Getzen piccolos discontinued?

[spitvalve]

I was just browsing on Getzen's website and noticed that both the 3916 Custom and the venerable 940 Eterna piccolos have been discontinued. Is there a new piccolo model waiting in the wings or is Getzen no longer making piccolo trumpets?

Maybe one of the Getzen brothers can shed some light on this.
_________________
Bryan Fields
----------------
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

[Robert P]

Wow, sad to hear this. I looked on the Getzen site, sure enough.

I'll cherish my 940 all that much more. Getzen was good enough to accommodate me with a direct sale of a case when I was running into a brick wall trying to go through a major music retailer that was listed as a Getzen vendor.

The 20-something employees behind the counter didn't have the vaguest idea what a piccolo trumpet was. They'd never heard of nor could they even find Getzen in their system - "That's G-E-T-Z-E-N"

One of them emailed their repair guy who was at a location elsewhere. The response they finally got back was that for him to even give me a price I had to supply the serial number of my horn which of course I didn't have with me and he'd send an email to Getzen. I had the model and Getzen part numbers for both the case and the 940 Eterna picc - nope, not good enough, I had to give him the serial number. When I did that he'd get around to it when he had time. So I spent around 20 - 30 minutes for them to not be able to even quote me a price, only advise me of the hoops I had to jump through to get a price.

Obviously they weren't really interested in selling me a case. Started to get a similar run-around with the other listed vendor - "We'll have to leave a message for our repair guy when he shows up, he's not in today".

So I called Getzen and explained my plight and they set up a direct sale for me. As I recall they said cases are made to order since it's a low-volume item.
_________________
Getzen Eterna Severinsen
King Silver Flair
Besson 1000
Bundy
Chinese C

Getzen Eterna Bb/A piccolo
Chinese Rotary Bb/A piccolo

Chinese Flugel

[TrumpetMD]

[Getzen]

So here's the thing. As anybody who has ordered a Getzen instrument recently knows, we can't build anything fast enough. Well, that's not true. We could build everything faster, but they wouldn't meet our standards. Good, fast, and cheap you can only pick two. This has only gotten worse since we lost half of our workforce following COVID.

Unfortunately, that has prompted us to make some hard decisions regarding what is built every month and what we will offer. The 3916 was officially discontinued a few years ago. It was just not updated on the website. The 940 is a recent development. There weren't enough orders to move them up the production list and it just wasn't fair to keep people waiting indefinitely for us to make them. It made far more sense to pull the band aid off and let the few people waiting over a year move on.

These aren't the first models we've had to cut and I'm sure they won't be the last. We are a relatively small company with limited resources dedicated to production and we can't make everything. At the same time, we can't just order more from somewhere else like some of our competition can.

So there it is. If you happen to have a 940, hold on to it. If you were looking to get one, you'll have to hunt the used market. We do still have some replacement parts and cases available.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/getzencompany/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GetzenCompany

If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[trpthrld]

I'm not trying to shill for Steve Dillard here, but:

www.horntrader.com/product/getzen-eterna-940-piccolo-trumpet/

I truly feel for companies like Getzen. The amazing products they made over the years, and especially their commitment to education. All the things I learned and was exposed to from pamphlets and the Getzen Gazette that I subscribed to when I started out playing trumpet in 1968. Much that I learned from those publications I not only still use in my teaching, but in my everyday practice and performance.
_________________
Tim Wendt

www.trumpetherald.com/marketplace.php?task=detail&id=147567&s=The-Best-Trumpet-Lead-Pipe-Swab-EVER-

www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPWAJqghk24&feature=youtu.be

[Nathan.Sobieralski]

That's really a shame. The 940 is my go-to recommendation to my students for a good, affordable, piccolo trumpet (which in itself is a rare/non existant combination).

