Why I SWITCHED From Bach to Yamaha Trumpets 

I play 3 Bachs. The 37 silver, 72 raw brass and the ol 67 gold. I work hard and practice even harder. I feel in love with them. But I kind of want to try a AR Resonance horn

Great video, and one of the most well stated reasons for a switch that I’ve ever heard. Excellent job!

Spectacularly informative, well presented video!! Thank you!

Thanks for the interesting and balanced discussion on this subject. I don’t think I know a single horn player who hasn’t at some point found themselves at the crossroads of whether or not to change their gear. It can be difficult to make an objective choice when we are so subjectively wrapped up with our instruments.

Nice video, i can hear the sparkle of your new Yamaha and the tone/timbre is nice across the whole range. On some other trumpets the lower notes don’t have same tone or clarity

I bought my gen 3 Chicago Bb and C around 2020 and I very much relate to everything you’re saying. Something about the Chicagos called out to me over the NYs, but you can’t go wrong with either. You sound great Ryan! You actually just got me thinking about getting my C tweaked by Wayne 😀

Vintage Benge horns are also great. I play a 1980s LA era 3ML. It is lightweight, a great lead trumpet favored by Broadway pit musicians. Adams are also great choices from what I hear. There are so many great instruments to chose from! Glad you found your fit!

Great Video, Ryan! I had the exact same experience. I am now playing the Gen 3 Bb and C as well, plus the Piccolo. The Yamahas are very easy to play while still keeping the sound that I want. I can't wait to start multi-tracking with them to see the results in recordings!

I come by this channel by chance. I'm a retired man who has been learning to play the trumpet for a few years. I'm now ABRSM Grade 5. Anyway, my teacher uses a Bach 190, and so I started off with a second-hand Bach TR300 entry-level model. A year ago, one day, just before my lesson started, my teacher said to me that she had a used Yamaha YTR8345S that she had reserved for another student. But that student was a bit uncertain whether or not to buy it. My teacher asked if I wanted to try it. So, I ended up playing the 8345 for the whole lesson. I was really impressed by it, even though I was not a professional player. The other student ended up buying that 8345. It was almost a month before Christmas last year, and so I went to the store to try out the YTR8345S and its younger brother, the YTR 8335S. And when the store clerk said I could buy it with 12 month interest-free installments, I bought 8335S right away, and I have been enjoying every minute of it.

Reducing my collection . Choice between Selmer tt or Yamaha 8310. Kept the Selmer with no regrets.

I don't even play Trumpet (I was just watching out of boredom), but this actually ended up resonating with me a lot. Great video!

I own a Yamaha 634 Trumpet. Love it!

I went from a 2000’s Strad 43 to a Schilke S32HD. They Strad felt darker or warmer but the valves needed a lot of babysitting because they would stick. I still loved the sound and how it could easily find center. My Schilke is easier to play but I miss the darker tone. I’d like to try an HC1 with a copper bell

Great choice Ryan. I switch from Bach to Yamaha many years ago for the same reason. The sound is great and they are easier to play. I was playing on a Bach 72 bell which was great for playing in college Marching Band but as I got older and wasn't playing for hours per day, I found the Bach to be sort of stuffy and harder to play. I bought a used Xeno 8335 and sold my Bach for around the same price. I have a couple of other Bb horns (intermediate Eastman and an interesting horn called Andalucia which I was given by the company owner), but they don't compare to the Yamaha Xeno. I also have an older Jerry Callet C Trumpet (ebay find) but don't play it very often. Also...don't know if there is a big rivalry between the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Mobile Symphony Orchestra, but I went to UMass with Mike Huff who plays 2nd Trumpet for Mobile :)

Thanks for the insight into your instrument choices, Ryan! Out of curiosity can you share your mouthpiece setup and if you reflected on it at all during the process of testing the various horns you mentioned in the video?

