I dare to review a Chinese horn: the Berkeley C/Bb trumpet

[thecoast]

Rich, yes, that was me. I basically cut and pasted it here with minimal modifications other than to make it contextually shorter.

Peace.

---Luis
_________________
—Bach Omega
—Yamaha 631G flugelhorn w/ Warburton 1FLX
—John Packer JP272 tenor horn w/Denis Wick 3
—Yamaha YTS-354 trombone
—King 627 “baritonium”
—Akai EWI 5000

[lyndon153]

I purchased a C/Bb Berkeley Pocket Trumpet from ebay for about $125. I tried it 1st as a Bb and it was always flat, even with all the slides pushed in. However, as a C instrument it is okay. Not on par with my Bb Bach Strad trumpet, but look @ the price.

MP makes a big difference. Being a cornet player as well, I'm using a cornet DW4B and DW4 trumpet MP. I like the sound of the 4B better.

My purpose for buying it was to get a C horn to try out. Its more than served its purpose. I'm tending to pick it up for practice sessions, and then switch to my standard trumpet for gigs.
_________________
1995 Getzen Eterna 850S Bb cornet, .464" bore, MP:GR66#6, Wicks#4
1975 Bach Strad Model 37 ML Bb Trumpet, MP:GR66m
20?? Berkley Music C/Bb Pocket Trumpet, MP:Bach3c
1918 Henri Gautier "Virtuso" Bb cornet, MP:Bach 3c
======================

[gbdeamer]

[Dale Proctor]

[Brian Moon]

[lyndon153]

[lyndon153]

[moosicles]

[Brian Moon]

[classicrocker1991]

I have a Berkeley Eb/D. A friend bought it on eBay for super cheap (maybe $60) and then gave it to me because he thought I'd get better use out of it. This was maybe 12 years ago. I tried only the Eb configuration and quickly noted that the tuning was terrible. I put it away and let it sit for years. Recently I booked a church gig where the director programs cantatas with small orchestra and choir. The first trumpet parts are high (frequent high Cs and Ds) and loud, but the director always complains that brass are covering up the choir. I pulled this horn back out and noticed something. The D configuration plays very well in tune, but the Eb side doesn't. I realized that maybe it's because the Eb configuration need shorter valve slides as well as tuning slide. This horn only came with an Eb tuning crook. The D trumpet works great for these gigs because I can easily execute the higher passages with easier control of the dynamics.

I say all this to ask, does anyone know if these Berkeley Wind Instrument people still exist. I'd love to see if they could supply a set of valve slides for the Eb configuration so that I may be able to do more solo work on it.

Hoping someone is still watching this thread after 17 years!

~ Dustin Shrum
St. Louis, MO
_________________
Dustin Shrum
Stomvi VRII Bb
Bach Stradivarius 229 C
Couesnon Flugelhorn
1939 New York Bach Stradivarius 26-59

[thecoast]

https://www.ebay.com/itm/134928485354?itmmeta=01HT0NQM41WT4G2Y5SFB81XQFR&hash=item1f6a5d4bea:g:Wt4AAOSwAOBdx1-w&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4KxRT5iGw5Kjh4qEwvvX5XG1huQ76ZZtGykU1BzAIUA5GJNyHVPMrXRlogxSYpBrQabOy6vA3aGjZdMqgnW1YUxNvMWX%2FCbyzH4%2FCWw7IX4dOls727Pa6h0E0yBhzXksdDYcmXUPhGF5aDV%2BcEmOfLx1o1tshciR26J8gaZaVVVTT56kg56FI5CjbZ0KxwqiqkYvBV4mDYYAmz3uM9vbEd%2FrNtbDcZaqDmiF4w2g1EhwMbDyP3uKGgpf0MIqpurkcaIsGMOAlhWlfdl2dRxGNGLGU%2FHjDhU655U2taTdUgEv%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4zC3pXQYw

or

https://www.berkeleywind.com/trumpetandhorn.html
_________________
—Bach Omega
—Yamaha 631G flugelhorn w/ Warburton 1FLX
—John Packer JP272 tenor horn w/Denis Wick 3
—Yamaha YTS-354 trombone
—King 627 “baritonium”
—Akai EWI 5000

[jamesdlane986]

I purchased a Berkley and promptly returned it to the store. I was poor grade manufacture and assembly. I did some more research and ended up purchasing a Wisemann and the workmanship was night and day different as well as the playing and sound. This was around 2017 or so.

[huntman10]

I am an enthusiastic amateur but I did do my graduate recital playing the Hummel on a Getzen Eterna Eb back in 1975, and have owned and played everything from Getzen, to Bach (small bore to both 229 and 239 Eb/D EL and EXL bore) as well as E3L Schilke and cornet (current main Eb) and Yamaha 761 trumpet and several Yamaha and CarolBrass Eb cornets ever since. I have also experimented with lesser known models, and had Eb "Frankenhorns" built.

I have held the Eb Soprano chair in our local "not quite traditional" brass band since about 2017, which gives me a terrific way to put Eb horns to the test. In the last few years, I have tested a variety of bargain Eb horns (and premium trumpets and cornets) in rehearsals and even a few "less formal" public performances. The Berkeley short model Eb/D is not usable in the Eb configuration due to the valve slides being too long. The fifth harmonic (C# to E written at the top of the staff) on many brass instruments is bad on many brass, and on Eb is worse, because that range is matched against the 6th (F to G) and 8th harmonic (Ab to high C) in the Bb section, which are often sharp. To me, the most meaningful test for a Eb is maintaining the crisp Eb tone, while being able to merge into the rest of the trumpets (we use trumpets, not cornets, except usually the Eb sopranos) by being in tune with the section.

So, inexpensive horns have problems with the 5th harmonics, and require alternate fingerings in that range. I have also tried the Berkeley Eb/D long bell model that has the fixed bell, and found it to be unresponsive and dull. I have not tried the tuning bell (E3L copy) so i wont speculate on that.

The best of the Chinese Eb/D I have played is the Andreas Eastman (a short bell like the Yamaha YTR 6610 4 extra slides for D, with a pretty neat double case). In fact I played mine for about 45 minutes in a 2 hour rehearsal this week (with it attached to a Korg tuner to be certain) and it was great, although my Schilke Eb cornet was easier on the chops.

I got this particular Eastman trumpet very cheaply from a store salvage the in otherwise mint condition because someone couldn't get it in tune. My repair guy took a quick look at it and found a burr in the main Eb slide and had it playing great in less than 5 minutes, BTW. Dillon puts these Eastman Eb demos online for about $900, so they are not truly "cheap" as the short bell Berkeley models, but in line with their tuning bell version. If your Eb/D curiosity does not require critical playing, you might look for a cheap used one, so buyer beware.

So, that is my 50 or so years of aimless testing and experimentaion!!
_________________
huntman10
Collector/Player of Fine (and not so fine) Brass Instruments including
Various Strads, Yammies, Al Hirt Courtois, Schilkes,
Selmer 25, Getzen Eternas, Kanstuls (920 Pic, CG)
Martin Custom Large Bore, Lots Olds!, Conns, etc.