richtom

Has anyone here had the extraordinary luck to be able to compare Doc's new horn and the Eclipse line? If so, tell us about it.

TrentAustin

Slightly biased opinions below, but I thought I'd share nonetheless.

Hi there!

I had the great pleasure of playing Doc's horns at the ITG conference this June.

They are very well built with a great valve set (just like on my Eclipse). These valves are in my opinion the best in the business. The action was super smooth and quiet.

The horns played very well with a clear sound and scale. To me I felt that the horn was a little too bright for my taste. Please remember I play a Large Red Eclipse and really like a wider sound on my Bb.

I also thought that the location of Doc's booth made the horns sound better (they picked an excellent spot high above an exhibit hall that made the sound project like crazy). I know at the Eclipse booth we all were a little bummed that they put us where everyone was basically blowing into a padded wall.

The upper register on the Doc horn was a little harder to lock in (I still got up to Double D's on it with my lead piece) than on my Eclipse. This could be based on a lot of opinions, including I'm very much used to (and will never turn back) the ease and efficiency of my Eclipse Bb.

Intonation was excellent and the scale really locked in. Just like on my Eclipse all the keys had a similar feel and smoothness. I know that on my other Bb horns keys like C and C# sound much different in terms of color. I really thought that was excellent on the DS trumpet.

I don't know if Doc's line have different configurations. I'm sure to many of you out there that's not a huge thing, but one of the major selling points of the Eclipse line in my opinion is the wide varieties of bell options. You can really "dial in" to what you want in a trumpet.

I also want to say that I wish I had more time to really play Doc's horn and also in a less crowded environment. They are VERY good horns and we should all be very lucky that we have a majority of great custom makers out there.

I know that there must be a few others at ITG that might have other thoughts.

Please feel free to contact me offlist for more info.

Best,

Trent

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Trent Austin
http://www.trentaustin.com
http://www.onlinejazzimprovisation.com
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richtom

Thanks, Trent. Nice review and with a top notch artist like you doing the review, we can be assured you know what to look for in a horn and will be a very fair judge. Next year, I will buy the last Bb for me and play it until I cannot physically play anymore. The Eclipse and Doc's new horn will be on that very short list.
The bell options do give one a choice to really set up a horn exactly the way you want and they are around the price. Now to start saving......