@Richard-III said in What about non-trumpet Brass players:
Do you stay playing mediocre with the original instrument or excellence with the new one?
I think you should do what makes you happy, if you're an amateur. If not, you might want to do what's expedient. I knew a girl who was an excellent trumpet player, but she switched to Horn and wound up at The Royal School of Music (London).
I played trumpet in school and when I went to university, at the suggestion of my teacher, who was also the band director at the university, I switched to Horn. I, frankly, had great potential on Horn and wound up playing First Horn my first year at the university. I loved it, especially the chamber music (woodwind quintet).
But I just missed playing in big band and other jazz and pop, so I switched back to trumpet. My teacher was livid and threw me out. It saved my life, though, because I was getting drafted (Viet Nam) and the only opening, worldwide, was for Horn. I playedHorn for two years, then switched back to trumpet when there was an opening. Mercenary. (If I did it today, I'd just double but I wasn't that flexible, then.)
Since then, I've been a multi-instrumentalist. I say do what you love.