Brasspire instruments

[Irving]

Does anybody know where their instruments are made? The Unicorn models are very reasonably priced, which made me think that their instruments are made in China. Nothing is written in their website about where their horns are made (unless I missed something).

[stuartissimo]

This forum thread has someone mention that they played a pro-line Brassspire at Brasspire Japan, so my guess would be the horns are made, or possibly at least fine-tuned, in Japan.

[TrumpetMD]

As reported by stuartissimo, and from the Brasspire website, it looks like the high-end models are made in Japan and other models in China.

https://shop.brasspire.com/concept.html

[dstpt]

I bought three Brasspire Unicorn instruments directly from their website in August of 2022, and all of my email correspondence was through info@brasspire.com with Kei Aruga, Wind instrument manager & Chief engineer.

He told me that only the pro models are built in Japan under his supervision and design, but that the Unicorn models are built in China. What prompted my interest was I had gotten a Brasspire 900 model Bb tpt on trade and subsequently sold it just prior to contacting them. It was slightly on the heavier side of what I wanted, and the tonal profile was a little on the darker side, and I was wanting a brighter horn. I will have to say that it had incredible response and the intonation was second to none! No exaggeration. It quite possibly was superior in those two respects over all of the trumpets I've ever owned or play-tested. (The present model for the model I had is: BPTR-901HS.) Additionally, the tonal profile, although a tad dark for me, was consistent throughout the horn, and it was free-blowing yet offered a slight resistance where I felt the need in the upper register. Now that I think of it, this horn could be a great horn for small combo jazz or solo work, or possibly a perfect all-round player if you use a slightly shallower cup (Bach D or E, maybe).

Here's what he wrote back when I inquired:
======================
Thank you for your reply and thank you for putting a good comment on our instrument.
I will comment on some points so that you can better understand about Brasspire horns.

・Brasspire custom is a top grade for us, made by myself (finished in our work shop). If compare it with Yamaha, it's a custom class.
・Unicorn horns are a production model (produced in our Chinese factory). They are intermediate models for us, if compare it with Yamaha, it's a 600 class.
* If you're looking for professional use, I recommend Brasspire custom (model 916).
*However, if you already have a main instrument, it's a good idea to have Unicorn's unique Trumpets.

・BPTR-955PHS,945PHS, I named them "performance horns".
・Originally designed for marching and military bands, they also give good results on stage performances.
・The pitch is good as 900H, but the design is different, so the feeling of playing is different.
・For Jazz player, it feels like an M bore trumpet, so it's good for playing Dixieland.
・For Classic player, it would be good for playing fanfare.

I would recommend Brasspire custom "916 2b-1b" to you. It's a heavy trumpet, but the big bell sounds bright enough for a regular trumpet.
(Unicorn 900H is a production model born from 916, and the grades of bells, lead pipes, and parts are different.)
If you want more louder, I can also customize the 916 to dizzy bell.

I hope my information are working for you.
Thank you for your consideration.
Best regards,
Kei Aruga
Wind instrument manager & Chief engineer
======================
All sales are final, if you order directly from them. I was being adventurous in my horn safari at the time and ended up buying three Unicorns directly from them: 770S Bb tpt, BPCT-B4S Bb cornet, and BPTRC-1000S C tpt. Their prices included shipping, and all three horns arrived in under 7 total days!

If you use http://austincustombrass.com as their only U.S. dealer (as I just heard on one of Trent Austin's videos), then you can return a horn to ACB if you don't like it. You may sacrifice a restocking fee, but at least you wouldn't be stuck with having to sell it on your own. I see that the ACB pricing is very reasonable, and most of the time I've checked, it's been the same price as the Brasspire website. If I was looking at buying a Brasspire trumpet now, I would go through ACB, and I'd buy a pro model Bb tpt, since the 700 model wasn't quite what I wanted. ACB did not have the Bb tpt nor the cornet I was looking at getting at that time, but they have the models I'd want to try now.

All of the ones I got are excellent horns, but I will be selling them, since I now have a Bach Artisan C, a vintage Olds Ambassador cornet that I had replated, and the 700 model Bb tpt I already mentioned.

[bagmangood]

One nice little bit of context - the Unicorn horns used to be (and hopefully still are) built directly with supervisors from the custom side of Brasspire, so they were very consistent.

The C trumpets were (reasonably) in tune and while I wouldn't want to bring it to a large orchestra, definitely Good Enough for someone needing one only a few times a year.
_________________
More than one trumpet
A "few" mouthpieces

[CheapHornGuy]