commakozzi

Wow, I guess I'd have to be a certified musicologist to have heard all of these explanations, but "peashooter" has always been a term used among my friends and colleagues to designate that a horn was designed to play in the upper register. These horns typically have a bright or "tinny" sound all around and are just basically built to play lead. There are "peashooter" trumpets and "peashooter" trombones or other "high octave" low brass counterparts.

Never heard of this other stuff you guys are talking about, but maybe you guys have invented new ways to think about the term. English is an evolving language for sure.

screamingmorris

What you said does not contradict what we said.
In fact, what you said complements what we said.
We mentioned the physical features of peashooters;
you mentioned the sound that those physical features produce.

We mentioned that peashooter trumpets of the 1920's through 1940's were longer and narrower and smaller bore than trumpets that we consider "normal" today.
That did indeed make them sound extremely bright and harsh, perfect for lead trumpeters of that era who wanted to "stick out" during performances.
And it is why Conn warned regarding its peashooters such as the Conn 24B:
"It possesses a stinging, yet musical quality of tone and unusual carrying power. From the time this trumpet was placed on the market, it met with success and swept all other "jazz" behind it. It is extremely easy playing and is particularly noted for this feature. We do not recommend the Opera Grand for symphonic or concert engagements".
The Conn Loyalist

"The trumpet at the time was a vulgar-sounding, small bore type horn with a very narrow throated and super long bell that projected only in a lazer-beam ahead of it, and people called 'em "Peashooters." These things were so harsh and edgy and musicians didn't play them much."
The Conn Loyalist

"The Pan American 66B has a #½ (0.425") bore. Now that is what I would call a "pea shooter"."
The Conn Loyalist

According to Conn Loyalist, some cheaper peashooters from the 1920's-1940's were made with greatly inferior brass alloys that contributed to their sounding harsh:
"The brass of the horn has a lower copper content than any other horn I have ever seen (unexposed brass of the tuning slide is almost silver-colored), which may contribute to the brightness"
The Conn Loyalist

Just because a trumpet was designed for playing in the upper register does not make it a peashooter, though.
The Holton ST302 designed for Maynard Ferguson had a .468 bore and normal wrap and would not be considered a peashooter.
The Holton ST200 designed for Bud Brisbois had a .465 bore and normal wrap and would not be considered a peashooter.

So I think you and I agree on what a peashooter is.
We were just describing different aspects of it.

- Morris

rowuk

one finger on top of the 3rd valve slide, 3 beneath. It was wound so tight that conventional grips did not work.

VetPsychWars

Here's my Buescher 220. It's a bit brighter than my other trumpets, but not in a necessarily bad way. Put a Rudy Muck 19C in it, though, and now you're approaching bright!

Tom

Alan Dismukes

Great information! Thanks to everybody who participated in this thread!