Finally A New Trumpet (Cont.)
Screen 5 of 5After returning to Bowling Green with the band on the following Sunday, I went to see the music dealer who had sold me the Holton trumpet. After we discussed the damage to the horn, which he said was "terrible," he agreed to send it back to the factory to get estimates on repair costs. I also asked him to find out what trade-in value it would have if not repaired. As I was leaving the music shop, I was surprised to see my old Carl Fisher trumpet in the glass case and marked, "Special sale price--$17.50." A lump came in my throat when I realized I didn't even have enough money to buy back the old horn.
The answer from the factory was most discouraging. The letter said briefly: "$125 to make it like new again, but we must warn you that damaged valves are rarely ever the same again. Once bent, they usually give trouble later, even after expert repair."
The only other paragraph in the letter merely added, "If you want us to keep the trumpet, we will pay you $25 cash for it, or we will give you $35 credit as a trade-in on any new instrument selling for $150 or more."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * There is no moral to this story and certainly no happy ending. Eventually-several years later-I purchased another new trumpet, this time one with a "coprion" bell made by the Conn Company. And until I had saved enough money to pay cash for it, I used second-hand trumpets which I did not own: one belonging to the school, another loaned to me by a friend, and a third one I rented for almost a year.
I did continue to play trumpet during my senior year in high school and on through my undergraduate and graduate years of study. During all that time, I played with all kinds of music groups: school, college and university bands and orchestras, as well as with amateur and professional dance bands. I used what I earned with these dance bands to help pay my tuition, room and board while working toward degrees at several institutions.
The trumpet (whether Fisher, Holton or Conn) has indeed been an important part of my life.
Chester C. Travelstead
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