn player might cringe at my choice.

Mike

[administrator]

Here's my "ideal" setup, with no horns just as "collectibles" (although, I don't think there is anything wrong with a collection):

2 - Bb piston trumpets -- 1 for classical / 1 for everything else
1 - C piston Trumpet
2 - Piccolo trumpets -- 1 piston / 1 rotary
1 - D/Eb trumpet -- either piston or rotary
3 - Flugelhorns -- 1 piston 3-valve / 1 piston 4-valve with large bell / 1 rotary
2 - Cornets -- 1 piston Bb (BBB-style) / 1 piston C
1 - Bb rotary trumpet
1 - C rotary trumpet

I think that just about covers it...I can't think of anything else I could possibly need off the top of my head. That's 13 horns right there.

[barliman2001]

@administrator You forgot one straight cornet for jazz and big band work, one pocket trumpet for travelling, one multi-pitch trumpet by Jaeger trumpets, one old banger for the football pitch, one to scare the wife with...