What are the risks when buying a used trumpet?

Posted under: Articles, Student Trumpet

In the next few months, we expect that more band student parents are going to consider buying a used trumpet instead of a new one in order to save about 50% of the costs.  So what are the risks?  Not as great as you might think because mechanically the trumpet is pretty simple and the only moving parts are the valves and the tuning slides.  Can the valve pistons wear out like the pistons on a car engine?  Yes, but it is not very common in student level horns because students don’t have them long enough or play their trumpets the many hours required to cause any appreciable wear on valve pistons.  So here are the problems that one can encounter when buying a used trumpet:

  •  Lacquer wear or silver plate wear.
  •  Dents that look bad and can affect tone and intonation. They can keep a student from playing his best.
  •  Dirty or corroded valves, mouthpipe, and tubing causing valves to stick or move slow, poor tone and intonation
  • Valve pistons can be out of alignment. Trumpet plays stuffy or with poor tone and poor intonation. Another factor that can keep a student from playing correctly
  • Stuck tuning slides
  • Waterkey springs too weak and worn waterkey corks.
  • Loose braces and structural damage

    • All of these risks are removed when you buy a Reconditioned Used Trumpet from Crone Trumpet Repair and Sales. In addition, all reconditioned used trumpets sold come with a money back guarantee.