cmcdougall

Look: This is definitly a far above average looking horn, I love the rings especially because they are big and at a comfortable angle, which is good to me because I have HUGE fingers. As I played it today in my high school section ooooooohs and aaaaaaahs abounded, everyone loved the look of the horn.

Mechanics: Slides are perfection, smooth as silk, valves ummmm, solid 8 out of 10 but they have a slightly "heavy" feeling to me, fairly sluggish, overall mechanics are above average.

Tone: Of course this is highly subjective but I really dont know how to classify this beast, it is not bright but not really dark, it is however slightly darker than my strad which I do like, it seems to have a "cleaner" default sound. Although I did find today that my ability to blend into the section was very good and my director who has a VERY good ear had no complaints however I felt like as we switched from a latin jazz piece to some shostakovich that changing the sound of the horn was harder than on my Strad, this could be me but I have never had trouble like this on the horns that I have played, I think I just dont like the blow of this horn.

Blow: This is by far my least favorite part of this horn, it is just too blooming tight for me, the blow is especially tight for me from first A above the staff on up, becoming almost unbearable around D.

Rating: 7.5/10

Thanks to Van and New York Trumpet Company for the great chance to try a beautiful horn.