skironald

I am upgrading my son's trumpet from an entry student trumpet to a Bach Stradivarius. I've been told by his instructor to purchase a pre-strike horn. I know that Bach went on strike in 2006. Would any trumpet made prior to 2006 be considered a pre-strike horn?

Thanks for responding,
Ron

Schwab

Pre-strike, post-strike, there always were and always will be good and bad playing Bachs, you kind of have to try them out for yourself.

__________________
Dylan Schwab
Stage 1 New York

Bob Grier

why a Bach? You can find very good ones but what about a Yamaha Xeno or a Schilke or a Kanstal or a Getzen? The Yamaha or Schilke would be my first choice. I assume the teacher is going to play test the horn for you.

__________________
Bob Grier, An Old Pro
Web Cam trumpet & jazz improvisation lessons
bgrierjr@triad.rr.com
Schilke B5 GB bell
NY Bach ML 37GB Bb 1949
Benge 7X 1985
Conn 22B 1940s
King Liberty Silversonic 1975
King Master Model Siversonic cornet 1975
1985 Bach C L 229GB 25A
1985 Bach D ML 239
1985 Bach Eb ML 239
1967 Martin C ML rose brass bell
1985 Selmer Paris Picc with Osmun A pipe
& Blackburn Bb pipe
1975 Getzen Eterna Flugelhorn
1985 Yamaha YFH 635T Flugelhorn

camelbrass

If memory serves me correctly then anything with a serial number lower than the low 640,000s will have been made prior to the strike.

If your son's teacher has made that a priority then that's what you should do. I agree that it would be handy to take him along with you when trying the trumpet. Has he specified a configuartion that he thinks would be suitable for your son? Strads come in all sorts of variations.

Regards,


Trevor

Bonasa

Bob's exactly right.

While the loyalty of Bach players is certainly testimony to the quality of their instruments, there's a very fine line between loyalty and blind loyalty. Bob's right that there's a whole wide world of pro-level horns that are their equal and--to the extent they never endured a period of labor strife that contributed to egregious quality-control problems--their superior.

A pro-level horn is a significant investment. With all due respect to your son's teacher, he ought to be guiding your son toward a pro-level horn that best matches your son's playing abilities and aspirations. That horn just might be a Bach Strad--but it might just as easily be a Yamaha Xeno or a Calicchio or a Kanstul or a Schilke or a Conn Vintage One or any of dozens of other new pro-level horns. And this doesn't even touch the scores of vintage pro-level horns available--many of higher quality than new and often available at half or less the cost.

The only real way to tell is to have your son play as many different horns as possible, preferably in the presence of his teacher, and see which ones work best for him. This process might not only help your son find the ideal horn but might just give his teacher an opportunity to learn something.

TheNigerian

Take him to Dillon in New Jersey if you are close enough. It's better than Christmas there for any trumpet player.

__________________
Bach 198 Limited Edition Vintage Stradivarius
Bach 3C mouthpiece
Thomas Crown Mutes
----------------------------------------
"It is a truism that as long as man loves but himself he can never attain to the full measure of manhood or reach the sublimest heights of his art." -- Percy Jewett Burrell (1877-1964)

TrumpEd

The simple answer to your question is : yes.

Then come opinions, advice, etc.

__________________
Schilke B-7
Bach Strad 180S-37
Conn Vintage One Flugel

Puukka

Before the strike (maybe 2006) I saw some awful silver plated Strads. The soldering points were not buffed afterwards and each point looked different (some lacked soldering silver, a lot had too much of it). Cuts from the production, bad buffering before the plating a.s.o. But I also saw, mostly lacquered, perfectly manufactures ones.

So before you buy one, just take a look at the manufacturing quality. The post strike tend to have a better quality control but I also saw some weak points like faulty silver plating.
Generally I have to confess, that as example Schilke´s quality is much more constant.
So Kanstul´s.
Herbert

__________________
Schilke 13C4
Schilke B7