so my kid has picked the trumpet as his school musical instrument.  

I see them on craigslist at prices all over the place. What do I look for when buying one?

When my dad bought mine, we went to the music store and went through the stack of $99 trumpets and he picked the one with the smoothest valves.

How old is your kid?  Is he a beginner?

Basic Common Sense:
1.  Make sure your local music store will repair the instrument.  There is some chinese junk that is not worth working on.
2.  Take the horn to your kids band director and ask if it's decent and recommended.

What to look for:
1.  Name brands can be good in this situation.  I.E. Bach, Yamaha, Schilke, etc all have student level horns.
2.  Check solerdings for craftsmanship, especially from the leadpipe to the valve cluster.
3.  Make sure there is decent compression in the valves.
4.  Try out several different trumpets in a "blind test".  Play them side by side and see which one feels/sounds better.
5.  Look for an even balance between resistance and openess.

KIDS ARE HARD ON INSTRUMENTS!!!  MAKE SURE YOUR LOCAL SHOP WILL REPAIR WHATEVER YOU BUY!!!!

Check out www.dallasmusic.org for some other tips.




I am a working musician with a MM degree.  My main instrument is the trumpet.  If you have any specific questions, please feel free to PM me.

son is 10 YO. no prev music experience at all

Played trumpet for 7 years through MS and HS...still have my Strad and Yamaha (Marching Trumpet) in the closet...I would reccomend getting a private instructor for him, my parents got on for me and it helped a good deal.  He should be good with a basic 5c or 7c mouthpiece till he starts playing more complex pieces.  Tell him goodluck from me, and to stick with it, learning an instrument can be difficult, but very rewarding...plus band pie can be some good pie

ETA since I didn't actually answer your question.  Defintely go through local music stores, usually a great resource for finding out exactly what your son needs for his age range.  It is also a good place to find private instructors.  Something you might want to look into getting him is a nice collapsible music stand for the house to practice and a foam mute...trumpets are loud in a house.  Get hima  piece of tupperware or dedicated bowl to empty the spit valve in...must have.

Stay away from the bent ones.  They sound like crap.

Just went through this with my 11 yo, starting trumpet this year.

There are several "rent to own" programs out there that will let you rent a trumpet for something like $20/month, and then at the end of the year, if you decide to buy, they apply your rent towards a purchase of a new trumpet and the one he used for the year goes back into the rental pool.  That's what we're doing.

If you buy, go with a Bach or a Yamaha.  Can be had between $800-$1000 and will last up through HS.

Bach Strat is overkill for a beginner, I recommend renting a Yamaha ...

I played brass (trombone, trumpet, euphonium, tuba) for 7 years and also played in the marching band before I gave up, definitely recommend you save a lot of money by renting first to see if your kid will stick to it or not.  More important than the instrument is getting lessons for your kid.

Let me know if you have more questions.

Good info here...my parents bought my Bach Stradivarius (Probably ran about $1200) for me when I was in the seventh or eighth grade...minus a few dents a dings, still a great investment (Aside that I don't play anymore...I could If I wanted to).  I ended up buying my marching trumpet off of a Sr who was graduating for like $75, a good cheap, beater Yamaha.

I don't know if he still does it, but my uncle used to test those Strad's at Bach.




ETA: Yep, he's still there.





 

Unless you're made of money, don't give a 10 YO a Back Strat.  That poor trumpet doesn't deserve that kind of treatment.  I would ask the Band director what he recommends.  My brother played on a lower end Bach and it played well for a beginner horn.  

I'm a sax player.  I love my Selmer!

I think we rented a trumpet for a year or two.  He stuck with it, but then the school switched him to french horn/mellophone because they needed another of those instruments in their bands.  Fortunately the school provides those instruments for the kids.  And...kids are rough on brass instruments.  Have noticed that.

dvo

The general rule for any tool, including both firearms and musical instruments, is that the greater the precision, the more skill required to use them well.  A professional-quality instrument is significantly more difficult to play than a student horn.  

