I just got back from the MMEA convention (Maryland Music Educators Association). There were some representatives from Yamaha, Jupitor, and Getzen - and a few of the music store representatives had a good line of trumpets. The best out of the 5/6 models I tried was the Yamaha XENO - It was the most free-blowing. It was awesome! The only problem is I didn't have my trumpet with me to compare! At least I had my mouthpiece...Any other thoughts on this instrument? Also, I forget which brand, but there is a brand that makes a trumpet with a bell like Dizzy Gillespies - that one seemed kind of funky to me. It played well when you play like him - but it was stuffy if you tried to play it in a proper position. Funny thing one of the vendors said when I mentioned a horn or two being & feeling 'stuffy' - He said that was for the high range. WHAT? For some reason, that makes no sense to me!
Yamaha Xeno. They are great horns. I sadly just sold my Xeno C trumpet. Free blowing, near-perfect intonation, good response, even sound--some terms to describe them. The build quality is very good too. As for the "Dizzy" bell trumpet, I believe it's Holton or someone similar who makes that model. Funky is a good word for that. Oh, yeah, the vendor who told you that the stuffiness is for range......HA! Yeah right.
Xenos are good instruments. Very consistent. I almost chose one as my no.1 horn, but found it was a bit too large a bore for me. Have you tried the reverse-leadpipe version? I found that much nicer to play than the regular ones.
My favorite Xeno is the 8335RGM (reverse/gold-brass/matte). There are several Xeno models so you need to pay attention to which you are trying. If I could "play...well when you play like him (Dizzy)" I'd stop right there! I think you meant something else. Anyway, forget about the Dizzy-horn unless you're a "special needs" player. Which reminds me, Jupiter makes a Dizzy-horn, which I've never tried, BUT their XO Tribune is an excellent horn for under $1000 street price. Dave
I thought I should share my opinion on Xeno. I have read on 2 websites [/url] http://www.trumpetherald.com [/url] http://www.trumpetplayeronline.com that it is a great trumpet
There's a Dizzy style horn made by King called the Silver flair. I read somewhere that it's the same model that Dizzy used to play, I don't know if thats true though. You can see it here http://www.unitedmusicalinstruments.com/
