Where is your trumpet shop utopia?

[kchaiet]

Where would you go if you could only pick one store to try several different makes and models of higher-end trumpets? Or maybe one area with several stores?

I was thinking about taking a road trip (or flight) with my daughter to find a great trumpet shop where she can try different horns.

Backstory: My daughter is a good player and will likely attend music school in the fall of 2025. We do not have a shop in our area that stocks a lot of different trumpets. She plays a 90's era Bach 37 which could easily be her forever horn, but that's also all she knows (plus her old Getzen 400). She's never had the chance to try anything else, like reverse leadpipe horns, different metal compositions in the bells, or various bell flares. For example, she leans naturally bright, and we wonder what she might sound like on a 72-type bell, but there isn't a store within 3 hours of us that has one to try.

She is not a gearhead and likes her 37, but we want to try a few different things to ensure she's on the right equipment moving forward. Plus, we might make a few memories along the way.

So, where do you go? Where is your trumpet utopia?
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"But my lips hurt real bad!" - Napoleon Dynamite

[Dayton]

[jondrowjf@gmail.com]

Since you live in Oregon. Are you limiting yourself to Oregon, Washington, California and Vancouver? Have you looked at Quinn the Eskimo website? I believe he is located in Seattle. If you want a road trip to the midwest. Trenton Austin shop would be an excellent visit.
There many excellent music stores to visit and those two are the first I thought of.
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Blessing XL lacquered Shepherds crook cornet
Denis Wick 4 W gold & Denis Wick 4B classic mp
Jupiter 9e silverplated short shank mouthpiece
Bach Megatone 5B mouthpiece

[kehaulani]

Are you talking new or used because some of the suggestions have a great used selection but not the same with a new selection.
_________________
"If you don't live it, it won't come out of your horn." Bird
"Well, even if I could play like Wynton, I wouldn't play like Wynton." Chet Baker

Adams A-9 Trumpet
Benge 3X Cornet
Getzen Capri Cornet (for sale).

[Brassnose]

I once attended a conference in NYC and spent a happy day at Dillons. If you bring enough time you could do Dillons/Landress/a cool lesson with an NYC pro plus some memorable tourism.
_________________
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, Frate, Klier

[kchaiet]

[Subtropical and Subpar]

"I was thinking about taking a road trip (or flight) with my daughter to find a great trumpet shop where she can try different horns..... Plus, we might make a few memories along the way."

Here's a left-field option: Jamie's Trumpet Gallery in Melbourne, Florida. If making a trip and memories out of it is part of the criteria, as it seems to be, Melbourne is on the east coast of Florida, a stone's throw from lovely Cocoa Beach, maybe 45 minutes from Cape Canaveral and the wonderful Kennedy Space Center / Museum, and maybe an hour to Orlando and all the things there. Just an idea.


This appears to be their current inventory. Pretty high end: Inderbinen, Taylor, AR Resonance, etc. https://jamiestrumpetgallery.com/gallery/

Full disclosure: I've never been to this shop, although I've spent a bit of time in Melbourne. They are an occasional TH advertiser.

EDIT/ADDENDUM: Looking through their website a bit more, it appears you get a 3% discount on their horns if you fly in. Not too shabby.
https://jamiestrumpetgallery.com/mouthpieces/
_________________
1932 King Silvertone cornet
1936 King Liberty No. 2 trumpet
1958 Reynolds Contempora 44-M "Renascence" C
1962 Reynolds Argenta LB trumpet
1965 Conn 38A
1995 Bach LR18072
2003 Kanstul 991
2011 Schilke P5-4 B/G
2021 Manchester Brass flugel

[jondrowjf@gmail.com]

Another possibility are trade shows conventions.
_________________
Jupiter 520 M lacquered Shepherds crook cornet
Blessing XL lacquered Shepherds crook cornet
Denis Wick 4 W gold & Denis Wick 4B classic mp
Jupiter 9e silverplated short shank mouthpiece
Bach Megatone 5B mouthpiece

[LittleRusty]

The SF Bay Area used to be a good area to try. Bronstiens in South San Francisco, Best Music and A&G in Oakland, Penninsula Music in Palo Alto, Park Avenue Music Center in San Jose, and others.

One stop worth making is Hornucopia in San Carlos. Sandy has a ton of used instruments. YourBrass, a member here, also does repairs for them.

I did the great circle around the Bay when I bought my son his pro trumpet. I purchased his school horn at Hornucopia.

