Giardinelli Trumpets
The new kids on the block can really play.
By Julien Gaultier
Giardinelli is hardly a new name. The company has been around for decades, serving musicians as a source for instruments and accessories through its famous New York music store and the catalogs it mails to teachers and musicians across the country. Since the late '40s, