How many horns is "enough"?

[onlyson]

I've owned nearly 50 trumpets over the last 20 years. Even a few I really liked were sold when something better came along. I sold one yesterday. I tried for years to find that one horn that could "do it all." I don't think it exists. I've had horns built to my specs and I've had horns I found on craigslist. I went to ITG last year and played everything. I think there is only one last horn I want: a Bach with two piece valves, just because I like the way they look. So maybe the new 19065GV (very $), or a vintage 37. Well...maybe two. I sold a horn at the beginning of COVID to fund something not horn related. But that's all. For now.
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Del Quadro Grizzly
Yamaha 9335CH
1951 Martin Committee Deluxe #3 Bore
Couesnon Flugel
Carol Pocket Trumpet

[kehaulani]

O.K. "Unkle", LOL. I don't mean it as an insult to any one, I just get impatient when people feel they have to post whether it advances the original question or not. Blurs the answer. Obviously this must not concern others. Internet-speak.
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"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
"I wouldn't play like Wynton Marsalis even if I could play like Wynton Marsalis." Attributed to Chet

Yamaha 8310Z Bobby Shew trumpet
Benge 3X Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet

[OldSchoolEuph]

[Troy Sargent]

I play / teach full time. I have always viewed it as when you have enough tools for the jobs you do that's all you need. There’s nothing that I get called for that I don't have the equipment to play so I don't need anything else. That being said I have my bases pretty well covered haha!

For me that means:
Bb - Classical
Bb- Commercial
Flugelhorn
C - Piston
C - Rotary
Eb (+my old one that I need to sell)
Picc (+2 old ones that I need to sell)

Here’s my full list

https://tsargentmusic.com/equipment/
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www.tsargentmusic.com

[Croquethed]

I don't know.

My wife once said to me, after I told her "I think this is the last horn," "Oh, honey, we can never have enough bikes or horns," and I have taken her at her word.

[spitvalve]

When I was playing for a living, I had a Bb trumpet, C trumpet, piccolo, flugelhorn, and trombone. As a hobbyist seeking to relive my glory days, I now have more horns than I need but fewer than I want.
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Bryan Fields
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1991 Bach LR180 ML 37S
1999 Getzen Eterna 700S
1977 Getzen Eterna 895S Flugelhorn
1969 Getzen Capri cornet
1995 UMI Benge 4PSP piccolo trumpet
Warburton and Stomvi Flex mouthpieces

[Shaft]

Some people who record have different horns that they will use because they want a different sound palette. Even on the same track or the same album when they’re layering different parts. A lead horn, a section horn, etc.

If you ask a symphony player, they’re gonna have a piccolo, a Bb, C, d/E flat…

Someone doing commercial work may have commercial sounding horn and maybe they’ll have a C trumpet and a Piccolo too.

Community player playing in community ensembles might have something for small group; maybe something for the local Playhouse or something for the local church probably a B-flat and a C.

Flugelhorn may be in the mix for a lot of these people too.

Just depends on who you ask man. Play what you want. Don’t stop unless your wife or your money says so. I too have found that selling a horn is harder than buying a horn. People will always accept your money but finding somebody that’s wanting to pay a fair price quickly is not always easy. I can’t tell you how many people will squabble over $50 (even on a horn priced well below market value) when it’s just a matter of going out and cutting someone’s grass. It’s like dude if $50 is gonna break you this is an expensive hobby for you.

[Brassnose]

I never played for a living but until pre-Covid would usually get a nice number of paid gigs (big band/commercial/pop). The Bach and the flugel was all I needed for about 30 years.

Now, with a pops type orchestra being my main gig, two different Bb for different music seems to be the way to go. Covering that with the Bach and the rotary.

The rest is covered with the Conn and the flugel (for jazz) or the C (well, for C stuff). The Buescher I currently just have for kicks because it’s a really cool horn, but haven’t actually taken it to a gig — no hidden horns in my case, the list is what I have

So, for me, five horns (Bach, Conn, rotary, C, flugel) is enough (could do with a Bb, a C, and a flugel) — but with a flautist in the house the number of brass is not so much of a problem
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2019 Martin Schmidt eXcellence
1992 Bach 43GH/43
1989 Kühnl & Hoyer Model 15 flugel
1980/2023 Custom Blessing Scholastic C 😎
1977 Conn 6B
1951 Buescher 400 Lightweight
AR Resonance, Klier, (Frate or Curry)

[Jimbosan]

I played in a Drum & Bugle Corps for 10+ years, until I joined the Navy in '71. I started a new job after I retired from the Navy. One of the employees had also played in a Drum Corp and he had a lot of trumpets (never married). I bought a Schilke B2 from him and started to play again. Then, out of the blue, my daughter announced she wanted join her 6th grade band and play a trumpet. So I searched for a used trumpet. I found very nice trumpets, way underpriced on Craigs list and on ebay. A lot of old estates are being liquidated where I live. Occasionally a trumpet pops up that was hidden in a closet for decades. They are often underpriced because the lacquer is dull and slides and valves are stuck. (Estate Sales people don't know squat about trumpets.) The most recent estate sale additions were the Getzen Eterna, Buescher, and the Committee. I picked up the Benge and Holton the year before. I traded a very nice Besson 10-10 trombone for a mint Benge Flugelhorn at a local Instrument Exchange. I didn't need any more trumpets, but would you pass on any of them? Got to be ready to pull the trigger when a gem pops up for the right price. You snooze, you loose. I have flipped as many as I kept. The keeper all have a unique character. I think I'm done for now. (unless a Comtempora, Super Recording, or the right Selmer pops up.) PS: Bach Strads are seldom underpriced.
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Kanstul FBClassic bflat&C
'42 Buescher205
'45 Committee
'47 Holton48
'47 Conn22b
'48 Benge
'69 Olds Custom Crafted
'78 Getzen Eterna
'64 Bach Strad Cornet
'62 Olds Spl Cornet
'64 Conn 80a
'54 Conn 34a
Benge flugel
Olds,DEG Bugles

[giakara]

I just won one more Getzen eterna on Ebay , a beautiful large bore cornet in great condition made in 1978, now i own 27 horns and i want more , for sure a 60's Selmer flugel and some vintage cornets but my only problem is my wife ..... 😂😂😂

Regards
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Lawler TL5-1A Bb 2015
Lawler TL6-1A Bb 2004
Lawler TL5-1A Bb 2003
Getzen eterna 910 C
Getzen eterna 850 and 800 LB cornets
Selmer Paris 3 valve picc
Yamaha 731 flugel
Carol mini pocket
Reeves/Purviance mpcs

[Halflip]

[rhatheway]

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[rhatheway]