[cheiden]

[RussellDDixon]

The Schilke Factory showroom
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Schilke X3 Bb trumpet
Yamaha 631g Flugelhorn
Nicholson Monette Prana XLT mouthpiece
Kanstul Claude Gordon Personal mouthpiece

[Man Of Constant Sorrow]

Travel is not inexpensive.

Some of the suggestions here involve considerable travel.
Think about that.

If you are a "normal person" , it makes sense to be informed as to travel expenses, which can translate to how much you want to spend on this excercise.

I would suggest having the daughter work with one-or-more very good private instructors/teachers.
In this manner, a professional opinion might save a lot of time and money spent towards minimizing travel.

Also; it is conceivable the "next horn" for the daughter might be something that becomes an interim instrument. She may get "bedazzled" by a horn that looks terrific, but after the "newness" wears off, you (and and the daughter) are going to be "on the hunt", once again.

*Disclaimer: I am the eternal frugalist.
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Sub-Optimal Hillbilly Jazz

[bach_again]

You can do everything on a 37. One of the best horns I ever owned was a 1967 Bach 37 (an Elkhart). Shouldn't have moved it on. So perhaps consider trying some older Bachs, and 37s too - they aren't all the same.

My first pro horn was a Bach 37, and the Elkhart I came to own was quite a lot better - however - my first 37 was a damn fine horn. Until the bell got ruined.

She will know what horn (if any) to buy during her education with the assistance of her tutor and taking into account her career goals/performance opportunities and demands.

Buying now may be premature, given she has a pro horn she likes already. With that said, if it keeps the flame burning, there's no harm in trying other horns.

It would be helpful to take a portable recorder - something half decent. A new Zoom of sorts maybe. Be methodical with your rep choices and approach. Phones are rubbish at capturing a trumpet sound btw. I don't care how far away or how good your phone is.

Cheers!
Mike
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Michael Barkley Quartet - Portals:
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The best movie trumpet solo?
https://youtu.be/OnCnTA6toMU

[bagmangood]

If she has a 90s Bach 37, then she's probably got plenty of horn to last through her entire career if she wants to. She definitely doesn't have to replace it, but my two cents would be either to go to ITG (2025 is in Salt Lake City FWIW) OR to wait until she gets to the new school and can work with her professor/teach there. Trumpet professors have been know to sometimes have ... strong opinions about these things.
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More than one trumpet
A "few" mouthpieces

[Fubeca]

My trumpet professor called me frugal to a fault once. I got my 37 as a high school freshman and still play it 15 years later. I've played other horns I liked more, but the Bach can do the job. I'm only considering replacing it now because its compression is going and I'm starting a performance masters.

Especially where your daughter isn't even in college yet, don't stress. Practice is free and has a bigger impact on sound. Mouthpieces are cheaper than horns and still have a big impact.

To actually answer the question you asked: I loved Thompson Music when they came to Minneapolis last summer. Very broad selection of brands and models with some one-of-a-kind horns through Ken Larson and their used offerings. They gave me a generous trade-in value for my frankenhorn and let me walk away with a Shires Q series for less than $2000. They're a winner in my book.
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Bb: Bach 180S37 ML
C: Shires Q13
Picc: Kanstul 920
Flugel: Getzen Eterna
Cornet: York 75 "Brilliant"

[kchaiet]

Some more context: It's more about the adventure, spending time together, and trying different horns for fun. She has two trumpet instructors and I am a high school band director, so she is well-guided in her journey.

The goal isn't to replace her 37, and I would be surprised if we did, but as I mentioned, I think it would be interesting to try other horns and learn some things. She's a good enough player and asking enough of the instrument that she would likely be able to tell the difference between many of the horns. Good players can sound good on any horn, so it's more about the feeling of playing different models to see what she thinks. For example, today she mentioned that she had always enjoyed playing the mellophone in the pep band and liked the "blow" of a mellophone as opposed to her 37. That's what got me thinking that she has never had the chance to blow through anything else. Perhaps she would like a more "free-blowing" trumpet? It's hard to know until you try one.

Thank you all for the suggestions. A drive to the Mighty Quinn might be where we start. Perhaps I'll save the plane tickets for a more serious search someday (if needed). It is interesting to hear where your favorite shops are.
_________________
"But my lips hurt real bad!" - Napoleon Dynamite

[stuartissimo]

[TrumpetMD]

[Man Of Constant Sorrow]

[TrumpetMD]