In my opinion a well balanced and spot on view to take. I hope you find the horn that can help you discover the sound that you’re after.

I’m off to replace my 28 year old Yamaha 6340, honestly, I don’t care what it looks like, I only care what it sounds like. If an extra fin here and there gives you “that sound” you desire then go right ahead.

Someone was mentioning intonation on Taylors, this is usually down to the player not understanding the horn. It takes months to understand intonation in a new horn. No horn is perfect, however if the player uses his/her ears, and some time, you can get pretty close.

So I will probably try a Taylor, also a Stomvi, Yamaha xeno etc and if the horn makes a the “sound” I want. I’ll get it.

Hopefully it won’t be a replica of the Starship Enterprise.

Dig that baby

I have not played any Taylor trumpets but have heard plenty of them being played as well as his Flugel at clubs in Detroit,Chicago and New York.their are plenty that play his gear and make it sound good!

If we really wanted to attack a company I think Conn/Selmer/Bach/Steinway should get attacked hard. They have been passing off junk since Vincent Bach died and demanding top prices for their junk convincing young students and band teachers across the world that they are the choice of true proffessionals.their is about as much in common with todays Bach Strad’s and the models that made them popular as their is between the Fords Model T and todays Ford Taurus. So spread some of that hate and animosity around their are plenty of let downs in the trumpet world!

I think one thing you have to take into account is who plays various brands. For instance most Bach Strad’s are played by High School kids and amateur players so not all of the bad sounds I hear coming from Bach Strad’s are the instruments fault!

I find it hard to believe that anyone that can build a French horn would have issues with a trumpet. By comparison a trumpet is easier to design and get right then a double French Horn.

In order for his intonation to be so far off he would have to have some serious issues with his leadpipes. He does not build the valve assembly so the valves 1st,2nd and 3rd, slides come with the valve assembly that makes up 50% of the trumpet. All he is doing is adding his bell,leadpipe and main tuning slide and finger rings. When one looks at all the bell and leadpipes to date that have graced trumpets it is not that hard to get it right. I mean to say if their was not a lot of room for error we would all be playing the same trumpet with the same bell and leadpipe profiles but that is not the case. So I would imagine tweaking the intonation would be simple and why would he let such a trumpet out of the shop?

With reguard to Monette he isn ot some trumpet genius. He made some good observations and did a lot of trial and error work and found what worked for him! His first trumpets where modifications to existing trumpets.One of his firsts was a Conn Doc Seversion that is currently for sale as a new instrument not having been sold ever it was a prototype.It had Monettes Leadpipe, round tuning slide and I think one of his early bells. Not everyone likes his trumpets or their price.

Their will always be a critic to any brand and a group of groupies! Until trumpet players have a really reliable magazine that will do hard core scientific testing and comparison of brands we will never have the truth!I can get specifications for everything on a modern day Corvette but try to get the specifications of one leadpipe to compare to another! All you get is a bunch of marketing mumbo jumbo and a meaningless description like “slightly darker then XX leadpipe but more free blowing”…..Lets not tell me too much I would hate to make an informed decision. Instead we get “That’s propitiatory” like we all sitting in our basements trying to make Monette clones and cut out Dave!Like any large instrument manufacture could not buy one and reverse engineer it?

As to intonation issues anyone here try out 5 different Bach C trumpets?

Until I can try a Monette and Taylor back to back I will have to take you at your word as to what you experienced. I wounder though how it is that their collaboration model would make it out the door! They had to team up with a major manufacture and you would think they would want to fix any intonation issues!

Like you I tried a Taylor – I tried a number of Taylors – they all sucked. Didn’t slot, terrible intonation and generally crap workmanship.

The problem with Andy Taylor and his fanboy mafia is that they spend all their time in internet forums (and playing Dungeons and Dragons in their parents basement) and don’t get any real gigs. They trade in their Bach strads (which also suck, and suck hard) for something that feels like a Bach (stuffy) but looks, in their opinion, cooler.

It should come as no surprise that Taylor names his trumpets with stupid fanboy names like Vulcan. He’s appealing to the dork mentality and it works.

Just brush it off dude and enjoy the traffic that all the trumpet playing elves and orcs and dungeon masters are bringing you from their sad little forums.

The Taylor guys need to little sleep, have a think about what they are doing, and then wake up and smell the damn coffee.

Matt doesn’t need to say sorry to anyone. The fact that the Taylor morons have got their panties in such a bunch makes it plain for all to see that Mass has, very successfully, touched a raw nerve.

And I bet the traffic is rolling in, all because of the stupid Taylor fanboys who are running around like headless chickens telling everyone how upset they are that someone has burst their little bubble.

Taylor boys, get real, get a life, and then, if you can manage to do enough gigs to afford it (yeah, like that’s going to happen), get a horn that isn’t a a cheap copy of something else.

That’s very kind. I’m glad you understood the spirit of the post. I’m really happy that I got the chance to discuss thoughts with Andy Taylor so I enjoyed that part too. He seems like a nice enough bloke – Enough for me to give the horns another chance when I get one to re-examine my current opinion.

You hit the nail on the head with this comment so thanks man!!!

Just have a laugh at yourselves guys!!! Matt’s just had a bit of fun and since then has had the good grace to correct/ clarify himself/ say sorry for offending anyone with the controversial post, whilst still standing by his principles.

So CHILL OUT GUYS!! Life’s too short. It’s all a bit of fun
xx

There are further discussions on a more recent post which you can find off the home page. I’ve addressed this comment there. Thanks!!!

Some strong opinions there! About the people who play Taylors though, you say “I’d like to say that my Taylor issues stem not only from the instrument but with the musicians themselves. Stick with me – this ISN’T an attack. When growing up all the Taylor musicians I met were all talk and no talent. I’ve yet to personally meet a Taylor trumpet player who doesn’t get my back up.”

and

“You’re spot on about the Taylor players! Never met one yet who could blow their way out of a paper bag!”

I’ve heard of some guys like Jason McDermid (Jools Holland) who play Taylors and can obviously play a bit! Also I’ve done some playing with Claude Deppa. He plays a Taylor and he can certainly as you put it “play his way out of a paper bag.”

Also the lovely flugel that Taylor produced in the 1990′s (I think it’s now the standard model), was designed with input from Eddie Severn, who can certainly play – at that time he used a Taylor trumpet and flugel although I know he later went on to Yamaha Shews and Edwards trumpets and an old Couesnon flugel since. I know you regard him quite highly as you list him as an important influence on you.

btw – this isn’t a man defending his own hooter, my Bb’s are a Calicchio R32ML and a Medium bore Bach 38. But there are some folk playing Taylor trumpets out there that can clearly blow.