Aleahdavis

Hello!
I am a military wife living over seas. I just bought a trumpet off of EBAY. It is supposedly a Silver Student Prince trumpet made by H. N. White. Does anyone know anything about these trumpets? It was super cheap but is supposedly in decent condition. In any case it was cheap enough to take a chance on buying it off of Ebay. From the pictures It looks to be in very good condition cosmetically with an origional case to boot. Anyway, my question is... What should I have it insured for for shippng purposes, and is there anyone out there who could tell me a thing or two about this trumpet? I haven;t played since highschool, but getting back into playing will just give me one more thing to do while my husband is deployed for 15 months. SIGH. Thanks for you help!
Mrs. Davis

uapiper

Welcome to Trumpetmaster and have fun learning to play trumpet again.

Your trumpet cost you five dollars less than it would have when new. It is a Student Prince model 204 made in 1934. Little or no info is available for this other than a promotional poster on the H.N. White site. It should have a gold wash inner bell.

I would pack it well and insure for what you would have to replace it for. $200 max, it is a student horn.

Thanks to you and your husband, your sacrifice lets us live a safe life.

Mike Graham

administrator

Welcome Mrs. Davis. Enjoy the site!

Aleahdavis

Thankyou all!
I am really excited to have heard back from you so quickly. I hope that this will turn out to be a good little trumpet for me to get back into playing again, and maybe for my husband (who would like to learn to play at military funerals) and/ or my son to someday be able to learn on. I am the Chapel music director on base and our church pianist has a trumpet she would like to sell, which I may eventually buy from her, but neither of us know what it is worth. She bought it for her son several years back when he was still in High School (now in the airforce flying big shiny things). All she knows is that it is a Silver King and that she paid $700 for it several years back. Any idea what a good asking price for her would be considering that this is a trumpet probably in good to fair condition?
Thanks Again!
Mrs. Davis

uapiper

If it's a vintage silver flair, it could be worth quite a bit. eBay is a good way of determining worth of an instrument. It all comes down to what it would be worth to you.

eBay can be a great way to find something cheap, but you have got to keep your wits about you. Asking lots of questions and finding out as much as you can will help you find the perfect trumpet. You won't know until you play your trumpet if you love it.

Good luck to you and your husband, there is a wealth of free music and studies online for you to try. Have fun

Mike Graham

pipedope

Welcome back to the trumpet.

A fair price on a used horn is one that both buyer and seller are OK with.

In any case I suggest getting some good oil and slide grease.
I use Ultra-Pure;
Ultra-Pure Trumpet Valve Oil & 2 Lubes Great on Monette - eBay (item 150205249273 end time Jan-19-08 17:21:11 PST)

Renenber to be gentle with yourself, especially at first. Rest as much as you play and as soon as your chops get tired and your tone falls apart the stop for a longer rest.
For the first week or two you might only be able to play a few minutes at a time but it does come back.

Have Fun!

Aleahdavis

Just wanted to let you all know that the Silver Prince came in a couple of days ago, and it is in unbelievable condition. It is ten times better than I thought it might be. There are just a few small dents in the horn, and a dent or two in the small pipe that sticks out near the valves, but the gold finish on the inside of the horn is perfect as is the rest of the brushed silver finish on the body. Better yet, I think the seller even had it serviced not long before he sold it! the valves are smooth, the tuning slides are smooth, and the case is origional. I am just so excited! The cork on the spit valve needs to be changed, but that is such a small matter that it doesn't even really deserve mention. The sound is nice and clear and sweet. (best way I can describe it...) and the serial number is very low, putting it made somewhere between 1910 and 1920. For the age, and the price I paid I can hardly believe what a fantastic little horn this is! I have been practicing and pleasantly surprised how quickly it is all coming back to me. Its actually been 15 years since I last seriously played, but I guess its kind of like riding a bike... something you never really forget how to do. I am waiting now for an old King tempo I bought to come in so I can have a horn to teach my husband to play on!
Thanks for your help!
Tana Davis