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Vulcan Custom

The instrument ‘they’ said could never play!

The instrument ‘they’ said couldn’t be made!

The instrument ‘they’ now need to eat their words over.

Traditional wisdom has for eons said that the bends in the tube must be smooth to ensure the instrument is to play properly.

Intonation will be all messed up. Tuning will be all messed up. Tone will be all messed up.

For the last couple of hundred years the disciples have followed the words from the wise ones and accepted this to be an absolute truth. Well, being the trumpet makers prepared to take a walk outside the box, we at Taylor decided the only real way to put this ‘theory’ to the test was to make it, or break it! If we failed it could be relegated to the scrap bin, no one need ever know and the fable could remain untarnished for the next generation.

I am not going into lengthy explanations about the manufacturing and engineering techniques that had to be worked out (without the aid of CAD, apple or Microsoft!) in order to actually make it. Needless to say, one look at the instruments will tell you that normal trumpet making techniques will not be enough. The results, we think, are a triumphant combination of the metal sculptors art and good old fashioned craftsmanship.

Did it mess up all those important areas essential for a trumpet to work?

In a nutshell NO. Intonation is fine. Tuning is fine. Tonal quality is fine.

Something must be affected!! Yes, something was affected. I shall explain. The extreme angles seem to introduce a little extra resistance when playing hard and loud. Is that it? Yep!! And what if I happen to like a free blowing horn? Simple. All Vulcan trumpets are built as large bore instruments. This opens up the blow, counteracting the effect, just enough to feel as close to an ML as would make hardly any difference. And as the vast majority of trumpets sold in the world are based on an ML bore, I cannot see this as an issue!!

My next ‘problem’ was to prove the point (no pun intended!!). Good ol’ YouTube!! A call to the local studio. A call to my mate Davie, a local player (who plays a Taylor Chicago Custom trumpet anyway, so this wouldn’t freak him out to much!!). Meet up at the studio. Give Davie the horn. Put a microphone on a stand while Davie is spending 10 minutes warming up on the Vulcan. Give Davie some headphones, switch on the camera, cue the band. 2 takes, pick the best one. Add some stills to the start of the video. Next day post it on YouTube. Post thread on the Trumpet Herald. 2000 hits in the first week!! This is a huge number for a video of a relatively unknown trumpet player. See the video for yourself on THIS SITE and see for yourself. These horns work, and work fine.

So, are you brave enough to walk outside the box?

The Vulcan horns are no CGI mirage. This is a real instrument made by real people. They are tough enough to survive being used like any other pro horn. There are no plans to mass produce these. That would spoil the exclusivity of the whole thing. Every one will be slightly different from the last one and to a degree are customizable to meet specific customer requirements. We realize that only a handful of you are ever going to be brave enough to venture away from the safety zone. This is understandable, but we at Taylor Trumpets are ready and willing to help you take that step.

And there is more!

The pointed angles and custom bends need not stop at the Vulcan. Commissions can be taken to produce stunning ‘one of a kind’ instruments like the Beatles Sergeant Peppers Lonely Hearts Club band 40th Anniversary horn shown below.

The big difference between this one and the original is this one really does play (in normal trumpet tuning Bb). The original was made by Callichio in the 1970’s just for the film as a prop and did not play. The Taylor version lives in a Music Museum in Texas where members of the public (by arrangement) can actually play on it.

So they say Brass instruments cannot be made with right angles??!!
All corners must be round?? I dont think so...look at this!! you wont believe it...

Played by Davie Howes of Norfolk UK

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