B&S Challenger Elaboration trumpets

[McChambo]

I am trying out one of these trumpets at the moment. I'm wondering if anyone else has one or if anybody has tried one out?

I was told that a leading orchestral trumpet player in Scotland (formerly of Scottish Opera) highly recommends these trumpets.

Any thoughts?

[bertramtrumpet]

Just out of interest, who was the trumpet player that recommended them ?

[MoominDave]

They do good Alto Trombones, if that's the slightest bit of use.

[Okiedokie of Oz]

The challenger, in my experience, is a good rival for the Stradivarius.....depending on your preferences.

[robmassive]

Hey,
I've been playing the Elaboration series trumpet (Reversed leadpipe, larger bell) for about a year and am exceedingly happy with it. Intonation is near flawless except for the usual low C# and D. Sound is absolutely georgeous, smooth, rich, dynamic, with a real edge in the upper register. The timbre of this horn can be changed alot with different MPC's, for instance, I make it scream over a bigband using a GR 64Z (tiny, tiny piece) and it blended great in a bach section of an orchestra using the B&S 1 1/2 C that came with the horn (that MPC is actually alot bigger than a bach 1 1/2 C, and was almost unplayable for a long time... takes getting used to.)
This horn can be a monster, and a sparkle. Very versatile, good quality (valves are the best I've used - that's compared to yamaha, kanstul, EVEN GETZEN!!!)
Don't take my word for it, give it a go yourself...

[cygnet]

I have a B&S Challenger trumpet (reverse lead-pipe) and find it lovely to play with a smooth tone but the ability to really sing out (in tune). Following that I tried a B&S flugel - again a fantastic instrument to play but had some lacquer issues (possibly a bad batch went through. it was re-lacquered under warranty and no problems so far). As the founder member of Spinnaker Brass I was tasked with finding second hand instruments and found a B&S Challenger B flat baritone. Slightly flat in the higher registers, but otherwise a nice blow. Definitely worth trying out!

[francisalbert]

Just out of interest, who was the trumpet player that recommended them ?
Sorry, only just found this thread. It was Michael Bennett - I believe he's still at Scottish Opera.

[bigbandjazz]

Hi
i,ve been using the Elaboration along with 2 other trumpets in my section for a couple of years its an excellent big band trumpet takes a bit of getting used to but is not really meant for classical its a bit bright & course for that
its a great lead trumpet really cuts through & brilliant in function bands against the electric guys.