So you don't need to worry about getting a "perfect" horn right away.  That's not to say you should buy a POS that will be difficult to learn on, but what's most important is that the horn is in good condition, it works as it should and gives the student the proper feedback - both in terms of feel and sound.  A garage sale special may very well be just fine if you get one that's in good condition.  The key here is to check it out before you buy it and make sure it's functional.  I would recommend looking at some of the Craigslist horns if they're not too far out of your way just to save a little money - which is better spent on lessons and an intermediate/midgrade horn once your son knows how to play a little bit.

If your son really wants to play, 10yo is actually a bit late.  You only have a few years before he's in high school and that's not a lot of time to learn what he needs to know.  It's quite possible, of course, but he can't be lazy about it.  He needs to practice at least 20 minutes, not including a proper warmup, Monday through Thursday.  Use a clock/timer.  He should also take a 30-minute lesson every two weeks.  The very first lesson should be more like an hour (or whatever his attention span is).  The teacher will help you out here.


Oh, and advice for dad:
Never yell at the kid for playing.  Yes, it's loud.  Yes, he's gonna suck at first.  But never ask him to stop (unless it's obviously late at night or something crazy like that).  It's a difficult skill to learn and he needs support.

I also didn't answer your question either ... best places to look are the local music / band instrument store or see if the school offers a rental program.  The important thing to remember about the trumpt is to see if all the valves and keys can be pressed freely and to see if the bell isn't smashed to bits (make sure its round).  Ugly is okay for a beginner.

Strad's are for spoiled kids or kids serious about pursuing music.

Good advice here.  Also, my parents never supported me and I started at 12 and made it as an area band member

I wouldn't say either is the case, there are better horns out there for the money.  People just usually don't know any better.

I started at 12 also (6th Grade).  We rented/purchased my trumpet for the local music dealer as someone earlier posted.  Great way to go in case he decides he doesn't like it.

I played a trombone for many years.

Actually started in 5th grade with private lessons.

I remember mine was a Conn and most brass students also played Conn's.

This thread brings back painful childhood memories of hot, itchy, black wool band uniforms in teh Tennessee summer, slipping and sliding in horse shit at the rear of parades, freezing to death during fall football games, terror at maybe screwing up the whole half time show on the field while forming big letters in the dark with lighted hats, wtf at being handed a mellophone instead of my Reynolds trumpet, music falling out of the lyre at the worst time, and many other flashes of horror like in a slasher movie.

This. Or cruise the thrift stores. BTW, I've seen plenty of clarinets in them... and of course, my daughter wanted to play trombone. Not that she stuck with it, or liked to practice.



Choir was more to her liking, anyways, and the equipment cost was negligible.



... so, my Bach Strad 43 still sits in the back of a closet, having not been played seriously since I graduated HS in the early 80's and then just a few times in the early 90's. Good thing that I bought it pre-dented (really only 1, but it was big and and bad) cheap, and had it repaired inexpensively, from a graduating senior.

I knew the Ar15 bretheren would come through with good advice as usual

thanks

Thems were the days, weren't they.

Conn

This one time at band camp.

Just go check out your local music store.   Man of them are barely able to keep up with the internet craze for things.   It would be very beneficial to support your local mom-and-pop shop if you can.




I do miss them a bit.

I have a like new just serviced Yamaha trumpet in the case.

If you are interested, email me.

I will make you a good deal.

I know we looked at lots of used ones, and finally bought a new one, because the used ones we saw were all  damaged.

Just a few months later, the school dropped the band program for a private one, that just cost too much to continue.

I've been playing for almost 10 years now. I'd say rent or buy him a cheap horn that still functions well, then if he dedicates himself to playing through at least high school buy him a Bach Stradivarius or something else high end. Go to a big store that has multiple high level horns and just let him play a few, see what he likes.

All of This.





I played for 7 or 8 years in middle and high school. I started on a Rent-to-own Bach coronet for 3 years, then got a Bach Strad model 37 and really enjoyed it. Just don't plan on using that for your marching trumpet because it'll get fucked up.





Start out cheap, see if he likes it. My beginning band trumpet class had 68 people in it... After about a month, half of the kids changed to other instruments.





You may also want to check and see if the school rents instruments.