ho comprato una yamaha semiprofessionale dopo aver suonato per molti anni una bach trumpet semi professionale subito ho avuto dei miglioramenti su intonazione e facilità di esecuzione, ma avevo difficoltà a suonare molto velocemente per lunghi periodo a causa della durezza dei pistoni , poi ho cambiato con una yamaha professionale e la differenza oltre che di prezzo si ritrova nella suonabilità resistenza volume e in poco meno di due anni ho migliorato e rivoluzionato il mio playn. le consiglio a molti come trombe, a me piace il suono di timofei e tu sei molto lontano dal suo standard si vede che suoni in sezione e non sei una tromba solista :)

Sorry, Gostaria de entende o seu vídeo mas não tem legenda para o meu idioma ?(

Stomvi Titan 4 valves! Incredible trumpets!

Wonderful video. I'm 75 years old, and have been seriously listening to and playing music since the mid-1950s. In the 7th grade I jumped into band and orchestra in a big way, but passed over the trumpet in favor of saxophone (I know, I know...) and violin. Sax to playin rock bands, and violin to play in orchestra (next to pretty girls). So over many decades of pro and semipro playing of sax and violin, including the 28th Army Band and teaching at various grade levels getting a degree in music at UC, and later laying down tracks in recording studios (including my own) I've developed-like you say in the video-a sense of what sound I want to hear in my head. Love what you say about that in your video. Wish I had a video like this to play for my students years ago! Anyway, about 20 years ago, in a moment of weakness, I picked up an old Yamaha Bb trumpet (mainly just to try to stay ahead of my grade school band students!) and sort of fell in love with the immediacy of playing it. But I simply never put in any real hours learning to play it. It was sort of a novelty, a hobby that I visited once or twice a year, maybe. Fast forward to earlier this year when I decided to really learn to play the trumpet, reading and all. So I managed to pick up a decent Bach Strad. Great! I practiced until I sounded fairly decent (in the midrange, anyway). I still have a recording studio, and enjoy playing into a good mic while wearing headphones, with a touch of good reverb, so I can really hear my tone from an audience prospective. And I found I actually liked the old Yamaha sound as well or better than the Bach some of the time. OK, it didn't slot as well, and wasn't nearly as even in volume throughout the scale, but I liked it, warts and all. So I bet the farm on purchasing a new Yamaha 8335LAII horn (after watching many reviews like this one) and found I can make it sound pretty much like the Bach but also get a wider range of sounds too (even those sounds I hear in my head!) Sorry for the long comment, but I really resonated with this video. And Ryan, your visual production value is fantastic too. Where did you learn to shoot and edit like that!

When I was playing a Gen 1 Yamaha Chicago model in school I felt like I spent a lot of energy trying to get the “Bach” ringing sound that was in my head. The instrument was easier to play but really didn’t come alive and respond with brilliance. I switched to a Bach Philly for a couple years and then a C190 229 around 2018 as a Bach Artist. The Philly was the complete opposite of the Yamaha I had and I was fighting so much with the horn (even with a pitch finder). The C190 was so much improved and the response was much better. However, the improvements made in these Gen 3 Yamahas is stunning and I’m switching back. So much brilliance, response, evenness, and great intonation. The trumpet is hard enough to play and, especially in an audition situation, it can free up a lot of physical and mental energy when you’re not fighting the horn and focusing on music.

Nice video as always, Ryan. Which bell design did you choose for your NY C trumpet, the YM or YS?

Honestly, I prefer Bach more. I had a Xeno but that one gave me so many valve issues. Strads haven't given me these issues. I have 2 LR models, a 37 bell and a 43 bell. Love them both.

You sound great on them, Ryan. Even more noticeable in person. And your old Bb is being put to good use. She is playing the heck out of it.

Good, frank, discussion.

I've had the pleasure of playing and trying out several professional level horns in all my years of playing trumpet, including several Bachs and Yamahas. Don't get me wrong, All the Bach models that I've tried are wonderful instruments with some even having some history behind them and they sound amazing. But I think the reason for choosing Yamaha over Bach is just simply that they always seem to treat me better. Broad spectrum sound, ease of playing (no matter what mouthpiece I use on it), and overall consistency and impeccable quality are just some of the reasons why I seem to prefer Yamaha over Bach.

