rowuk

I think any time we start to compare art (whether painting, wine, trumpet building, trumpet playing....) we will always see a broad selection of quality, characteristics, price, level of appreciation. The reason that we have electric drills, induction stoves, sunglasses that automatically tint, teflon coated pans and the high quality instruments that we enjoy today is because there have always been creative people (that found financing) out there stretching the envelope.
Of course Homo Sapiens can live in a hole, teepee, log cabin or the presidents suite at the Waldorf Astoria. In their respective times, those dwellings were adequate to more than adequate.
I see the same issue with trumpets. Brilliant players have played just about everything ever written brilliantly on their Bach Bb or C trumpets. Does that mean that another player (brilliant or not) shouldn't look for another color - stretching that envelope of what we have become accustomed to? I find standards regardless of where they are found to limit certain dimensions of performance.
Playing a Mozart Requiem on a natural trumpet gives me a much more dramatic picture of heaven or hell - sonically speaking - the Bach C sound is too clear. A true rotary valved trumpet paints a Mahler or Bruckner symphony much differently than a "standard Bach". Modern american classics should probably use an airbrush designed and built by Bach, Schilke or some other american standard. The Ferguson Band had a "new" color with Monette - why not?
Of course, a case could also be made for "authentic historical playing". That is not my point, however.
I used to sell photo equipment to the NATO military in Europe. I had a great opportunity to compare Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minolta, Hasselblad and Leica cameras. In comparing the picture quality, one thing stood out:
The japanese cameras had a "neutral" color balance when taking pictures outdoors on a bright sunny day(something common in Japan). The german lenses on the Hasselblad and Leica had their "neutral" color balance on overcast days (common in Germany). Of course it was possible to compensate for everything and get great results with all of them. Still, many artists identify with those colors provided by the basic equipment. The same is true with trumpets. Yes, every player should have a Bach B or C trumpet for at least a small part (if not more) of their career. If they start to look for other "colors" they are doing the art a favor. Just because you can play almost everything on it and Bud Herseth did, doesn't mean that the next generation should put on blinders and do the same thing. Just maybe there is a little room for alternate greatness like Manny or Wynton on Monette, or somebody else with a Xeno, Eclipse or whatever. For me it is a great tragedy that Chicago doesn't play Schilke, New York NYTC, LA Benge or Kanstul, etc, etc. Every orchestra with their "own" sound. Trumpet players getting trained to be able to assimilate the local styles and take the local art to new extremes instead of becoming universally replacable. Jazz players have always been good at this and a broad range of instruments is represented! Vienna is one of the last orchestras with their own historic fingerprint. I have a lot of respect for that.
To answer your question: you do not NEED $1000 of equipment for a community or college gig. If you are offering something unique, you may be doing everybody a favor............

__________________
Whenever I feel blue, I start breathing again.