My visit to Edwards (and bonus Getzen tour)

[jhellerstein]

As promised, here's a trip report on my visit to the Edwards showroom in Elkhorn, WI last month. I got inspired to visit after play-testing an Edwards Gen III at a local store, and really liking it. Buying an Edwards horn off a shelf didn't make sense to me, since folks here said that the point is to get the Edwards people to set up a horn just for you. And I was on my way to Wisconsin anyhow to see my family.

So I made an appointment in advance to try out some X-13s. When you sign up, they ask you for your preference of a couple different finishes to try, so they have horns ready for you when you get there. If you want a feel for the experience search the web for "Paul Tynan trumpet fitting videos". My visit was generally similar. I was asked to bring in music to play -- something with articulation (transcription of Clifford Brown's Joy Spring solo) and something lyrical (an old cornet thing I worked on in high school years ago: Barat's Fantaisie en Mi Bemol). Christan Griego sat with me and listened to me play them on my old horn (Selmer Concept TT) and on two X-13s: one lacquer and one silver.

A whole bunch of crazy stuff went down over the course of the next 2-3 hours where little changes made what felt like huge differences. It was incredibly ear-opening to get help navigating that design space. Adam Getzen wandered in and out during the session to listen and make observations, which was also very cool.

Honestly, at first I thought the X-13 was cool (so light!), but I didn't really dig playing it; it wasn't working for me, or at least it wasn't as nice as my Selmer, or the Gen III I had play-tested back in California. I wasn't saying anything negative, but it was pretty clear that the change wasn't doing me any good. Christan swapped out the cool-looking X-bend tuning slide for a traditional round slide, and that helped some. He also swapped out the cool looking finger buttons for traditional buttons, though I wasn't clear if that changed much. Generally it wasn't feeling like a revelation in any way, just a trumpet.

Then Christan encouraged me to try some other mouthpieces, without telling me what they were. I've been playing on a Monette B4S for years. After trying a few things, I landed on a mouthpiece I liked. And suddenly, two things happened. The X-13 became way more resonant and responsive, with much cleaner articulation than I'm used to being able to get on fast stuff. The X-bend slide went back in and sounded and felt SO good. The second thing that happened was that open E at the top of the staff was in tune without lipping it, on both horns. I'd been blaming my Concept for a flat E for years, but the mouthpiece change fixed it instantly. Very cool.

(I got to listen to Adam and Christan geek out on mouthpiece designs and the theory of the short shank of the Monettes, the long one on the Schilkes, etc. Intonation aside, the Monette was working good for my sound on the Concept, but not on the X-13. The mouthpiece I settled on turned out to be an Edwards 5, smaller than I'm used to. Christan then gave me a long story on his own mouthpiece search, and suggested that the large throat and the cup size on my B4S was probably holding me back in terms of endurance. So nice to get some 3rd-party direction there!)

So then I started spending more time with the X-13s. I had planned to buy it in silverplate for durability. But once I dialed in the mouthpiece, it became very clear that the silverplate X-13 wasn't working as well for me -- I was missing attacks in that squirrely range at the top of the staff, Es and Fs in particular. With the lacquer X-13, all the articulation was really crisp -- moreso than I'm used to with the Concept. Felt great. Christan told me that in his experience that's not unusual ... some players (include a well-known orchestra player) need the effect of lacquer on the horn to get good results. I had never heard that, but it was night and day for me on those two horns. (Now maybe it was some other aspect of the 2 horns other than the finish... I didn't have any others to test... many confounding factors in the experiment of course.)

At this point I was getting pretty into the X-13, but wasn't quite sure if I could convince myself it would replace my Concept, which I've grown to love. Then Christan told me to his ears, the Concept sounded more like a lead horn -- really bright. This was crazy to me, because behind the bell, the Concept TT is really rich and beautiful; the sound I go for in my head. So Christan recorded me from different points in the room on both the Concept and the X-13. It was night and day. The Concept really is WAY brighter out front than the player perceives it. Which explains some things about why I never loved my sound on recordings of gigs as much as I like my sound practicing at home. So after that, I was pretty sold -- ready to take the X-13 home on approval.

