The concept is simple enough.  A player you admire, someone doing what you aspire to, is playing a certain mouthpiece or a certain horn.  Maybe you see it in an advertisement, or maybe it is just talked about in the hallways outside practice rooms and on internet chat sites.  There was a thread on TrumpetHerald recently where the whole topic of discussion was what horn Chris Martin was using, the underlying motivation for such a thread remaining unspoken: if I could just get my hands on the exact equipment Chris Martin uses...  Or perhaps for you it isn't another player that makes you decide to try a new instrument.  Maybe it is the seduction of improving a skill that is difficult on your current trumpet, or maybe it is the constant lure of that magical sound that will finally lead you to the career of your dreams.  Whatever the motivation, a new instrument can woo us at our most defenseless times and lead us to decisions that, in retrospect, were not sound.  Sometimes, of course, a new instrument can be the godsend it seems to be, but it's by no means always the case.  Just as often, and perhaps more often, this decision works against us, and that is the reason it must be taken carefully.

I mentioned a couple of months ago that I had some work done on my old Bach C trumpet (239 with a 25A for the equipment zealots), but I don't believe I went into any detail about what was done.  The work entailed a few minor repairs plus a removal of the pitch finder mechanism that John Hagstrom had convinced me to put on after I won the 4th trumpet job in the CSO way back in 1998.  With the pitch finder gone, the horn was restored to its original configuration for the first time since those enjoyable days when my career was finally blossoming, after years of struggle and turmoil.

This Bach is the horn I used in every audition I ever won, including the principal job in the CSO.  Once I started in the CSO, however, there was a great deal of excitement over the new Yamaha Chicago Artist Series, and my Bach was relegated to bench warmer in favor of the Yamaha prototype.  Later that season, after running into some difficulty playing the prototype, I returned to the Bach and enjoyed a spell of probably my best playing in that job.  This golden period was not to last, however, as there were more prototypes and other horns that had the presence of sound that was "required" of that chair, other seductions that proved too tempting: there was time spent playing the orchestra horn that had belonged to Chicowicz -- a really unique Mt. Vernon C with a smaller bell, different bead, and a highly energetic sound -- and time spent playing the Bach C trumpet conversion that Scott Laskey had made for me.  Meanwhile, my Bach sat patiently in a case, under a chair, in a closet... wherever it was deemed to be the most out of the way, the most unobtrusive.

Since my arrival in Miami I have spent most of my time playing a production version of the Chicago Artist Series (with fancy gold plating to boot).  Before I went to California, though, I dug out my old Bach and decided to take it to Dick Akright to restore it to its original, pre-CSO state.  He removed the pitch finder, touched up a few dings, and returned it to me within an hour like it had emerged from a time capsule.

At first, I wasn't impressed enough to switch back to the Bach.  The sound and blow feel with the slightly smaller mouthpiece I had been using with the Yamaha just didn't quite work, so it was relegation once again.  Just this week, however, I had a thought and I dug it out once again and paired it with a mouthpiece that I used to use with it quite frequently, the same mouthpiece that I discussed in Good Friends to the Rescue.  The result was almost instantaneous: the sound was livelier, and the playing was easier.  "Great," you may say, "You have your answer!"  But I have been around the block often enough to know that this result won't necessarily hold forever.  As of right now, though, the result does hold and my Bach resides in my hands once again; it is the instrument I look forward to playing each day, and it is the instrument that I am planning on using for my CD recording in December.  This time it's the Yamaha that is suffering relegation.

Interestingly, I am also planning on using my old Bach 37 Bb that I bought from one of my Dad's colleagues for $150.  When paired with my Bach C, which I bought without a mouthpiece or case for $820, it results in a total trumpet expense for this CD of less than $1,000.  The relegated Yamaha C sells for roughly $4,000 all by itself.  I guess it is a good reminder that you can't determine quality with a price tag, especially when that quality is something of such a personal nature.  Remember that the next time you are enticed to follow the equipment lead of players you admire.  Sometimes the best horn for you is the one that is already in your hands.

Regardless, I am very glad to have my horn restored and in my hands once again.  It's good to be home.

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