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popTbop
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Joined: 23 Aug 2019
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 12:43 pm    Post subject: 🙄 Reply with quote



Last edited by popTbop on Thu Oct 20, 2022 11:02 am; edited 3 times in total
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Shawnino
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

*sigh*

They’re all made in the same places and randomly stenciled...
If you must, have at it.
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improver
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Carol makes a really good one
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Bryant Jordan
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:19 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You won’t find anything great for around $100, but I think your best bet would be the Mendini in that price range.

If you can wait and save up for a Carol Brass or ACB Doublers pocket, you’ll be very pleased.
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Dennis78
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a Mendini pocket. Had it for a couple years now. Cost $99 to my door. Fine instrument. No problems whatsoever. Scale is fine, partials are fine, valves good, slides good
Go for it!
All you’re going to get around here is hearsay
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theslawdawg
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Joined: 13 Oct 2008
Posts: 843
Location: Waikiki, Hawaii

PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 1:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Bryant Jordan wrote:
You won’t find anything great for around $100, but I think your best bet would be the Mendini in that price range.

If you can wait and save up for a Carol Brass or ACB Doublers pocket, you’ll be very pleased.


I concur.

Call my man Trent Austin at ACB, he sells the cheapest I would buy. His ACB pockets are good to go.

My man Steve Dillard of Horn Trader is a CarolBrass dealer, and those pocket trumpets are all you need for a pocket trumpet.

Anything less then these two brands, are trash.
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Crazy Finn
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Joined: 27 Dec 2001
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 2:50 pm    Post subject: Re: Best "cheap" pocket trumpets on Amazon/Ebay in Reply with quote

popTbop wrote:
Before anyone get's on their soap box and tells me how ****ty Chinese horns are, I can say that the same sentiment applied to all things Japanese in the not too distant past. The Chinese have come a long way in improving their quality (some mfg's), and I've played enough of them to know that, for me at least, they work just fine.

I wasn't playing until the mid 1980's, but I think the difference is the market and the distribution.

I don't know about other Japanese horns, but Yamaha put a lot of time into improving quality in the 1970's. I think Yanagisawa was pretty well regarded pretty early on. Same with the flute makers. I think at most, it took about 10 years for them to get to a high level of quality. However, these efforts were driven by individual companies doing it, making products with their own labels, though many also manufactured stencil instruments.

The difference, as I see it in my 5 minute analysis, is that there is no Yamaha or Yanagisawa in China. There's a bunch of factories that make stuff and people pay them to stamp it with whatever. Individual factories might improve, but because their production is so variable in terms of who it's made for, it's impossible for the general consumer to know what's good.

Also, it's far easier for random instruments to get sold on Amazon and eBay and numerous other e-commerce sites. This wasn't the case in the 1970's.

China does have Eastman, which is the closest thing I can see to a larger multifaceted company making musical instruments (like Yamaha) for example. When I worked in music retail, I got to talk to their reps a fair amount. They do, mostly, own their own factories and control everything from top to bottom. It seems like they are working to improve their products, like the Japanese companies did previously. They put effort into making parts and their low brass instruments are decently well regarded for value. I wouldn't be surprised if they get to where Jupiter is at some point.

However, like I said, it's only one company.

Also, your price point is pretty much digging around at the bottom of the DVD bin at the dollar store. If you want something decent, you'll have to invest a bit more than that. Even good Chinese horns aren't priced that low. As with everything, you get what you pay for, to some degree.
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dstpt
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:11 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

theslawdawg wrote:
...Anything less then these two brands, are trash.

But what if we like trash?! I sometimes hear that come out my bell regardless of the horn I'm playing!!!!
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theslawdawg
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Joined: 13 Oct 2008
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 4:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

dstpt wrote:
theslawdawg wrote:
...Anything less then these two brands, are trash.

But what if we like trash?! I sometimes hear that come out my bell regardless of the horn I'm playing!!!!


Yo, 2%! Maybe we should start our own forum...the trash players.
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LittleRusty
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:08 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

@CrazyFinn,

I read the post about Japanese quality to refer to the way people felt about Japanese products in general up until the 60s-70s(?), not Japanese instruments in particular.
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dstpt
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 5:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

theslawdawg wrote:
dstpt wrote:
theslawdawg wrote:
...Anything less then these two brands, are trash.

But what if we like trash?! I sometimes hear that come out my bell regardless of the horn I'm playing!!!!


Yo, 2%! Maybe we should start our own forum...the trash players.

Hey Dawg! I'd have to sell some expensive horns to join that group! Actually, I can sound just as bad on any horn, so it wouldn't matter!
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Crazy Finn
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 6:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

LittleRusty wrote:
@CrazyFinn,

I read the post about Japanese quality to refer to the way people felt about Japanese products in general up until the 60s-70s(?), not Japanese instruments in particular.

