Volume 1 – The Trumpet Chronicles

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(I’m starting a new series today, called “The Trumpet Chronicles”, about my come-back journey through the world of trumpets and mouthpieces, through the eyes of a former woodwind guy.  Enjoy(?), or ignore.)

I had a little time tonight, so I played around with the 3 different trumpets I now have, and with a couple of different mouthpieces.

In the picture, the top horn is my 50s York National aka the junkyard dog. Next is my latest acquisition, a 70s era Olds Ambassador laquered trumpet. It needs a couple of slides freed, and looked like it hadn’t been played in years. A little valve oil and it was good to go for the tests. Last is my daily driver 1970 silver-plated Olds Ambassador. It looks to me like the silver plate is from the factory.  I found etching on the 3rd valve slide indicating that it was a school horn at some point.

The bell on the York is about an inch longer than the Ambassadors.  I just noticed that.

I have been playing with a clone 3C mouthpiece lately, and it is working pretty well for me.  But I also used a 7C for comparison tonight.

The first difference I noticed was that the laquered Olds was easier to get air through than its silver brother.  I guess this is just differences between the two.

The York also was easier to put air through. I don’t know the specs for it. The Olds pair are .460 bore.

The laquered Olds was easier to play in the lower register where the 3rd trumpets lurk, than the silver one. The York also was like this.

Since I am used to the 3C, it was easier for me to play on all 3 than the 7C.

I still want to try a 1.5C mouthpiece out to see what the difference is.

And the more I play with the (Florence Community) band, the more I realize just how badly I play. So practice is going to be worked in each week, too.

That’s it for the first edition of the (dum dum duuuuumm) Trumpet Chronicles.

Tune in next time for another bor… err… exciting episode!


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