TromboneChat

I've had some excellent luck with cheap Chinese horns in the past and I know quite a few people who've also gotten surprisingly great Alto's from various Chinese makers. I also know somebody who has a pretty decent Chinese Contra that only needed minimal valve work to get it sounding good. On the whole I've been pretty impressed with the value some of these instruments offer at their price points.

That being said, all of my experience with these companies has been with trombones and slides, not really valved instruments. I was wondering if anyone had any insight or personal experience with a Chinese Bass Trumpet? I have access to a Bach right now but it's not mine and given just how infrequently the instrument is actually used, coupled with a tried and true pro horn's price tag, I'm wondering if one would be a halfway decent investment down the road?

I have an older JinBao piston trumpet that I bought second-hand. It’s about 5-6 years old, played little, and in great shape. I honestly haven’t played it that much. I use a small mouthpiece, a Faxx 12C—it’s the smallest mouthpiece I own—so it sounds like a bass trumpet. Anything larger made it sound like a bass flugelhorn.

Sure, why not buy one? My intent was to use it to practice upper register and maintain focus and clarity. Unfortunately, I never incorporated it into my regular routine.

I've played the Wessex rotary. I didn't think it was very good. Didn't really have the sound, and hard to play everywhere, and not in the usual bass trumpet way.

I sold one a few years back to another member. I used it briefly but the ROI was still negative for me. Afterall, people aren't beating the door down for bass trumpet players. If you need a bass trumpet because you are getting called, it's probably worth it to get one that isn't from one of these makers (particularly because you'd oft be playing in C with 4 rotors which isn't the option you usually see). If you don't need one... you'll not get a positive ROI on the instrument. However, if you want one... they're pretty cool to have around though the ergonomics of it is weird. For what is essentially a fun thing that isn't terribly useful, I'd rather have a flugabone (though note that I'm actually selling mine because I haven't used it all that much).

I missed in your post that you have access to a Bach bass trumpet. If a Bach bass trumpet is in good working condition and it’s well put together, it will almost certainly play better than a cheap Chinese bass trumpet. Yes, my Jin Bao is fun to play around on when I get it out of the case. Would I take it on a gig? Jazz? Sure. Janacek? Maybe. Wagner? Definitely not.

If you have the money to spare, why not? If not, you have access to a great instrument.

Maybe Wessex?

Bach5G wrote: ↑Sun Mar 17, 2019 5:57 pmMaybe Wessex?

BurgerBob gave his first-hand input above in the thread. From a purely-technical standpoint, the Wessex bass trumpet (both piston and rotary models) are not Wessex-designed (like most of their tubas, euphoniums, and trombones), but just the stock JinBao horns with some amount of quality control.

I don't like the wessex bass trumpets, but there is a 4-valve rotary chinese bass trumpet in C that I have heard is decent. I think Hidekazu Okayama may have had some input into its creation. I haven't tried one myself.

bbocaner wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2019 6:46 am I don't like the wessex bass trumpets, but there is a 4-valve rotary chinese bass trumpet in C that I have heard is decent. I think Hidekazu Okayama may have had some input into its creation. I haven't tried one myself.

You mean one similar to this? https://www.thomann.de/intl/th/thomann_ ... rumpet.htm Have anyone any experience on this horn?

This might be the same thing, and probably alot easier for someone in the US to get their hands on.

https://www.jimlaabsmusicstore.com/stor ... ry-bass-c-

Some of the link got cut off:

https://www.jimlaabsmusicstore.com/stor ... c-trumpet/

Yeah, that's the one I was thinking of.