asc1969

I am by no means an authority in this area, however I just turned 38 years old this month and blew into a trumpet for the first time about two months ago. I, too, am having a blast and am hooked (as frustrating as the instrument can be). I was lucky to have been given an old Boosey & Hawkes "Oxford" trumpet that was manufactured in England. My father-in-law gave it to me as it was his first (and last) student trumpet bought for him in the 50's by his mother. It actually plays fairly decent for a student trumpet of that age. I also just purchased a King 601 trumpet from a private party. The King 601 is a decent horn to begin with and is actually a step up from King's 600 model beginner horn. I found this one for $150 and it was in absolutely prestine condition as was the hard shell case it came with. The trumpet sells new for about $600 and lists for about $900. It's only a year old so I considered $150 a steal based on the almost new condition. A great deal of the experienced horn playing members on this site seem to like the Getzen brand as well as Yamaha and Bach. All of them are excellent trumpets. Just try and stay away from the cheap Chinese and Indian brands you'll find all over eBay that are selling new for $99 as an example. They are pieces of junk.