drac

Hello all,

I stopped by at ITG briefly yesterday and they had a 1500TW trumpet on display. I will be play testing it tomorrow so I will let you know my impressions. They have a color display flyer for it and everything, I wonder why this horn isn't for sale anywhere?? Anyway, Tim Wendt (TW) was there himself at the booth so I may have to run out into the hall to try it so as not to embarass myself. In case you don't know what the TW model is, it is a modified 1500 with a lightweight copper bell, .460 bore, #25 mouth pipe, and other goodies.

It was pretty amazing to see all the booths setup!!! everything you could ever want, every horn in every finish, every moutpiece, and the largest collection of show off trumpet players in the world. If you have never been to this even I suggest you attend. It is a blast. I will tell you more about it when I go again tomorrow....By the way any requests????

Jon

trptbenge

I am looking forward to your impressions of the horn and how it compares to the regular 1500.

mike

drac

Well before I got kicked out of the ITG conference for not having my badge I did manage to try the TW. I must say, compared to the other Kanstul horns, I am not a big fan. The sound you get on that horn is too spread out and uneven. If you can focus it, it plays relatively well but it was way too responsive for my taste. Every nuiance in my airstream or lip pressure showed up in my sound. This is something I am not used to. It may have been improved with a standard tuning slide as opposed to the rounded one, but there was not one available. I can see this horn being good for lead work but not the greatest for solo work. Just my opinion. If anyone gets the chance to try one I would, it is definitely a unique horn and might be just perfect for someone else.

As for my badge, well....I kinda snuck in. I work after all and could only stop by for about an hour. The lady at registration said it was no problem but they have badge police running all over the place and they booted me. They should really start having an exhibit only badge which doesn't cost an arm and a leg and allows you just to see the vendors. I am sure they wouldn't mind the extra business. I did get to chat a bit with John Faddis which was cool. His lip looks like a slab of old bacon. I don't know how the hell he plays on that thing but he sure sounds great. That alone made the experiece worth it. Well, I have gone off topic. I better scram......

trptbenge

drac, thanks for the impressions of the 1500TW. A lightweight copper bell seemed like it would be a great idea. Unfortunately it sounds as if the finished product may fall short of expectations. By the way, I am not really familiar with Tim Wendt. I did an internet search and came up with very little. I know from a friend that Charles with Kanstul says he is a clinician and he is going to send some information out to the dealers about him. Does anybody have any information about him?

Also, I have several people who I know that attended the ITG conference. I am anxious to talk with them this week and get their impressions of the new horns - including Doc's new horn. It should be interesting!

Mike

King High

Thanks for the review Jon. What you describe is what I get with the rounded tuning slides. We'll find out soon if it is the light weight copper or the rounded slide.

drac

Hey Mike,

I am going to scan the 1500TW flier and post it. In it shows Tim Wendt's resume so it might be of interest. Keep an eye out for it!!

WFUnix

King High,

Please let us know your impressions on the 1500TW. From reading the specs, I got the impression that it may be similar to the beryllium-bronze bells by Schilke, but according to Tim Wendt in the flyer you posted the 1500TW has a dark sound! The Schilke beryllium-bronze bells are anything but dark. I am particularly interested in how the resistance in the 25 pipe is compared to the 25-0 pipe on the regular 1500, as well as how the horn projects and slots compared to the 1500. The 25 leadpipe has more resistance than the 25-0, correct? I loved the sound and projection of the 1500 I tried, but felt that it didn't have enough resistance for my liking.

WFUnix

bigaggietrumpet

For what it's worth, I tried it out for about 10-15 min, along with the standard 1500.

Quite frankly, I like the TW. It's a good horn. It is a lighter constructed horn with the rounded tuning slide. However, I found playing to be comfortable. It is noticeably lighter in tone that the standard 1500. It also is probably not as precise in its slotting. Probably why I like the 1500 better. But I still thought it was a good horn.

trickg

Drac, it sounds to me that although you may not like it in the beginning, I believe that if you were to switch to this horn cold turkey, you would probably adapt to the exceptional response very quickly, you would probably end up really liking it, and you would be a better player because of it.

You mentioned that it accentuated every nuance. Could this be akin to the fact that many trumpets have their own little quirks (I know my Strad sure does!) and because you are used to having to automatically adjust for those, you were trying to do that with this horn too? The difference would be that this horn might be a more accurate horn in terms of slotting and intonation and doesn't require the lipping and adjusting that you automatically do with your horn, and because of it's superior response, it really shows through when you play it. Again, I think that given the chance to adapt and adjust to it, you would end up really liking this horn. Then again, without having actually played it, I can't say for sure. :)

the chief

I spent some considerable time with the TW and will have one on trial pretty soon.

Unfortunately the dealer didn't have a 1500 to compare it too, but the WB and CHI models were there. The TW model was very nice. I found the ease of response perfect for my type of playing, and it sounded very nice. It didn't seem too bright to me, but then again I didn't compare it to the 1500. To me it was definately darker then a couple schilkes I had previously played, but with almost the same response.


The horn looked gorgous with it's scratch-laquer finish. The copper-colored bell looks very nice. I know that looks aren't everything, but this horn looks awesome and plays awesome. I can't wait to hear how it sounds with the various bands that I'll by playing with.