Etude ETR-100 Trumpet review, part 3

Well it's been a couple of weeks since I wrote about the Etude trumpet. On December 10th I played a four hour gig using this instrument. Bottom line: an excellent trumpet for the money. Having known people in the band instrument business for years, admitting that you bought a new trumpet for less than $400 was admitting that you had an affinity for buying junk. I'm sure there are some bargain brand imports that may be a crap-shoot, but the Etude is surprisingly good. I don't recommend that you replace your Bach Strad with it, but the Etude would definitely make starting out on trumpet much more affordable than what many of us may have been accustomed to.

One concern that many music dealers will express over such an instrument is that they probably won't work on it if it breaks. This instrument probably won't fall apart on its own. Now if your little 11 year-old drops it or gets the mouthpiece stuck, there are basic repairs that most any repairman can do, such as re-solder joints or roll out dents. I just don't see this instrument needing repairs due to pieces falling apart on their own, though.

Etude ETR-100 Trumpet review, part 2

I took the Etude trumpet to a choir concert the other night. I only had to play a couple of brief Christmas carols, so I thought it might be a low-pressure occasion to perform on it. My first observation was that the trumpet didn't blow as freely as my Benge or Blessing. Also, it seemed like the instrument didn't have much tuning slide to give to play in tune. I guess what I'm saying is that it was only pulled out about half as much as I normally pull out on my main axes. The no-name mouthpiece probably was a factor in how the trumpet felt that night.

Last night I pulled it out again and ran through some technical exercises. I have a Jet Tone Merian mouthpiece that I really like, so I gave that a spin with the Etude. I remember back in college when it seemed like everyone looked down their noses at the mere mention of Jet Tone. I thought Jet Tones were like pea-shooter, screech mouthpieces, but this Merian is not like that at all. I call it my "toilet bowl" because it looks like the inside of one. It is by no means is a screech mouthpiece; rather, it is very open feeling and fun to play on. In fact, I used it with my Blessing ML-1S at a recent symphonic band concert and loved how it felt and played.

So I decided to put the Jet Tone on my etude and practice a while. Once again, it felt real nice, the mechanics of the horn were excellent, plus the tone was very pleasant. I must say that this has been a fun experience because I have not been disappointed.

Tonight I have a gig and I'm definitely going to try it out. I really feel that this will give me a chance to get a true sense of the instrument's strengths and weaknesses. Let's see what happens!

Blowing off some steam with a trumpet review

So I was going to do this pretty large notation project for my wife, spent about six intense hours working on it, and it crashes! I have had similar software glitches before, but this one really got to me. Oh well, that's life. If that's the worst of my problems, I'm doing pretty good.

Yesterday UPS brought me a Christmas present, of sorts. Back on Black Friday I was surfing the net and came across a Chinese-made trumpet for sale at Musicians Friend. They were running a sale on it for $99 (regularly $149), plus I got an $8 promotional discount and free shipping. So, for $91 I got a brand-spankin' new trumpet delivered to my doorstep. The trumpet brand is Etude and the model is ETR-100. It is a very pretty instrument and seems to closely resemble a Chinese-made herald trumpet I bought at Sam Ash a couple of years ago. The only quirky thing is that the case it comes in does not close unless the main tuning slide on the trumpet is pushed all the way in.

All right, so let me see if I can come up with a long-term test ride of my new Etude...

When I got the trumpet out for the first time, the valves were already working fairly well and the 1st and 3rd valve slides moved freely. The finish of the instrument is seemingly outstanding and workmanship appears fine. It feels a touch on the light side, so I am assuming that the brass may be thinner than an experienced trumpet player would expect. If this were in the hands of an 11 year-old beginning band student, that thin metal might show its wear and tear quicker than other brands, but that's just my opinion.

The trumpet also came with a shiny, no-name mouthpiece that actually feels pretty good on my lips. I'm going to practice with this mouthpiece today, so I should pretty quickly be able to give a preliminary analysis on how it responds to my playing style.

I didn't have a lot of time to do extensive playing on my Etude yesterday, but the playing I did felt good. I have played many years on various Bach Strads, a Benge, and even a Blessing, and you know this Etude didn't feel half bad at all! The valves worked well, the instrument responded positively, and it felt comfortable to blow. The only thing I thought I noticed was that a second ledger line D sounded a little flat. Other than that, I was having fun playing my
"cheapie".

I want to report back on how this trumpet works out, so let's see if I do more than give this review more than just lip-service. A lot of complaints about Chinese instruments are that they fall apart or need maintenance and no parts are available. Hopefully I can avoid damaging this trumpet, because I'd really like to see if it has long-term staying power through normal use. I'm betting the lacquer might show some wear faster than other brands, but again, that's just guessing. Chinese stuff will surprise you how good it's getting.

OK, now I feel less stressed about my notation project that went up in smoke, plus I've got the first entry in my Etude ETR-100 trumpet review. Let's see how this goes...