Ptrumpet Jiggs Whigham

[Bstradivarius]

I just bought one of these, the red plastic one. Motive: 7 year old daughter complained my brass one was too heavy.

Positive attributes: it's light. It is durable, so you can take it anywhere and not worry about scratching or denting. No polishing required or possible.

Negatives: Stuffy. As soon as my daughter gets strong enough to hold a brass one, this thing is going on the Shelf to be used when I need something to beat on. Valve action: bad. However, I reserve judgment until they are broken in. It appears to be made of PVC pipe material. Also, I have some emergency tape in the event something cracks. It's really not worth anything more than cement or emergency tape or duct tape. I'll see what my daughter thinks of this thing, but the red color was attractive to her online.

Jiggs Whigham is an old family friend. I am sure these things will sell because they are cute and cheap.
_________________
Jon J
Principal trumpet - Symphony Orchestra
Soloist
Brass Quintet
Brass choir

[HaveTrumpetWillTravel]

I have the tromba cornet, which is pretty clackety on the valves, and if you add a practice mute, it's beyond stuffy. Still, I'm planning to throw it in my suitcase when I go out of town next week. I think I got mine on amazon warehouse for around $70, which is maybe more than it's worth I do know people learn on these things, and I think probably it moves the potential starting age for trumpet up a year or two.

[mafields627]

I just purchased a Tromba/Allora plastic trumpet that WW/BW had on sale. Some of the notes slot a little weird and the valve action isn't great, BUT this horn has metal valves that slide in a metal sleeve so you can use oil. The tone is a lot better than I expected. I bought it because my boys always want to take a blow when I'm practicing but are way too rough to use my horns. I've had beginners with worse horns than this.
_________________
--Matt--

No representation is made that the quality of this post is greater than the quality of that of any other poster. Oh, and get a teacher!

[harryjamesworstnightmare]

I picked one up thinking I'd take it on the road with me so I didn't have to worry about my horns while I was out making sales calls. Then I could practice a bit in the hotel room. No matter what I tried, the first valve stuck every time I used it. No amount of cleaning, lubricating or breaking in seemed to help. I exchanged it and the second valve stuck on the new one. A third one and it was back to the first valve sticking. Needless to say I can imagine a beginner being very frustrated early on. I now take a 50's vintage cornet on the road and it can sit in the trunk all day and I'm not worried about it getting lost, damaged, or stolen. The only thing that matters is the valve action is pretty decent.
_________________
Brian James
-------------------------
King Super 20 Symphony
Bach Strad 43 Sterling Silver Plus
Getzen Proteus
Yamaha 6335HS
Olds Super
Olds Mendez
Getzen Custom 3850 Cornet
Conn 80A
Getzen Eterna Flugelhorn

[Bstradivarius]

So, it turns out it was too long for my daughter's arms. I got her an old Getzen Cornet for a screaming deal, thanks to a now friend for life, way out of my budget seeing as how she's not serious, but works much much better for her in every way.


I still have this plastic thing in my possession. Do I use it as a potato gun or hummingbird feeder?
_________________
Jon J
Principal trumpet - Symphony Orchestra
Soloist
Brass Quintet
Brass choir

[OldSchoolEuph]

[AJCarter]

[plankowner110]

[OldSchoolEuph]

Allora Aere TR-1301. Manufactured November 2, 2015. On EBay April 2016 - as a non-functional parts horn. Very stuffy (due to leaks and the density/softness of the PVC). The third valve slide legs were so undersized for the sleeves (all PVC) that the leaking slide would fall out if not held in. The pinkie hook had snapped in two. The first valve had been replaced with one from another horn to try and address the horrible sticking - it sort of worked, barely ever hanging up. The valve issue was not the fault of the piston so much as the casings appear to be warped - and more so as it warms). All three valves were prone to popping out the top of the casings if you did anything fast with the valves (if they came back up) as the cap is held by just two flimsy plastic tabs L-slotted around plastic pins.

Lets compare it to some super inexpensive brass examples that all play, not more than a quarter step out of tune, and with the valves continuing to work for a while:

Allora AATR-101 (the bottom of the line): Actually a somewhat nice student horn. Blows reasonably open, intonation isn't awful. Can give a nice full tone.

Eastman ETR-420 (the bottom of the line): Fairly solid, my example being an older one that saw student use, valves work ok, tone is not bad, and its not stuffy.

Hunter HTR6418RM: Basically one of the better out of Tianjin's low-cost manufacturers (think Jin Bao). Its intonation isn't great, the tone is a bit sterile, but the valves work, the resistance isn't overwhelming, and someone could get an OK start on it without giving up in frustration.

Oswal Trumpet: This made-in-India $64 object made me a little afraid (I took breaths away from the horn and was not about to put the lacquered mouthpiece that came with it on my chops). It was incredibly stuffy and the intonation was sub-par for any standard. Still, the valves moved, nothing fell out, and it could be played (albeit with a pretty awful tone quality).

The Allora 101 is a bottom of the line horn for them, and its arguably the best on this list of super-cheap horns. Yet the plastic example comes from this same manufacturer. If they build decent brass instruments, one must kinda suspect that the problem with the Aere line is that even a capable manufacturer can't make a horn out of plastic.

While I would not encourage subjecting a beginner to the last on the list of brass horns above either, it still at least has valves that move and doesn't fly apart when they do - or when you tip it forward. Thus, in my opinion, plastic=toy.
_________________
Ron Berndt
www.trumpet-history.com

2017 Austin Winds Stage 466
1962 Mt. Vernon Bach 43
1954 Holton 49 Stratodyne
1927 Conn 22B
1957 Holton 27 cornet
1985 Yamaha YEP-621
1975 Yamaha YEP-321 Custom
1965 Besson Baritone
1975 Olds Recording R-20

[trumpet_cop]

[falado]

Hi, I’m a high/middle school band director and have been running band camp the last 2 weeks, I’ve been swamped. I played my plastic trumpet this weekend after reading this thread. It plays just okay, 1&3 valve combination is a little squirrelly. If you are going to use this as a student beginner horn for a child I don’t think this would be a good choice. I know with parents a budget may be a concern too. I suggest you go to the Austin Custom Brass website and maybe even call Trent Austin for advice. If your child is that small one of his Manchester or ACB pocket trumpets may work and I think Trent has a used one for around $300.00. Playing a plastic trumpet, though it may be light, may only cause playing problems and disinterest for young players in the long run. And, if a nemesis brand horn doesn’t work out you can always sell the horn in the TH Marketplace. I use my plastic trumpet and Ptrombone as a novelty and recruiting tool with the 5th grade students. Don’t know why, but it really gets them interested in band. Of course, I don’t let parents get these for the students. I have a representative from the local music store show the real stuff.
Hope this helps,
Dave

Dave
_________________
FA LA DO (Ab: V/ii) MUCS, USN (Ret.)
Stomvi VR (Reeves) with VR II Bell
Bach 239 25A C, Blueprinted
Bach 37, Early Elkhart, Blueprinted
Kanstul Flugel
Getzen 4 valve Pic.
Yamaha D/Eb
Besson Cornet

[falado]

I meant Named Brand not nemesis, darned auto correct!
_________________
FA LA DO (Ab: V/ii) MUCS, USN (Ret.)
Stomvi VR (Reeves) with VR II Bell
Bach 239 25A C, Blueprinted
Bach 37, Early Elkhart, Blueprinted
Kanstul Flugel
Getzen 4 valve Pic.
Yamaha D/Eb
Besson Cornet

[LittleRusty]