Manchester Brass Large Bell Pocket Trumpet in Polished Lacquer

I bought this horn so I would have something smaller to keep in my living room or office for extra practice away from my practice room. Also, the video that Trent made was persuasive, and frankly it is a cool-looking instrument. Disclaimer: I an amateur, an old one at that (73) who has been making a bit of a come-back (snail-like pace) over that past couple of years (weekly lessons!). The horn plays very very well for me using a Curry 3C mp. I love that the bell is much closer to my head, for more immediate and accurate feedback. The valves, slides, and water keys all work perfectly and allow for the proper and timely draining of condensate. The finish is perfect. Also, Josh sent me a link to him playing it before it shipped! I thought that was a nice touch. Also, they threw in a Blow Dry Brass kit which I have been using religously. I really pushes out moisture (you can hear gurgling as the pad progresses through the horn) and I think the isopropyl alcohol speeds the drying process (I used to use it in chemistry lab to ensure there was no moisture in the glassware.) I'll review that elsewhere.

Great value for the cost for a pocket trumpet made in Taiwan (not China). I like the thumb slide for precise tuning. It took a bit of adjusting the tuning slides to get it “in-tune” which only took a few minutes. High quality fit and finish. I found it easy to play through all registers, just need to be conscious to not overblow else you lose the center. I’m one happy customer.

Nice playing horn. I have a cheaper pocket trumpet from China. This horn in comparison has much quieter and smoother valves. There is a thumb slide, that actually works. There's a thumb slide on my cheaper pocket trumpet, but good luck actually using it as intended. This Manchester comes with a little hard case, which I like. This has a quality sound to it. The only con, which is common with pocket trumpets, is it's a little tricky finding the right position to hold for the left hand. Intonation is about as good as you're going to get on a pocket trumpet. I don't have much high range chops, so it's important that the low notes sound good. This horn's bottom range sounds very good, much better than my cheaper pocket trumpet, plus the fact that you can use the thumb slide correctly helps. I like this horn very much. I would recommend. Thanks Josh.