Well, I’ve had my Jin Bao bass trumpet from Steve Ferguson’s store for a few days now, and have toyed around with it enough that I feel I can give a highly personal appraisal of it at this point.

While I am certainly no bass trumpet expert (who is, for goodness sake!) I have played in performance situations a Bach, a Conn, a Getzen, and a Lidl, so I do have some frame of reference.

I really don’t know what kind of shape these come in to Ferguson Music; I do know that as a matter of course, Steve packs them off to Robb Stewart’s repair shop as soon as they arrive.

As Steve says on his website, TOSS the mouthpiece that comes with it. It has no brand or size on it, but it looks like a Wick 4BS (roughly equivalent to a Bach 4G) which I would categorize as a large-bore tenor mouthpiece. Of course, the one that comes with the Jin Bao is a small shank, but it’s a larger cup and rim.

I tried it with a Bach 12C and 6.5AL, a Schilke Dorsey mouthpiece (I think that’s a 42) a Stork T1 and T2, Greg Black 1.25G, 2G, 3C, and 3G and two of my custom setups from Doug Elliot (larger rims, shallow cups). Also, a couple of my vintage mouthpieces, one if which simply reads “Innes” and the other “Conn-Innes,” both dating from the 20s.

General observation: Use as small a mouthpiece as you can. A larger rim or deeper cup immediately leads to HEINOUS intonation problems and paucity of tone. With larger ‘pieces, it doesn’t slot at all and unless you really do a Valsalva maneuver, the timbre is airy and lackluster. Of course, that’s partially true of ALL bass trumpets–which really has to be the comparison control here. Bass trumpets are strange creatures, period, so please note I’m comparing this fellow to the “best” bass trumpet I ever played, an older Bach piston several years ago.

I started with simple long tones and scalar exercises. Using the smaller range of ‘pieces (the ones that worked best for me were the Dorsey, humorously enough, and the Black 2G and 3C) and really keeping my embouchure firm and consistent, I got a nice, pointed trumpetesque sound from the Eb on the staff up to the C an octave and two-thirds above that. Here’s something I noticed, though–with my Edwards bass and my new 3B+, it usually feels like all I have to do is hold the horn in front of me and blow, and voila, a nice timbre. (Author’s note: I am a firm, passionate believer in making the hardware work for you, not against you. That’s why I play an Edwards bass and a 3B+, not a 2B, not a 3B; I discovered during trials when I was purchasing them both that they “fit” me well, and that even with a cold, stopped up nose, and a headache, I sounded decent on those instruments) By contrast, playing the Jin Bao–and in my case, the Getzen bass trumpet as well–it’s a constant battle to keep the sound right. To contrast, the Bach in my experience is a much “friendlier” horn. With the JB and the Getzen, I feel as if I need to keep a constant monitoring process aimed at my breathing, my embouchure and mouthpiece positioning. I can’t remember the last time I had to concentrate that hard *just* to get a good sound. Very humbling!

However, with the JB, as long as I “kept mah mouth right,” as dad would say, the sound was passable, and from mf up to ff, very impressive! MUCH harder to get a good sound at the softer volumes for me.

I’ve noticed several comments about Chinese horn tuning problems and bass trumpet tuning problems, generally. As anyone who has had to play a bass trumpet for any amount of time will tell you, possibly while screaming, tuning is a problem on these instruments, period. The kicker is to get one that has as few inherent acoustic problems as possible. When using the “correct” mouthpiece, I didn’t notice any real clunkers, save with all three valves depressed, which was then horrible–but it’s horrible on most horns with 1-2-3 down. It’s lippable, but unless you’re into gut-turning alternate fingerings, I can’t imagine using 1-2-3 in the upper register on a bass trumpet, anyway. Generally, the horn is in tune with itself and there’s enough slide on the three valve slides to maneuver the tuning around. I checked all notes from the Eb to the C noted above and they’re all within tolerances given the native problems with any air column brass instrument. No worse than my Bach cornet, in other words.

As far as mechanical work goes–and I don’t know how much of this is Jin Bao and how much is Jin Stewart–it was quite good. Solid feel, well-soldered, no blemishes or solder-drops, and I was actually pretty impressed with the short-throw rotary valves. I’d gotten out of the hang of holding those darn side-saddle European-style horns, but once I got that feel back, I was very pleased with the mechanics. Valves are quick and solid and lie well under the hand.

Moving on to orchestral excerpts (yes, of COURSE I played the Valkyries on it!) all I can add is that, as stated above, *I* had to continue to pay close attention to my “set” as I played it. After three sessions with it, this became somewhat easier, but the fact of the matter is that a trumpet ethos is NOT the same as a trombone ethos; they are very different instruments. Approach the bass trumpet like a marching trombone and you will be mightily disappointed. I was happily surprised at the response of the horn in playing a few excerpts, some Rochut and some Arbans, although I would NOT describe the instrument as “nimble” in any respect.

So, in conclusion, it is my opinion that the Jin Bao/Robb Stewart horn that *I* got gets a good, solid C+. Not great, but not awful. (By contrast, I give a Conn Director trombone a B and a King Sonorous a B+, and a Blessing B88 a B-) The biggest beef I have with it is that compared to other bass trumpets I have played I feel as if I have to work inordinately hard to get a characteristic sound. The JB is also VERY VERY sensitive to mouthpiece size.

Would I recommend it to a professional? Christ, no. Would I use it if I got a slap-shot last minute symphony gig with a regional group? Sure. However, if I knew 2 months in advance that I’d be doing the gig, I’d find a Bach or a Conn piston horn, myself. It’s worth the $450 bucks Ferguson is charging for it, anyway, so I’m happy. In a sick way, I rather enjoy playing it because it FORCES me to pay REALLY close attention to brass fundamentals to get a good sound–and the sound, when thus approached on the Jin Bao, IS a decent timbre.

My two shillings.