bandman

I had a wonderful visit with Bruce Lee today in Houston. I had a chance to play on several Eclipse trumpets plus Bruce's personal Teatro. They were all beautiful horns. I tend to favor the Eclipse MY and the Teatro, but there was not a bad horn among all of the instruments I had a chance to play. I also had a chance to share my vintage Bach Strad and my Harrelson 750 with Bruce.

I would love to have some time with some of these horns on a job or two. Today I was just trying to find the slotting tendancies of the horn, as well as the intonation of the valve combinations using the 3rd valve. Every one of the horns I played was fine in every aspect, although I did have a specific order in which I would rank the horns (I'll not share that list because I feel that the way you react to a horn of this level is strictly personal taste, and not an indication of the quality of the instrument).

Everything I thought would be true about Bruce was true. He is a great host (my wife and daughter were with me), he is is so laid back (no pressure, and he's a fine player).

I wish all of you could meet Bruce. He's fine guy and I look forward to seeing him again when he comes to Louisiana.

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Bruce Lee

Thank you, for your very kind words, Bandman! It was nice to meet you, your wife, and your daughter!

I'm very glad that you had a chance to try the Eclipse trumpets. It is just as you say... "a matter of personal preference" when it comes to finding a good match with the different Eclipse models. The consistent design and build quality of each Eclipse trumpet eliminates the "good trumpet-bad trumpet" experience, allowing the player to focus on his/her choice, based on "fit", rather than finding the best compromise.

As a trumpet player, it's always fun to sample everyone's instruments. I hope that you're able to get that "teaching horn" sorted out. It is most deserving!

I'm looking forward to visiting with you again... in Louisiana! BTW... Thanks for dangling that whole cajun food thing in front of me! I got a cravin'!

Best always,
Bruce

PS - I hope to hear from many more of you. Please send me a PM, or an e-mail, if you are interested.

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brucelee@northernbrass.com
ECLIPSE TRUMPETS - AUTHORIZED DEALER
The "TEATRO", by Lee/McKinney
GR Technologies/Northern Brass Mpc's - Dealer
http://www.northernbrass.com
(281) 485-1919

bandman

An explanation of Bruce's comment. I have a Bach that was made in Indiana from Mt. Vernon parts. A few years ago I had it worked on and it has not been the same horn ever sense. In my words; 'the horn got squirrelly on certain notes."

They changed the lead pipe, but left the Mt. Vernon receiver. I never even though to check the gap and Bruce put his mouthpiece on my horn and started ripping away!!!! Nothing wrong with that baby since his mouthpiece fit my horn just fine!

Sooooo, I guess I’m going to let someone smarter than me take a look at my old horn before I got spending $4000 on a new horn. Sure was nice to hear Bruce playing my horn – I sure hope he left some good notes in it (I’m sure he didn’t use them all up!).

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