I think what I wrote is equally applicable in general, instruments, electronics, whatever in Chinese vs Japanese.

Of course, 90% of our current electronic products are made in China, but on the whole, they're much more disposable than in the past, as well.
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LA Benge 3X Bb Trumpet
Selmer Radial Bb Trumpet
Yamaha 6335S Bb Trumpet
Besson 709 Bb Trumpet
Bach 184L Bb Cornet
Yamaha 731 Bb Flugelhorn
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cgaiii
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Joined: 26 Jun 2017
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 7:01 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you really want a $100 pocket trumpet, you already have a recommendation.

I will just state that I have a pocket Manchester Brass now selling for $599, from ACB (recommended above), made by the Carol Brass people in Taiwan, I believe. It is nice to play. I do not mind playing it at all. It is not a Schilke or a Yamaha, but it plays in tune and is fun to play. When I play tested it before buying I was pleasantly surprised by how free it blows. It is great for traveling (something we don't do any more).
ACB helped design this horn and if as much care and thought goes into the doublers as this, they might be good too.

Look at the wrap of the $500 to 900 horns vs the $100 horns and you will see some very distinct differences. I believe that somewhere in there lies the difference in addition to the care with which they are made.
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Bb: Schilke X3L AS SP, Yamaha YTR-6335S
C: Schilke CXL, Kanstul 1510-2
Picc: Kanstul 920
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Bb Pocket: Manchester Brass
Flugel: Taylor Standard
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etc-etc
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 10:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

There was not so long ago a Bach "Prelude" pocket that sounded rather decent.

For USD 479 + shipping ($50 or $75?) I would suggest the Carol Brass mini pocket at Thomann.de:
https://www.thomannmusic.com/carol_brass_cpt_1000_yss_bb_al.htm

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huntman10
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

As a curious trumpet-phile, I admit to occasional forays into the "trash bin" if an interesting specimen is affordable, and fall victim to the thrill of snagging a bid on something I am curious about. Over the years, I always have had a pocket trumpet on my shelf, or squirreled away in a file cabinet at the office or the summer camper for a "happy birthday" request. Probably the best was the Jupiter in the early 2000's and a Winston brand that had a nice full tone.

My current pocket trumpet is a cherry red John Packer my wife decided I needed at the ITG in San Antonio. It appears to be exactly the same as the Conn-Selmer Prelude pocket trumpet. I also recently had a Mendini i got really cheaply because the previous owner could not get the valves into the correct order. I will say that the Mendini was better than its price would indicate, and i sold it to a friend who found it good enough to use as a travelling practice axe.

The point of my tale here is that, beyond the wrap, the obvious difference between the Chinese pocket trumpets at the lowest price level ( like the Mendini) is the valveset with small undersized pistons. The better line (Packer, Carol, Prelude, etc.) is they are built on a more robust "Standard" trumpet valveset, with better materials.
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huntman10
Collector/Player of Fine (and not so fine) Brass Instruments including
Various Strads, Yammies, Al Hirt Courtois, Schilkes,
Selmer 25, Getzen Eternas, Kanstuls (920 Pic, CG)
Martin Custom Large Bore, Lots Olds!, Conns, etc.
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OldSchoolEuph
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 8:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Basically, with a very few, typically hand-modified, exceptions, there is CarolBrass, a company that takes the pocket as seriously as any instrument, and all the rest that don't (or don't take any seriously).
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2017 Austin Winds Stage 466
1962 Mt. Vernon Bach 43
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ebolton
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Joined: 03 Feb 2021
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PostPosted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 10:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I have a Mendini I bought for keeping up practice while my main trumpet was getting worked on, and for practicing in the car. I'll echo Dennis78. It's perfectly adequate for the use. You're not going to perform anything critical on it, but it works and sounds OK. It arrives with valves that are bone dry. After a heavy oiling and a little spring stretching the valve action is good.

As the OP must know, they are a little hard-to-hold, especially if you have XL sized hands as I do. I dropped mine when I carelessly grabbed it by the tuning slide instead of the bell, and the spit valves took the impact and bent over. They peeled off when I tried to bend them back, so I sealed the holes with pieces of aluminized tape. It gets a little gurgely now since it's pretty inconvenient to drain the horn, but it still works.

I like playing it so much, I decided to upgrade and order an Austin Custom Brass pocket trumpet rather than spend about the same amount to repair the Mendini. When I get it, I'm going to tie a loop of shoelace through the horn so if I make the same mistake again I won't have the same result.
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