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<center>The first pictures of the Eclipse C Trumpet</center>
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<center>For more information visit the Eclipse Trumpet Forum!<center>

trpguyy

Let me be the first to say THAT IS ONE SWEET LOOKIN' HORN!

orchtrpt

Id like to try that. Seems like an interesting design. Where can I try one in the US

trumpetpimp

The only place in the US that carries the Eclipse trumpets is Northern Brass in New Hamshire. I'm sure Bruce, the owner, will be along soon with his comments on the horn.

eclipse trumpets

Hi Guys

The C trumpet in the picture is now boxed up and due to fly out to our own Mr Trent Austin so he can give us all his opinion.

The C trumpet will be available with just 2 bell types :

A medium Yellow or a Medium Red!

The one pictured has a medium red Bell and is silverplated of course.

We have benefitted greatly by having the "Eclipse" tuning as it allows us to keep a greater length of taper on the leadpipe which i believe is vital in the tuning and performance of the horn.

C trumpets have forever been a "trouble" instrument for the manufacturers when trying to acheive great tuning, most C trumpets suffer from bad tuning to some degree but we have managed to get over that hurdle by simply having our tuning where we do.

I am hoping to meet some of you at the ITG in Denver where we will have the full range of Bb's , Our new C trumpets and our new Flugels.

I hope that i can make it there so you can try these out for yourselves!!

Regards

Leigh

TrentAustin

Hey Gang!

I can't begin to tell you all how excited I am to get the Proto Eclipse C...

I know that a lot of you out there know me as a "jazzer" but I do play a LOT of Classical music, especially chamber music (go to www.innovatabrass.com to check out my primary ensemble).

As you all know, I've played every single horn out there imagineable.

While you know how much I love my Eclipse Bb I am (if you can imagine) even more excited about the Eclipse C. From what I've heard from the pros in London it plays amazingly well! In England I know many players don't even play C. I can see why since so many brands produce inconsistent C's in my opinion.

In my quintet playing there are many times where I have to switch from horn to horn really quickly. Since acclimating to the Eclipse Bb it's been noticeably harder to jump from the ultra efficient LR to my Yamaha Xeno C (which is a very GOOD C!). I just am really looking for a horn that doesn't feel WILDLY different.

I've played a TON of C's, including Wynton's old Raja C (the one he recorded the 20th century album with), Schlueter's Monettes, plenty of Chicago Monettes (the other player in my Quintet, Karen plays a great Chicago C and sounds amazing), Malone C's, Blackburn, Lawlers, and of course the mass-produced brands like Bach/Yamaha/Benge. I'm hoping that I will give Leigh and others a great sense of how the C's are.

Of course I'll post some low-fi clips on my verizon site after a few days of wailing on the horn. As soon as they are up I'll let you know!

Take care everyone and thanks again Leigh for the amazing instruments.

Best,

Trent Austin
www.trentaustin.com

lonelyangel

Hi Trent - I know you are gonna have a great time with this new horn. A word of warning though. Whatever you do don't let anybody else try it out because you may find it impossible to get it back off them!

I just wanted to point out that the horn in the photos - which is winging its way to you even now - is in no way a prototype. This is the finished article!
If you could see the state of the actual prototype in the factory you would understand what I mean and just why that horn will never leave the workshop - it looks like its been through several demolition derbies - although it plays like an absolute peach - and is the template for the full production models. The first full spec Eclipse C is still in raw brass, and that's because Mr Ian Balmain (principal trumpet with the Royal Opera House) can't bear to be parted from it for long enough for Leigh to finish it off!

Look forward to reading your impressions. Noel.

gzent

Leigh,

That's cool! Strange how it took so long for someone to solve the C trumpet intonation problem by moving the tuning slide to the bell, huh?

Are you guys planning to build any other key trumpets or a picc?

Keep 'em coming! :)

Greg

Bill Dishman

The comment about "moving the tuning slide to the bell" struck me as unusual. Tuning bell C's (and Bb's) have been around quite a while.
I had a Bach tuning bell that was wonderfully in tune. The tuning bell didn't project quite as well as I liked but it was a great horn. It had a cut down 43 Bb leadpipe and this is what I felt made the horn more in tune and consistant. I had a Bach 238 heavy gold brass C trumpet made with a 25S leadpipe (elongated) and it plays fantastic. Best C I have had the experience to play. Great projection/tone and well in tune. No alternate fingering needed. Consistant tone across registers and very open feeling. I tend to think that the Eclipse may be well in tune due to the long leadpipe configuration in complement with the tuning bell, but the longer leadpipe may be the major factor. Just my opinion as I have not had the chance to actually play one.

Schilkes have done tuning bell horns for years and years with good results.

TrentAustin

Hi Bill!

Excellent post! It's good to see you posting on the TM site!

I agree that "tuning" bell horns have been around before but the Eclipse horns are much different than the traditional "tuning bell" horns because the actual bell is fixed as well as having all the bracing of a traditional "fixed bell" horn. This in my opinion is what gives the Eclipse both the amazing flexibility in terms of sound colors as well as amazing centering/projection.


I used to own a Yamaha Custom Bb that had a tuning bell and I really found the horn to be excessively "floppy" due to the lack of the bell brace in front of the valve chassis. I have found that pretty much with every "tuning bell" setup that you do lose some projection out in the hall.

I bet Leigh can shed more light on this as I'm probably making no sense (it is past my bedtime!)

Take care,

Trent