| Bill....great suggestions. Ebay CAN BE a good place to buy "for cheap", but you have to know what to watch for. I recommend that the novice get the link for the auction and ask within one of these forums whether it looks "up and up" or not. There have been some really great scams running lately involving Taylor, Monette, Zeus (to name a few off the top of my head).
Buying used and restoring can be a good idea as well...but only if you either KNOW or have refund possibility on what you buy ("like new" can turn out to be completely shot with tired valves, red rot, badly fatigued tubing....ask Leigh McKinney what it costs to rebuild something that the "unhappy new owner" wasn't planning on spending!)
Alaska Pro..I'm going to ask a general question in the Wild West forum (this isn't the right place). Intriguing but let's hear some "personal experience" on that one.
While I'm mentioning it, I've heard that somebody has received an offer from "First Class Brass" to do a total overhaul of an "oldie but goodie" for somewhere around $300. Of course shipping costs two ways across the ocean could factor into this. You want to take a look at several of the folks who do overhauls...lots of testimonials in the various trumpet sites about who does what, how, and what they charge and WHAT THEIR TURNAROUND TIME IS!
HornTrader (Steve Dillard).....seems to be a broker. I don't think he actually owns all of the horns he advertises, although I have seen him buy some from Ebay. You can expect to have to pay a bit of a premium for his "services" in getting a seller and a buyer "together". At least a known trumpet player will have "passed his chops" over whatever he's selling.
Once again, however...remember that we're talking mostly about folks who have either a) never before been in the market to buy, or b) have been OUT of the market so long (their parents probably bought their first horn) that they need to educate themselves before getting hauled into the "rental vortex". |