Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets

Comeback

The recent thread about Reasons to Collect Trumpets inspired this one. I may be a reformed collector - at least for now. Understand that when I had G.A.S. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome), I was not an accomplished player, a condition that has changed only a little perhaps. But I was really excited about gear! As instrument cases accumulated and the mouthpiece pile grew, my Mrs. kept saying “You only have one pair of lips, just how many of these can you play?” At one point I had a very nice Strad 180S37, a near perfect Strad 229C, a fine 1952 Blessing Super Artist, a new Getzen 900 Eterna Classic, several other horns, and oh! - no place to perform with any of them!

Hopefully G.A.S. Is behind me now. I have two vintage horns with strong personal associations and the one that I play, a vintage Getzen Severinsen. More importantly, I think, is that I now have a place to perform.

So, my reasons for not collecting trumpets:

Collecting consumes energy and time better spent practicing;
Collecting consumes cash better invested elsewhere;
Collecting requires space - at one point my man room closet was stuffed with instruments I was not playing;
Collecting means you have lots of instruments to care for;
Collecting nice instruments and storing them may mean that someone else who could be playing them is not.

Dr GO

@Comeback said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

my reasons for not collecting trumpets:

Collecting means you have lots of instruments to care for;

Collecting nice instruments and storing them may mean that someone else who could be playing them is not.

First, let me start with reasons that you have may agreement on. See above bulleted reasons.

Dr GO

@Comeback said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Collecting consumes energy and time better spent practicing;

Can"t argue against some energy consumption, but diversion to trumpets expends less energy and money than my other focus.. cars!

Collecting consumes cash better invested elsewhere.

Not so sure my cash is better invested in cars and I can make more on the instruments as they have increased in value as compared to my cars that have significantly decreased

Collecting requires space - at one point my man room closet was stuffed with instruments I was not playing

That is way God created slatwall. All my trumpets are well hung from an 8 by 10 ft section of almost 2 dimensional wall space.

tmd

@Dr-GO said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Not so sure my cash is better invested in cars and I can make more on the instruments as they have increased in value as compared to my cars that have significantly decreased

My son collects/restores cars. Takes a lot more space than my trumpets.

That being said, I suspect this will be an interesting thread.

Mike

A Former User

Do not collect trumpets if you play them for a living unless you have gotten rich or famous doing so which the general run of trumpet players have never ever managed to do. If you can figure out a way to make more money than you will ever need doing something else besides playing trumpet you can collect any thing you want, including trumpets, and let your next of kin figure out what to do with the collection after you are dead and gone.

Comeback

I suppose Arturo Sandoval has a bunch of trumpets and various other instruments, but something he said in a video posted by Jens Lindemann several years ago has stuck with me. My attempt at loosely paraphrasing his remarks: You do not need a bunch of gear to produce a wide variety of effects as you play the trumpet. Sandoval proceeded to demonstrate what he meant.

When I was struggling with G.A.S. I experimented with instruments and mouthpieces continually. I don’t think this was helpful. Looking back, for me at least, I think that a thoughtfully chosen trumpet/mouthpiece combination that I committed to would have led to more rapid trumpeting progress.

Gary, to your points, I in no way am being critical of trumpet collecting generally, it simply may just not be for me. I started this thread merely hoping to encourage an exchange of ideas about the topic that might be helpful to some. And I agree with you concerning cars. I am not counting on my Mustang ever doing much to pad our retirement finances!

Niner, your thought about letting next of kin figure out what to do with one’s stuff after death is something I frequently consider. Mrs. and I had to deal with her parents’ stuff after their passing and we have been dealing with reducing my mom’s pile of unused possessions for over a year now, sometimes in the face of her reluctance. Hopefully, Mrs. and I will be able to reduce our possessions to a manageable magnitude while we still possess all of our faculties!

Jim

A Former User

@Comeback I think when I'm dead the value of what I leave will be up to who I leave it to and I don't anticipate any of my next of kin receiving my remaining "treasures" to go without anything if they trucked the whole lot off to the land fill. However, I have kept spread sheets on what I have and what I have paid ...and in the case of the C&R milsurp collection I've had for decades I update from time to time what I surmise present values to be as well as keeping insurance based on what I think they are worth.

After my mother died, her stuff, some of it of collectible value and very little of it junk, was donated to the high school band my brothers and I had belonged to lots of years ago to use for a rummage sale to finance a long distance trip some place. Old military guns are easy sell at gun shows and commission gun shops and online to other C&R collectors. Trumpets are a different thing and only certain brand models attract much attention.

tmd

@Comeback said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Niner, your thought about letting next of kin figure out what to do with one’s stuff after death is something I frequently consider.

My jazz trio was hired to play a "life celebration" for a local trumpet player who passed away. Among his horns was his treasured CG Benge Trumpet. That trumpet never left his side. Towards the end of life, when he needed surgery, the horn when with him into the OR. The family mentioned it was being buried with him. Since that gig, my wife jokes that I'm taking my horns with me.

Mike

Comeback

Now that is an interesting account, Mike! My Mrs. frequently makes promises to me, laced with humor I think, about what she will do with all of my stuff if I go first.