I'll do a separate post on the X-13 and its configurations. After a few hours my chops were tired and I was pretty sure I was in love and it was time to go. Jetjaguar's advice to bring a credit card was smart. I walked out with the horn.

Then Adam Getzen offered to tour me through the factory and show me a few things. That was an *amazing* experience. It was quitting time and the whole crew was leaving, unfortunately, so i didn't see the factory in action. But I got a big personal tour from Adam, and he showed me a bunch of incredible stuff in his office including prototype horns, a bunch of experiments, and his notebooks ... which are methodical, detailed, really quite awesome. (Adam would get high marks from the people who work on reproducibility in scientific experiments!) He also shared insights on the business of making brass instruments, and was generally super open to questions and fun to talk to. He stayed way past the end of his day geeking out about trumpets with me. It was really cool.

So there you have it. If you plan to be in the Chicago/Milwaukee/Madison vicinity, make an appointment at Edwards or Getzen, take the drive, try some horns, and get the tour. It's a memorable experience! And yes, bring your credit card.
_________________
"When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone in the air. You can never capture it again." -- Dolphy

[Adam R. Getzen]

Always a humbling and grounding experience to have someone speak of you and your work this way. Thank you.
_________________
Adam R. Getzen
Vice President & Co-Owner
Getzen Company

[AJCarter]

How do people set this up? Sounds like an awesome experience!
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(List horns here)

[mrhappy]

yes, that sounds fantastic!! Congrats on the new horn!!
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MH

[yourbrass]

@jhellerstein
Did you try the metal screw in plugs on the tuning slide at all? That's another whole set of resonances. I'm playing mine with the rounded crook and no screw in attachments, but I would stick one in and play it that way for a couple of weeks - notes would lock in a different way.

Congrats, this is a great horn, take it from someone who's played hundreds of them!

-Lionel
_________________
"Strive for tone." -John Coppola
Edwards X-13
ACB MV3C /ACB A1/26 backbore
https://yourbrass.com/

[JetJaguar]

haha it was made in jest, but glad you brought a new baby home. I'm sure Adam is none too displeased either.
_________________
1938 Martin Handcraft Imperial #2 bore, 38 bell
Bach 7C mouthpiece

I'm looking for a Connstellation 5C-N or 5B-N mouthpiece
www.jazzscales.org
The Coady Strengthening Exercises: http://coady.coolwarm.com

[jhatpro]

Any thoughts from the OP or anyone else on Edwards vs. Getzen cornets. I’m in the market for a horn with a bright, Dixie sound.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle

[jhellerstein]

[Locutus2k]

One thing that in my opinion add core and power to the sound is the use of brass valve guides instead of the cheap plastic ones. The horn plays so much better that one wonder why the brass ones are not a stock option. Edwards has brass guides for his horns, just ask them.
_________________
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Edwards X-13
Lawler TL5 Balanced 30th Anniversary (#2 of 5)
Lawler TL5 L bore
Bach NY Special edition 2008
Flugel Van Laar Oiram Ack
Mark Curry mouthpieces
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[yourbrass]

[Locutus2k]

[yourbrass]

[blbaumgarn]

i enjoy reading topics like this, as they show honest information from a first hand experience. It shows that although the people at Edwards and Getzen are in a for profit business their priorities are centered on quality and customer service. This makes them real "old world" craftspeople. The other aspect spoken about was Adam Getzen's constant search for improvement and development. The only thing that I can add to this is Good Luck and prosperity to Getzen and Edwards during the next 80 years of their future!
_________________
"There are two sides to a trumpeter's personality,
there is one that lives to lay waste to woodwinds and strings, leaving them lie blue and lifeless along a swath of destruction that is a
trumpeter's fury-then there is the dark side!" Irving Bush

[vwag]

Thanks for this post!

[Leatherlip]

[jhatpro]

I second that! I tagged along and got to play some new metal that I think players are going to be very excited about.
_________________
Jim Hatfield

"The notes are there - find them.” Mingus

2021 Martinus Geelan Custom
2005 Bach 180-72R
1965 Getzen Eterna Severinsen
1946 Conn Victor
1998 Scodwell flugel
1986 Bach 181 cornet
1954 Conn 80A cornet
2002 Getzen bugle