A number of band members have thought of buying an instrument for themselves, and the following advice is provided to help. It is based on my experience in buying instruments for myself and for the band. Of course, I'm more than happy to talk to anyone about instruments.

It is important to be careful, because there are some truly bad instruments to be found. However, equally there are some very good instruments, and at least in the case of the smaller brass instruments the best professional instruments are very cheap compared with woodwind or strings.
Where to buy from?
Your choice – a music shop or eBay are the most likely possibilities. If you buy from a music shop you will pay more but you might feel more secure. If you buy from eBay, there is a risk because you don’t necessarily have the same after-sales support, but you will get better price.

I have bought both of my 2 current instruments from eBay: a Schilke trumpet, which is much better than I can do justice to, but was basically new and half price; and a Besson Sovereign cornet which was probably 10 years old and about 1/3 of the retail price. I am delighted with both.

Some basics
There are 2 basic ways in which a brass instrument can be useless: poor valves and bad tuning. Sticky valves that don’t free up with a good wash in soapy water followed by a little valve oil (or spittle) are just going to put you off playing. An old (ie 50 years of continuous use) instrument will have worn valves that leak precious quantities of sound. Maybe less obvious, but just as off-putting, if the instrument isn’t well designed, then it will be very hard to play in tune. If the taper on the tubing and the shape of the bell are wrong, then there is no way to bring such an instrument into tune. I played a cheap (£50 brand new) cornet in the summer (in a very good brass shop) and couldn’t play a scale that was in tune. The list below of makes should have good valves.

Less important to a beginner, but an important consideration for a more advanced player is the tone of the instrument. Brass band instruments are designed to blend well and be relatively gentle on the ear. There are no trumpets in a brass band because they are designed for the opposite effect. A good student or intermediate instrument will allow the player to produce a nice range of tones (dark and bright).

Given an instrument that works okay, the most important factor in all of this is the player; next most important is the mouthpiece and last the instrument. The best advice is to get a reasonable instrument and a good mouthpiece.

My preference is for second-hand instruments that have been well looked after and are not too old. An old instrument (more than 60 or 70 years) will come from an era when brass bands (but not military bands, dance bands or orchestras) played in “sharp pitch” or “high pitch” – a quarter of a tone higher than today. Instruments from that time will have been built to play at this higher pitch. For use today they can be converted by the addition of extra lengths of tube to all the slides. However, this is isn’t terribly satisfactory and I would say to avoid instruments from this era.

Whether you go for lacquer (so that the instrument looks like brass in colour) or silver plate is an aesthetic choice.

Buying from eBay
Here are the things I would look for so I felt confident buying from eBay.

Does the person selling know about brass instruments? Are they a music business with a brass department? – don’t buy from a guitar shop. Or are they a player selling their own or someone else’s instrument? In either case, they should know what is what. I would be very wary of buying from someone who says that they don’t know anything about brass instruments.

What do they say about the instrument? What do the pictures show you? In both of my own instruments, the instrument was shown in pieces: all the valves out and all the slides pulled free – that way I could see that all the moving parts did move. If they mention any defect to valves (or slide for a trombone) be very wary. Minor blemishes are okay – scratches to lacquer or plating are irrelevant. Minor “dings” (word usually used to describe a dent) are ok. Creases in a bell could be okay also, but they might point to an instrument that had been treated roughly.

With eBay, there are some obvious tactics. Decide what your budget is and stick to it – sometimes things go for silly prices because people get wrapped up in bidding. Be prepared to wait until what you are looking for comes up. It’s important to know what you might expect to pay just from a music shop. Look at Norman’s (google it) – they are often the lowest price on the net for new instruments.

Suggestions about makes and models
These are some general guidelines. What you get depends on your budget.

Yamaha instruments are a very safe purchase. The range goes from student instruments right up to expensive professional level. If you want to hear what a Yamaha sounds like in the hands of players who know what the are doing, I’ll lend you a Canadian Brass CD.

New Besson instruments are currently very good. They and Boosey and Hawkes have been the mainstay of the brass band world for over a century. (The companies merged a few decades ago). They have a very similar range to Yamaha. A Besson Sovereign in reasonable order will be a very good instrument. Similarly a Boosey and Hawkes Imperial (provided it’s not too old). These two have been the top line for 60 years. Interestingly, the Imperials were developed in London in the late 40s and early 50s. A man called Phil Parker was principal trumpet in the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. He spent some years putting prototype Imperials through their paces in the opera. So, if you go and listen to one of those legendary recordings of Maria Callas and co from Covent Garden, you are also hearing Phil Parker finding out what are the weaknesses in B&H Imperial trumpets.

Boosey and Hawkes Regent instruments are old but also worth considering.

Blessing made good student instruments that often appear on eBay for very reasonable prices.

Beyond these, there are several ranges of cheap instruments. I would advise against these, in general, although some may be OK. I would definitely advise against a brand that only makes and sells beginners instruments.

Don’t forget you can do a Google search to see what people have to say about a particular brand or model. I regularly use www.4barsrest.com to see reviews or discussions. Before we bought the cornets, I found a review on 4barsrest (done by a cornet player) that compared our Bessons with 2 rival makes.

At the moment, there is a new brand called Virtuosi that is attracting some attention. This manufacturer sells a full range from expensive pro-level right down to really rather cheap student models. In marketing terms, they’re not going to sell cheap beginners and quality professional instruments with the same name unless they’re all quite good. We might try and get a loan of one to see what’s what. Till then, it’s hard to recommend.

Roger Watt