Jim

Dr GO

@tmd said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

@Comeback said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Niner, your thought about letting next of kin figure out what to do with one’s stuff after death is something I frequently consider.

My jazz trio was hired to play a "life celebration" for a local trumpet player who passed away. Among his horns was his treasured CG Benge Trumpet. That trumpet never left his side. Towards the end of life, when he needed surgery, the horn when with him into the OR. The family mentioned it was being buried with him. Since that gig, my wife jokes that I'm taking my horns with me.

Mike

Ah Mike, my wife already knows my ashes go into my original Olds Recording.

tmd

@Dr-GO said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Ah Mike, my wife already knows my ashes go into my original Olds Recording.

Not a bad idea.

Mike

Bob Pixley

Many people collect cheap junk that they will never play to any extent. Instead of applying that money to one good trumpet, they have 10 wall hangers instead.

N1684T

Whats wrong with wall hangers? As long as you have the one good trumpet too?

Dr GO

@Bob-Pixley said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Many people collect cheap junk that they will never play to any extent. Instead of applying that money to one good trumpet, they have 10 wall hangers instead.

I have may good trumpets 3 over $3,000 another that currently sells fo $12,400 on sale (40% off) and I play all of them.

And when I play them they are truly "off the wall!"

Jolter

@Comeback said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

So, my reasons for not collecting trumpets:

Let me add another:

Collections are risky - Collectable objects are attractive objects to steal. In case of a burglary or fire, you risk losing them.

Of course, this goes for any wordly possession, but I've heard this exact reason from an acquaintance who was thinning out his herd. If looking to invest money, invest in something that's not in your house. Imagine if your house were to burn down, you would lose you player instruments and your life savings! Whereas if you have your savings in alternative investments (stockmarket, gold...) if your house burns down you can still liquidate your investments.

A Former User

@Jolter I understand your feeling about it. Obviously good advice not to put all of ones eggs in a basket that could burn up or be blown away by a hurricane. Always buy insurance for collections and don't expect home owners to cover much of any actual collection collection. However, you might want to leave stock out of the secure list. I had some American Airline stock and they went bankrupt and started up again as though nothing had happened except to the stock holders. It's called reorganization but the only thing is sure is that the previous stock holders are left with nothing. I had some Kodak stock.....same story. I've got some other stocks that could go south as well....the most suspect is a mutual fund of Gold mines and precious metal stocks that is now worth about $3 a share.

Dr GO

@Jolter agreed. I am a member of the American Federation of Musicians and as a benefit have amazing coverage for a few dollars a year that my home owners agent just cannot believe. The AFM treats musicians right for sure.

Bob Pixley

@Dr-GO said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

@Bob-Pixley said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

Many people collect cheap junk that they will never play to any extent. Instead of applying that money to one good trumpet, they have 10 wall hangers instead.

I have may good trumpets 3 over $3,000 another that currently sells fo $12,400 on sale (40% off) and I play all of them.

And when I play them they are truly "off the wall!"

So, do you collect cheap junk? I bet not. The point I was trying to make is people with limited disposable income buy numerous cheap horns that don't play well, instead of putting that money toward a good instrument. Yes you are a great trumpet player with piles of money - I get it.

Mike Ansberry

I suffered from n+1 disease for quite a while. I have owned many different trumpets. Now I don't really like having trumpets around that don't get played. The exception to that would by my deceased son's Bach Strad and Holton Collegiate and my Dad's Buescher mdl 15 cornet. I keep them for sentimental reasons.

I have to admit that I am in the midst of purchasing a Getzen Eterna large bore Bobby Herriot model. If it plays like I think it, it will see playing time.

I have a couple of very nice instruments that don't see playing time. I have had them posted for sale at various times in the past but I don't plan to let them go for less than I paid for them. So they may be sticking around for a while.

Jolter

@Niner said in Reasons to NOT Collect Trumpets:

@Jolter I understand your feeling about it. Obviously good advice not to put all of ones eggs in a basket that could burn up or be blown away by a hurricane. Always buy insurance for collections and don't expect home owners to cover much of any actual collection collection. However, you might want to leave stock out of the secure list. I had some American Airline stock and they went bankrupt and started up again as though nothing had happened except to the stock holders. It's called reorganization but the only thing is sure is that the previous stock holders are left with nothing. I had some Kodak stock.....same story. I've got some other stocks that could go south as well....the most suspect is a mutual fund of Gold mines and precious metal stocks that is now worth about $3 a share.

I could argue that a person who buys stock directly in any business is already putting too many eggs in one basket. Amateurs like us are not good at assessing risk of individual companies, and should stick to mutual funds or other collective forms of investment, which spread the risk over several businesses in a sector, a region, a country or across a whole stock market. The breadth of the fund should reflect the level of risk you're willing to take. Investing in Japanese stock in general is less risky than investing in only Yamaha stock, but more risky than buying into a fund that makes global investments. Gold and precious metals, again, is a narrow enough choice to carry some risk. Of course higher risk in a fund means a higher potential gain as well.

But that's a little derail, isn't it. I guess it's also safe to say that most vintage trumpets don't only carry greater risk than the stock market, but also generally have not gained much value to talk about. Most models have barely kept up with inflation, and I don't think anything but a pristine Martin Committee Deluxe would have outperformed the S&P 500.