Im new to the trumpet world. What does everyone prefer for the wood type and why? Doesnt have to be in depth, just a comment or 2 on the type, look and sound. Curious on personal favorites.
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Osage: classic, domestic wood and it darkens beautifully over time. Great sound.
African blackwood: turns beautifully, just a gorgeous wood, and super hard so it has a bright sound.
Lignum vitae: same as ABW in that it's gorgeous and super hard so it plays sharp and bright.
Snakewood: also gorgeous and super hard like the other exotics mentioned. My only gripe is that it's bad to split. Some folks will tell you it ain't a matter of if snakewood will split but when. Regardless it makes gorgeous trumpets.
Anyhow, those are my favorite four.
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Cocobolo also makes nice one ...
I'm a Desert Ironwood fan.
Osage fan also. Don't discount synthetics, some materials have great tone.
Not wood but Delrin makes a great trumpet.
Delrin- sounds are crisp and the material is almost indestructible.
My top 5 in order
Ironwood
Cocus
Cocobola
Lignum
Rosewood- the old stuff from Brazil.
Honorable mention -
Osage
Olive wood
ABW
Bocote
Mesquite
Quote from: nitro on June 14, 2022, 07:05:35 PM
My top 5 in order
Ironwood
Cocus
Cocobola
Lignum
Rosewood- the old stuff from Brazil.
Honorable mention -
Osage
Olive wood
ABW
Bocote
Mesquite
Be hard to top this list for sure.
I like grainy woods so ironwood is great because it varies in looks so much but never disappoints. Also like bocote and burl woods
Depends on how well the maker made the call. I've seen some beautiful snakewood trumpets that sound terrible. You have to run the trumpet and see what works for you. Don't worry so much about the wood. Worry about the sound coming out of it.
Don't worry about what Mat. a trumpet is made of, its a tool, and any tool made is only as the person using it. The sound is coming from the players lips not the call. I have a hand full of friends that can make a good trumpet, made from any Mat. sound as good as you will ever hear. What its made of is not going to make it valuable down the road, it the name on it.One exception to that, I know there is one solid gold call out there, but the 3 most expensive calls out there 2 are cocobolo, 1 river cane, all with hen wing bone mouth pieces.
I will agree the sound comes from the draw of the air and lips. BUT the woods or material that are used in a trumpet does affect the tone of the call. Same with boxes, pot calls , push pins, tube calls and other type calls. Internals, rail thickness, radius, dimensions all of this and more play a part in perfecting average call to a great call. That's what separates all builders in making calls, it's called PERFECTION ... IMO... So again TONE is what we are looking for in wanting that call and different types of woods or material play a factory in making those TONES, if not all calls would sound the same ... IMO .... Learning to play a call is also learning the feel of the call and listening to calls and let it tell you how it wants to be played. It's called Perfection. So you have to learn from whatever call your playing in how to make Tones, sounds, ease of play all these factors play a part. Sure anything at a given time regardless of sound will make a gobbler gobble.. it's just his day to die ...
Quote from: Bedge7767 on June 14, 2022, 03:24:21 PM
I'm a Desert Ironwood fan.
:agreed: Me too. I'd round it out with bocote and osage.
A couple things I believe most of us can agree on, any wood in the right hands will make a good yelper. The best wood in inexperienced hands will make a crappy yelper. Wood density does affect sound, albeit slightly. Tighter grains like the exotics tend to carry more pop than softer domestics. But, again, the difference is slight. At the end of the day go with a good maker and choose the wood that YOU love the looks of, and that's the major thing. All of us have very different tastes. Some folks love highly figured woods. Some folks love the colors of wood like cocobola. I don't. I like cleaner looks. I like darker woods. I hate reddish tones. At the end of the day if you were to get an X trumpet, say, from Anthony Ellis in some highly figured burl wood and you played my osage or lignum X trumpets and all mouthpieces were the same, I doubt you'd hear much difference. It'd be subtle. But every single one of them would sound great. Pick the wood you find most beautiful. Kill them with something pretty. That's what's fun about different wood choices, being able to get something really personalized that you love and enjoy carrying.
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Great information guys. Appreciate all the remarks.
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Well, by no means do I profess to be any kind of expert but I have two trumpet calls. One is out of Cocus wood, the other Brazilian cherry. They both sound good...at least as far as I'm capable of running them. Being an retired engineer, to my way of thinking, in order to compare woods you'd have to have several trumpets made to the EXACT same dimensions of various woods in order to compare the sound. Perhaps some of you makers have done so.
PS...prior to posting this I had to look up just what wood was used for my two calls!
I always end up liking the look of a call more if it turns out to be particularly field effective. More than once, I've ordered a call and been a little disappointed in the look of it but found myself looking at it through new eyes after realizing it's efficacy on the only ears that matter.
But I always say, in the same vein as what Chester was saying, don't underestimate the importance of aesthetics. Looks are not shallow or inconsequential and you should want a call that you find beautiful. After all, you're probably gonna be looking at it, holding it and practicing with it much more than actually hunting with it.
Go with a wood you like the look of, a good maker will craft it to work tonally.