The Beauty of Trumpet
Trumpets have been in existence since primitive times, but they did not really gain the recognition they deserved until the infiltration of jazz into the music world. When Buddy Bolden altered his own music style in the 1890's, it had the first inklings of what jazz music would become with its hearty spirit and spontaneity. He eventually lead the first genuine New Orleans jazz band. Continuing to invent jazz music was Freddie Keppard and Joe "King" Oliver playing the cornet as the lead instrument.
For years, the Bach Stradivarius Trumpet has been the mainstay of the performing trumpet world. Sure, there were other trumpets out there, and in the Jazz world, many of them were very successful.
The Bach strike a few years ago had a major impact in the Bach reputation. Also, the price increased substantially after the strike ended.
Then along came Louis Armstrong from a poor section of New Orleans where the heroes of the neighborhood were gamblers and pimps. His first instrument, within the family of trumpets, was a long, tin horn that he would blast while working on a coal delivery wagon to let clients know the wagon was coming. At age 10 he had earned enough money to buy a battered cornet in a pawnshop. By age 11 he had left school, left his job, and organized a street corner quartet. While in reform school he joined the band and developed his talent. He became the leader of the band which changed his reputation. By the age of 13 he was back on the street and found small jobs to keep himself out of trouble.
As a teenager he worked with professional musicians and joined Fate Marable's band playing on a riverboat in Mississippi. By his early twenties he could outplay any trumpets at cutting contests where soloists improvised until one was clearly outperforming the others. With the addition of 23 year old Lois to the Fletcher Henderson band in New York, the band began to really swing with their new featured soloist. A year later he formed his own group in Chicago called the Hot Five.
The end result of everything...the Bach trumpets made now are as good as they have been in many years, and many people think they are even better. I played on several trumpets at a convention recently, and they played better than any Bach I have played in years. I would not hesitate to recommend them right now. Bach trumpets have always played much different from horn to horn. In the past, you might get a good one, or you might get a great one. You seldom saw a bad one. A friend of mine remarked recently that even though the current crop of Bach trumpets all still play differently, they are all great horns. That is a definite positive change.
Since Bach was the predominant trumpet on the market, many companies produced trumpets that shared many of the same features. Yamaha started things with their Heavywall series...the 6335HS. The large bore version was the 6345HS. They also produced 6335 trumpets of totally different styles that did not use the "H" in the model number.
Yamaha later brought out the Xeno line of trumpets which is still made. Yamaha trumpets pretty much all play the same.
How to Play the Cornet : Differences Between Trumpets & Cornets