Wessex BBb Tornister!

[pgym]

Seems to me every trumpet of a given key looks like a copy of every other.

Hmm ...







And then there's this, this, and these..

[Michael Bush]

Your first picture is exactly the point. Almost every trumpet you're likely to run across at least in the US is shaped like that. Do trumpet players freak out when some manufacturer comes out with another one shaped like that?

When I look down the trumpet section in my band, from five feet away their ten or twelve different instruments are virtually identical. Obviously it would be a fun game for some to go down the score finding quirky exceptions for every instrument, but my point is valid on the whole.

[pgym]

Your first picture is exactly the point. Almost every trumpet you're likely to run across at least in the US is shaped like that. Do trumpet players freak out when some manufacturer comes out with another one shaped like that?

When I look down the trumpet section in my band, from five feet away their ten or twelve different instruments are virtually identical. Obviously it would be a fun game for some to go down the score finding quirky exceptions for every instrument, but my point is valid on the whole.

The fact that they appear virtually identical to many, if not most, non-trumpet players may say more about their powers of observation, their eye for detail, their lack of familiarity with the the various brands and models, and/or their lack of interest in the design choices that, if the forums on TrumpetMaster.com and TrumpetHerald.com are any indication, trumpeters get all worked up over.

Edwards, for example, makes three different main tuning slides shapes for the standard models which differ in profile and radius of curvature, plus a fourth, semi-elliptical slide for their Gen 3 models. Bach also makes at least two, possibly three. There are also differences in profile and radius of curvature of the bell stem, which is another can of worms; bell taper (ditto), bell diameter (ditto); and length and radius of the bell flare (ditto). To a casual or disinterested observer whose interest runs only as far as identification of the instrument type they very well may appear largely identical, but to a trained eye or an interested observer the differences are quite noticeable, to the degree that experienced players and repair techs can often identify at a glance the make and model of a given example.

[Michael Bush]

Sure, I agree.

Suppose most tubas looked generally like a 186 (for example). Every manufacturer's tuba of that shape would have little differences such as those you point out in trumpets, like those that actually exist between the Cerveny 686 and the Miraphone 186. But they would be indistinguishable from a few feet away except to those who really know. It strikes me as interesting that this is the situation that actually prevails in the trumpet world, and no one cares.

Of course, on this site no one cares about the Cerveny/Miraphone situation, so that's an exception. But you get what we have above in this thread when almost any two other tubas share that level of similarity.

[bigtubby]

Seems to me every trumpet of a given key looks like a copy of every other.

Hmm ...







And then there's this, this, and these..

... and it's Thomas and Schagerl for the win on this one.

[The Big Ben]

Seems to me every trumpet of a given key looks like a copy of every other. Same for violins. And flutes. And... etc. There are what, three ways french horns are wrapped?

In trumpets, something like a Selmer Balanced Action is noticeably different from anything Bach makes. Look close and you will see design differences between all musical instruments.