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...