My Gear

I have been looking at these hand-made trumpets on-line for a couple of years but because they are pretty rare I had never seen one in person - until recently.  I tried it and was instantly hooked.  After ordering a used Lotus Universal horn on-line and trying that for a couple weeks I decided to order this new Lotus Classic which is the Universal model's brighter sounding cousin.

My current trumpet is a Lotus Classic configured with the nickel tuning slide, purchased new in 2026 for $6,000.

At the same time I got the itch to replace my main trumpet, I started wondering why I was still wrestling with my Yamaha flugelhorn.  It is what I would consider a middle of the road pro horn but it has a few annoying intonation quirks and could use some service so I thought maybe it's time to upgrade that too.  Since I like my Yamaha, I decided to stick with the brand and upgrade to a more refined model.

My current flugel is a Yamaha Custom, Wayne Bergeron model YFH-8315IIG, purchased new in 2026 for $3,963.

In 2024 I was performing a piece that required a C trumpet but I had no C trumpet so I asked my teacher if he had a recommendation on what to purchase.  He did.  In fact a colleague of his, Christopher Smith, principal trumpet player for the San Diego Symphony was looking to sell his "spare" C trumpet.  When I heard that, I knew it would be the best horn I could find so I didn't hesitate to purchase it from Chris.  Now I have a great C trumpet with a great heritage!

My C trumpet is a Yamaha Xeno Artist "New York" Series YTR9445NY, purchased used in 2024 (2019 Model) for $3,500 and previously owned by Christopher Smith, Principal trumpet with the San Diego Symphony.

I started off with a rented horn in the 5th grade and by 8th grade graduated to a Bach.  Later transition to a Yamaha when I joined the 39th Army Band.  But when I moved to California and transferred to the 562nd Air Force Band, I picked out a Schilke.  This is a great horn so when I retired in 2015, I bought one for my personal use.  Now, however it is the brightest horn in my collection so I use it when I need to play lead or carry over an ensemble or section.

It also acts as my backup trumpet - a Schilke B1, purchased new in 2018 for $3,300

This is the "creamiest" of all my trumpets.  Great if I needed to play a solo ballad that would call for the warmest sound I can muster - just short of moving to my fluegelhorn. 

This was my 1st foray into the Lotus line of trumpets but not quite bright enough to work in the wind ensembles I am playing in.

This is now my backup, backup trumpet - a Lotus Universal, configured with the  phosphor bronze tuning slide purchased used in 2026 for $4,000