Mr. Wilk posted in another thread:
In an exacting world, answers such as "bigger than a bread box, smaller than the Empire State Building," are ludicrous. It seems that manufacturers have no problem stating such precise measurements as bore dimensions, mouthpiece characteristics, etc., why not the actual weight of their product? After all, some older comeback players might find that information useful and if not, then at the very least the information will prove useful to the shippers
And Butch posted this nice link:
http://www.rouses.net/trumpet/trumpet_weights.html
Obviously, Mr. Wilk didn't like comparisons, he wanted someone to get out a scale and weight them. Even when they were weighed, they all came up between the mid 30's and low 40's in ounces. 3 or 4 ounces (rough average) is not "bigger than a bread box and smaller than the Empire State Building" type of comparison.
Those few extra ounces mean nothing to shippers. Most cases weigh several POUNDS.
So, since we hijacked the last thread, I thought I would ask: How much does the total weight matter? From the chart Butch supplied, everything but the Taylor was in a very tight range. The Taylor was close to double the weight. No Monettes on the chart.
If a horn played the way you wanted it to, would up to 7 ounces make a difference? Doesn't balance make a difference? If you threw a Taylor and a Monette off the Empire State Building, would they hit the ground at the same time? :P
I still think that manufacturers don't either think the weight is important, or don't want players to rule out a horn because of weight (I doubt Taylor is going to advertise theirs) so they don't publish them. Like Mr. Wilk said, they publish every other little detail.
I personally find the balance of a horn much more a factor in "comfort" than total weight (within reason -- I have never picked up or played a Taylor or Monette).
M&C