Underrated trumpet wood

[Ranman]

Gorgeous Walnut Farmer.

[Toddmann]

Made one yesterday and finished it up this morning. It was really a nice piece of walnut but it blew up on the lathe about 2 inches from the drive side . Well I decided to make a shorty and it turned out great. Sound is there as well.


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[Meleagris gallopavo]

I often wonder about Honduras Rosewood (not the burl).  I have seen 2 Greg Gwaltney has made and 1 Irvin Whitt made about 2 years ago, but evidently it's not popular, especially for such a highly touted tonewood. 


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[Toddmann]

Made one yesterday and finished it up this morning. It was really a nice piece of walnut but it blew up on the lathe about 2 inches from the drive side . Well I decided to make a shorty and it turned out great. Sound is there as well.


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Here's a picture of it.


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[GregGwaltney]

I often wonder about Honduras Rosewood (not the burl).  I have seen 2 Greg Gwaltney has made and 1 Irvin Whitt made about 2 years ago, but evidently it's not popular, especially for such a highly touted tonewood. 


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I think Honduras Rosewood sounds awesome, if the guys who received those from me see this and speak out we will see what their thoughts are as well. When I built acoustic guitars, the few instruments I made with Honduras Rosewood sounded extremely good/resonant, I always thought it was one of the better rosewoods tonally.

[Spitten and drummen]

Went down this worm hole a long time ago. Talked to a handful of well known trumpet makers that have been turning them for many many years. All of their responses were the same. It's the internals and mouthpiece that makes the difference. I was told that the wood that is picked is more to please the appearance for the owner. The type has very little to do with the sound. To prove this to me , a call maker that's calls are extremely hard to come by had a trumpet he turned out of pine. It was so soft that you could put marks in it with your finger nail. He used his internals and a surgical plastic mp. He played that call and man it sounded really good. He then said that certainly the harder woods are best. It makes the call more vibrant and stands up to hard use vs softer stuff. From then on I completely trust what several of them told me about that. Who knows better than makers turning them for decades.

[Meleagris gallopavo]

Went down this worm hole a long time ago. Talked to a handful of well known trumpet makers that have been turning them for many many years. All of their responses were the same. It's the internals and mouthpiece that makes the difference. I was told that the wood that is picked is more to please the appearance for the owner. The type has very little to do with the sound. To prove this to me , a call maker that's calls are extremely hard to come by had a trumpet he turned out of pine. It was so soft that you could put marks in it with your finger nail. He used his internals and a surgical plastic mp. He played that call and man it sounded really good. He then said that certainly the harder woods are best. It makes the call more vibrant and stands up to hard use vs softer stuff. From then on I completely trust what several of them told me about that. Who knows better than makers turning them for decades.

I have been told the same as well, but have been told differently by other well-known trumpet makers too.  I really just like calls made out of different woods.  To me, the only way to tell a difference between woods is to compare a bunch of calls of different woods made by the same maker using the same internals.  Even then, individual pieces of wood of the same species will have different tonal qualities.  I do think wood species has a greater effect on much larger musical instruments.  A trumpet is so small there's really not much room for resonance to reach levels that can be detected between different woods.  This is just my opinion...


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[Toddmann]

Met 2 guys yesterday who wanted to get a call. I was certain they would get the ABW or the Katalox. They tried what I had. They ended up getting Holly and Osage. You just never know what someone's hear and eye is gonna want. This is way I like folks to play them instead of me sending them a video of me playing one that I would choose for me.

[Tarheel]

Went down this worm hole a long time ago. Talked to a handful of well known trumpet makers that have been turning them for many many years. All of their responses were the same. It's the internals and mouthpiece that makes the difference. I was told that the wood that is picked is more to please the appearance for the owner. The type has very little to do with the sound. To prove this to me , a call maker that's calls are extremely hard to come by had a trumpet he turned out of pine. It was so soft that you could put marks in it with your finger nail. He used his internals and a surgical plastic mp. He played that call and man it sounded really good. He then said that certainly the harder woods are best. It makes the call more vibrant and stands up to hard use vs softer stuff. From then on I completely trust what several of them told me about that. Who knows better than makers turning them for decades.

I have been told the same as well, but have been told differently by other well-known trumpet makers too.  I really just like calls made out of different woods.  To me, the only way to tell a difference between woods is to compare a bunch of calls of different woods made by the same maker using the same internals.  Even then, individual pieces of wood of the same species will have different tonal qualities.  I do think wood species has a greater effect on much larger musical instruments.  A trumpet is so small there's really not much room for resonance to reach levels that can be detected between different woods.  This is just my opinion...


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The purpose of the bell of a trumpet yelper is amplification. Years ago, especially Roanoke River style yelpers, the yelpers were individually hand-made by the turkey hunters themselves, and they used sharpened scissors, broken glass or knives to thin the bell of the calls. These calls were not turned on a lathe; and the purpose of thinning those bells down so thin was to enhance sound.  Today the wood in the bell section of trumpet yelpers is so thick and heavy there is limited sound enhancement possible discernable by the average human ear.....but it is measurable with instruments for measuring sound.  Seth Hamon could address this much better than me.........

[fordhunt]

As far as underrated wood for a trumpet imo would be Bocote . I've built many trumpet calls out of Bocote and every single one has been flat out players

[paboxcall]

As far as underrated wood for a trumpet imo would be Bocote . I've built many trumpet calls out of Bocote and every single one has been flat out players

Agree, and ash. Ash isn't the prettiest, but it sounds nice.

[Terry]

I know of a maker who used a pine 2x2 from a lumber store to turn a trumpet. I played it and it sounded great. Guarantee I could kill with it with the same efficiency as any other trumpet. I'd worry less about wood and more about the makers long standing reputation and your practice time.


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[Greg Massey]

I chase the tone and the sound myself regardless of the wood or the combo...

[Chris O]

I like the sound of any wood if made by someone that knows what they are doing. I pick woods that I like the looks of. Osage and desert ironwood are a couple of my favorites.

[runngun]

I'd say pretty much all the domestics are underrated.

I'm thinking black locust would be a great trumpet wood.

Had a piece to give to a maker at Unicoi, but the hand-off never got made.   

Maybe next year.

I just turned a pot call out of Black locust, with purple slate over glass!!! That "sound" I am looking for is in it!!!! Pretty tough to turn!!! Very fine yellow dust, looks like pollen .

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