Still making the C cornet though? Id think you would sell far fewer of those than the picc? I love my Getzen C cornet.
_________________
Dr. Nathan Sobieralski
www.s-mute.com
Principal Trumpet, Sequoia Symphony
Department of Music (Trumpet)
California State University, Fresno

[spitvalve]

I still rue the day I sold my 940 pic 30+ years ago. My UMI Benge just doesn't play as well as the Getzen did. I only sold it because I was a starving student and my rent was due and I was only doing dance gigs at the time. Right after I sold it I got called to play two weddings and had to borrow it back from the guy I sold it to.

I need to find some money to buy another one ASAP.
_________________
Bryan Fields
----------------
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

[Getzen]

Oddly enough, we sell more C cornets (3810 Custom) than piccolos. Go figure.

Like usually happens, we discontinue a model for lacking sales and suddenly everyone wants one. It happened with the G50 tuba, G8230 baritone, 593 herald trumpet, 998 valve trombone, 994 bass trumpet, etc…. So it goes.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/getzencompany/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GetzenCompany

If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[spitvalve]

[Getzen]

Off the top of my head I’d say the X-13, 900DLX, 900, and 700S top the list. 907DLX and 907 are up there too. That’s for trumpets. Cornets are original 800 and the 800DLX.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/getzencompany/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GetzenCompany

If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[Nathan.Sobieralski]

The 3810 cornet is probably the best playing horn I own. It's a shame there aren't more opportunities to use it!
_________________
Dr. Nathan Sobieralski
www.s-mute.com
Principal Trumpet, Sequoia Symphony
Department of Music (Trumpet)
California State University, Fresno

[patdublc]

The 940 has been the best value in the picc market forever. Like Nathan, this is the horn that I always recommend to students looking for a picc. So, I'm sorry to hear about it being discontinued.
We all understand how difficult the business situation can be. It is especially tough for small businesses making a complex and high value product.

Josh Landress was recently in DC meeting with congress persons on an initiative to support small businesses. We did to do more of this.

Brett - keep the faith. I appreciate that you are so open and willing to share openly. Thank you for that.
_________________
Pat Shaner
Play Wedge Mouthpieces by Dr. Dave exclusively.
Experiment with LOTS of horn makes and models.

[etc-etc]

[Getzen]

I wanted to clear up what seems like a misconception about the discontinuing of the 940. From where I'm sitting, this isn't a bad thing... for us at least. Here's what I mean.

Say, for the sake of an example, we can build 50 small brass a month. Our goal is to use up that capacity building the highest order volume and highest dollar value instruments first. So if I have demand for 50 each of the Eterna Deluxes and X-13's that month, I am going to try to spread some of that production capacity out over those instruments. If I only have demand for five 940's, they aren't going to get touched. What happens is they just keep getting bumped further and further down the line. Eventually, customers get tired of waiting (who can blame them). In most cases we will shake things up and work in a few of the low volume horns. However, if it is a model that has been dropping for a period of time and we don't foresee an up tick on the horizon, we make the decision to just cut it from the line.

It is a balancing act of demand vs capacity. Ultimately it boils down to we can't build everything.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/getzencompany/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GetzenCompany

If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[Liberty Lips]

[spitvalve]

Another question for Mr. Getzen: Is the 910 DLX C trumpet still planned for production?
_________________
Bryan Fields
----------------
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

[Getzen]

It is… eventually. It has to be worked into that same, crowded production schedule.
_________________
Brett Getzen
President
Getzen Company

Follow Getzen on:
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/getzencompany/

Twitter https://twitter.com/GetzenCompany

If you have a question please feel free to email me at brett@getzen.com.

[etc-etc]

One could raise the price so that building of the horn would make sense financially. Demand might still exist at a higher price point.

[Mac Gollehon]

I had the Getzen picc and recorded on it a lot about 40 years ago. Unfortunately in a hurry to a session I left it in the taxi. Maybe time to replace it. I also had the Getzen marching bone like Al Grey sometimes used.

[Nathan.Sobieralski]

Two of my students bought 940s this semester (used). I told them today to hold on to them!

Maybe this is a brilliant marketing strategy on the part of Getzen.
_________________
Dr. Nathan Sobieralski
www.s-mute.com
Principal Trumpet, Sequoia Symphony
Department of Music (Trumpet)
California State University, Fresno