Bb Trumpet
1978 Bach Stradivarius model 25, large bore
I don’t know much about the beginning of this horn’s life, as it is two years older than me, but I do know how we came to cross paths. This horn was what we called the “prostitute trumpet” at my high school, to be pulled out and honked on by whomever dropped their Jupiter on its bell last. This faithful little horn put up with a lot of abuse in that role and was beginning to show it by the time we found each other. When I was 16, right before the half-time show of the first football game of my junior year (and my first marching band solo), I turned around to pick up my silver Blessing to take it out on the field, only to find out that none of the valves moved! The hypothesis is that it was stepped on ever so slightly by one of the overzealous trombone players who sat behind me, crushing in the valve casings. Anyway, this put me in the market for a “new” old horn. I thank my high school band director every day that I have this horn. He offered to sell it to me for a price he knew I could afford, and I’m grateful that he had pity enough to do so. It is like an old friend, and when I play it, it feels more like an extension of my body than a hunk of metal. Recently I was able to give it a little TLC and had my favorite repairman replace the leadpipe (years of hard riding by gum-chomping, soda-belching high schoolers gave it a case of red rot) and fit it with custom finger rings that are set for my very own personal hands. This horn and I have been through high school marching, concert, jazz, and pep bands, college marching, concert, jazz, and pep bands, community band, big band, brass quintet, and even occasional actual paying gigs. It has traveled on many a bus to various states, outlasted four cars with whose trunks it was well acquainted, and we’ve been through three trumpet cases. It has earned its keep many, many times over, and I don’t expect ever to part with it. This horn is my heart when it comes to trumpets. To quote Full Metal Jacket, “There are many like it, but this one is mine.”
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