A Catalog of Rare Brass Instruments

Written By Tiffany Johns

There are a lot of rare brass instruments out there, and not a lot of information on where to buy them. There is information scattered around the various articles on this website, but this article is an attempt at a one-stop shop to see exactly what is out there to buy, and where you can buy it. This will focus mostly on new production instruments currently offered by instrument makers, but will also include any information about the current used market that I have on hand. If you know of another example of a rare brass instrument in current production, please let me know the details and I will add it to the catalog!

A Cornet and Trumpet

Aida Trumpet

Alto Valve Trombone

  • Schiller American Heritage F ($439), American Heritage Eb ($439) - I have not tried these for myself, but I have heard they are not very good.

  • Used: late-19th/early-20th century instruments, usually in terrible condition

Bass Flugelhorn (fiscorno)

Bass Valve Trombone

B-flat Cornet with 4 Valves

B-flat Trumpet with 4 Valves

Cimbasso

C Cornet

C Flugelhorn

Contrabass Trombone

Contrabass Trumpet

  • Lars Gerdt model GS in F with 4 valves, after Strucel (reportedly around $10,000)

  • Used: I have only ever seen one used contrabass trumpet for sale, a 3-valve Glier in E-flat. There are a few others floating around, like the ones made from parts by Carl Kleinsteuber. But unless you can afford the Gerdt, you’re better off having one custom made from parts, as the original instrument that George Strucel made for Roger Bobo was.

Corno da Caccia (modern)

  • Beck Venatio in Bb - €5690

  • Kromat (special order only)

  • Ricco Kühn C311 (Bb/A, €4800), C311/2 (Bb/A, €4800), C313 (C, €4800)

  • Stomvi Titan TP5500/5505/5510 - $5750-5995

  • Takao Nakagawa in Bb - €3450

  • Thein in Bb/A or C

  • Willenberg in Bb/A

  • Wolfram in Bb

  • Used: corni da caccia rarely show up used, so you’d be waiting awhile for something that will likely still be very expensive, such as this Thein at Pope Repair for $5995. F. Syhre used to make them in Bb, C, and D and they show up used once in a blue moon. The Takao Nakagawa instrument is a new continuation of the Syhre B-flat design.

Corno da Tirarsi (slide horn)

C Piccolo Trumpet

C Trumpet with 4 Valves

Double Tuba

G Trumpet/Soprano Bugle

E-flat Cornet with 4 Valves

E Trumpet

F Alto Trombone

Flugabone

  • Chinese King 1130 copy (Wessex FB24 ($955), Lake City 415) - I haven’t played one of these, so I don’t know how they play. But as far as I know, they are the only flugabones in current production.

  • Used: King 1130, Olds O-21, Reynolds Contempora TV-29, Blessing M-200, Bach 883/MT300, Kanstul 955, Dynasty M565/M566, Weril M567, DEG/Willson; buy the King to use in loud ensembles and for a shouty, punchy sound, buy the Olds for the most refined sound that sounds the closest to a slide trombone, and buy the Blessing to use in quiet jazz settings. But the King and all the Olds-pattern flugabones (Olds, Reynolds, Blessing, Bach) are all good instruments that work for everything you might need a flugabone for.

Large Bore Valve Trombone

Low Orchestral Trumpet

Marching Horn

  • John Packer JP2052 ($1110-1407) and other Chinese Yamaha YHR-302M clones (Schiller at $639)

  • Jupiter JHR1000M/MS Qualifier ($1874-2324)

  • King 1122 ($2399+) - discontinued but still in stock in some retailers. Plenty available used.

  • King KMP411/411S ($1879-2249) - a King marching mellopschillhone with a horn shank, so not really a true marching horn.

  • Otto 207 La Revolución - to my knowledge, the only professional/concert-quality bell-front horn on the market.

  • Schiller Field Series ($569) and other Chinese Holton MH-101 clones

  • Yamaha YHR-302M/MS - $2577-2796

  • Used: Kanstul 185/285/284, King 1122/Conn 134E, Blessing M-400, Holton MH100/101/102, Yamaha YHR-301M, King K-60, Dynasty II/III, Olds Ultratone, Whaley-Royce Concert Imperial, Getzen Titleist, etc.

Ophicleide

Piccolo & Sopranino Cornets

  • Stomvi Titan 4VE in F ($4495-4720), in G ($4495-4720), and in A ($4695-4920)

Piccolo Trombone

Quarter-Tone Flugelhorn

Quarter-Tone Trumpet

Saxhorn

Sopranino Trumpet (F and G - not G piccolo)

Soprano Trombone

  • Carol Brass CTB-1005-YSS-Bb-L - various prices depending on the retailer; $479 at Carol Brass of the Rockies and $900 at Austin Custom Brass. In my opinion, this is the cheap-but-still-good soprano to buy. It’s made by Carol Brass which makes good instruments, and it has tuning in the leadpipe rather than the inferior tuning in the bell receiver that the cheaper Chinese sopranos have.

  • Carol Brass CTB-2005-GLS-GL - a unique soprano trombone in G that uses a flugelhorn bell. I have yet to see this instrument for sale at a retailer, but hopefully it will be soon enough.

  • Helmut Voigt HV-D1

  • Miraphone 63 - $2535

  • Thein

  • Wessex PB455 Bb/F (special order only)

  • Countless cheap Chinese examples, any of which would be good if you just want one for fun. Out of all of them, I would recommend the Thomann SL-5 ($125). It is the same as all the others, easily the cheapest, and backed by Thomann’s excellent customer service and return policy. The Wessex PB453 ($410) is all gussied up with the curved slide brace, nickel slide, and what looks to be a red bell, so if you want something a little more interesting without spending a ton that’s the one to get (especially as Wessex does quality control on their horns).

  • Used: DEG (not good), Minick (very rare), early-20th century American examples (decent and usually not too expensive, sometimes with cornet shank), Kanstul 140/150 (rare and not cheap), Bach Model 10 (enormously rare), Jupiter 314 (cheap and basic, essentially the same as the Chinese sopranos but a bit better quality)

Superbone

  • Schagerl - $5999

  • Wessex PB930 ($975) and other Chinese Holton copies

  • Used: Holton TR395, always with a hefty collector tax

Wagner Tuba

Vienna Horn

Vienna Tuba

Tiffany Johns https://tiffanyjohns.com
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All the Brass Instruments I've Ever Owned