Puje American Belle

[Steve A]

Has anyone tried one of these? Anything to share about timbre, pitch, response, resistance, etc.?

Thanks!

[SterlingBell]

I’ve owned a Puje 3 for almost a year now. I have 4 different leadpipes and 4 tuning crooks. It’s a great horn, has Carol Brass valves. It slots well, not as precise as a Yamaha, but better than my Bach Strads. Intonation is very good as a solo horn or in a section. I’m not sure if it projects that well, but player feedback is good.

[Anodyne]

I have a 2016 American Belle I purchased used about 6 months ago - really enjoy playing it. It also has the Carol Brass valves, which work very well. Very smooth slides as well. For me, it plays more open than my Bach (my main horn) and is an easier blow; the sound is more dispersed due to the larger bell. It has a mellow sound that others in my jazz band have commented on. It also seems like my range with this horn is a tad better than with my Bach. I also like the compact size and balance of the horn, it's easy to hold and handle while playing.

The only issue I have run into is that I seem to play flat on this horn (something others in my band have also commented on!). With my favorite trumpet mouthpiece (an Austin Brass Fab5), I can have the main tuning slide all the way in and I'm still slightly flat. I have a Curry TF-1 mouthpiece which has a shorter shank on it than the typical trumpet mouthpiece; when I play with that I am much more in tune. However when I play with the TF-1 it makes the horn even more mellow - sometimes too mellow for what I'm after.

This tuning issue could easily be my problem and not the horn's - I've been meaning to contact Brent Peters to see if he has any suggestions but haven't gotten around to it yet...
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1982 Bach Mercedes trumpet
1940 Buescher 220 trumpet
1965 Buescher Aristocrat cornet
2016 Puje American Belle trumpet