I’m a pretty serious amateur who was playing a B&S DBX. I just got sick of feeling like I was fighting it. It almost seemed like it was setting traps for me.😂 I played lots of horns and traded it in on a Yamaha 5330 Mariachi 😳 I feel like it helps me improve every time I play it. I’m not a Mariachi, but this horn is just a great all around sound and it doesn’t fight me!

Do you feel the Yamaha gen 3 trumpets are any easier to transition from between trumpet and cornet? Which one blends better with the saxophones? What if it’s below 40 degrees?

I tried a xeno before I got my Bach ab190 but I just felt the xeno sounded more dull and not as special

Thanks for this video. How did you arrive at that specific Yamaha model? Did you consider/try the Chicago model at all?

You ever try the Harrelson, seems like a flexible to create the slotting you want... I don't know, any opinions about Harrelson

What if anything have you heard about the new Bach models? the 190 72 series? Release either earlier in the year or late last year.

What video and audio recording do you use?

horns are personal preferences, to suit a genre. I have a Bach 37 Bb silver, new since 1972. not so easy to play, but has a distinctive sound, so I keep it. would I buy Bach again today? doubtful. after trialling many horns from different brands, the choice is very much more complicated today than yesteryear. in '72, Yamaha was a joke; but today is a serious contender. Adams, Stomve, Schilke are great horns, too. but even a few of the lower priced brands, like Carol, can render excellent results from competent players. aesthetically, uncoated, unpolished brass renders the best sound, but such corrodes in my hands, so can't get away from coating or plating.

You should check out Thane trumpets made by Logan Thane Brown in Oregon. He used to build trumpets for Dave Monette. Way better than any mass produced trumpet like Bach, Yamaha, Shires, etc. Or check out the Classic model from Lotus trumpets or the Classica from AR Resonance. I don't know why people stick with these mass produced trumpets that hold them back and they have to fight against the instrument. The best would be Monette in my opinion

I don't play a Yamaha trumpet, but I do play a Yamaha mouthpiece (14B4).

I want to like Yamahas, but I can't get one with a 43 bell, which is the only bell I want to play.

Made the same switch many years ago, for pretty much the same reason. Imperceptible sound quality differences, easier to play, lock in better.

Why not play a Monette for ten times the price and twice the weight? 😊

From now on when I practice I am going to say I am doing those "special lip bend" exercises, because that is pretty much how I sound whenever I am playing. Sad face.

"Play through the sound in your head." A Bill Adam classic.

Or, you could play a Powell and have the ease of playing with Yamaha, with the malleability of the Bach. ;)

I don’t play either. There’s so many great horns out there that aren’t ’factory’ built, it’s a shame to narrow the field of choices so drastically. For example, based on what I have read from reputable sources, Schilke’s take somewhere between 80 and 90 hours to build as compared to Bach’s, which are finished in about 10 hours. You get what you pay for. For what it’s worth, I play a Scodwell.

Eastman >>>

There is a reason why people harken back to the “famous Bach sound” you never hear that about yamaha. It’s not the Legendary “Yamaha” Chicago C’s played by Bud Herseth and the CSO. Plus I give the Japanese all my money when it comes to anime/game figure stuff and Honda Type R Spoon and Mugen parts. Got to give my fellow Mercians some loving too. 😂

Let´s wait for the red rot at the tuning slide!! Never again a Yamaha..

Sorry... I've got 4 Bachs... including my 1965 Strad.

Your Bach playing sounded better tbh

Bach is the Gibson of brass instruments. You can find some great stuff, for a price, but you may wind up paying$ 3k and get a bit of a stinker, and they're overall overrated. There are other companies making comparable, if not better instruments (and more consistent) at a better price