Who made this trumpet
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I bought a trumpet from a graduating college student that was moving to California. I don't have contact info for him. The trumpet has no brand or company name on it anywhere, but there are numbers on the sides of the valves, (1 on the first valve, 2611 on the second valve, and 3 on the third valve) which I am assuming, are the serial number. How can I find out about this trumpet....is it possible to get any information about it?
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Without a manufacturer stamp/engraving, the origin of this trumpet is near impossible to determine. There are clues, however.
Why would a company not identify itself in some way on its product? Barring prototype status, the likely answer is that they don't want to be associated with the product.
Some of the details, or lack thereof, reveal a simplicity in their use, such as basic water keys and a lack of a third slide stop, in addition to the lack of engraving on the bell, which tend to indicate a TSO (Trumpet Shaped Object), typical of build-to-a-price instruments made in China. That this trumpet is in a rudimentary budget case is another clue.
It's interesting that the previous owner used it throughout college. Does it function as it should? In what condition are the valves? How does it play?
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If there are no clear manufacturer marks, it's likely what we call a "stencil." That means it was probably made in a factory somewhere in the Eastern realms of this world and, unfortunately, is not likely to be very high quality. May I ask how much you spent on this instrument?
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@administrator I did not pay much, $25. I don't play the trumpet, I actually play the clarinet. I bought it about 5 years ago for a grandchild that was interested, but decided on the trombone. I'm thinking about selling it, so wanted to have an idea of it's value. Sounds like it's not worth much more than I paid for it.
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@J-Jericho I don't know how it plays, I don't actually play the trumpet. I bought it about 5 years ago for a grandchild that was interested, but then decided on the trombone. Its been in my closet for the past 5 years. I decided it was time to find it a new home. I wanted to get an idea of its value to sell it.
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It is easy to speculate especially about quality when there is no real evidence available one way or the other.
The thing about trumpets is, not all instruments were engraved or stamped with makers marks or details. The better ones usually were but even that means little.
Some instruments that appear to be great when looking at them can turn out to be poor.
It can be a crapshoot.
Even good engravings could turn out to be false and intended simply to mislead purchasers.
You have to know a huge amount about instruments to be confident that you have a good one just by looking at it unless you know its history.
Only one test matters. How does it play.
Have a good player test it and give an opinion or take it to a good tech for an opinion on it.
It just looks like a trumpet and that is all I can say about it from those few images. I dont think anyone can say any more than this.
See what a good player makes of it before having an opinion on it..
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You bought it for $25. Sell if for the same if you can. Done.
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Given the apparent Nickel plated finish, the design of the water keys and the low serial number I might guess it was made in Soviet Russia. I have seen similar examples.
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@Trumpetb Thank you so much for the suggestion. I don't know why I didn't think of that. I have a brother in law that was the music director at the local university, now retired. I will ask him.
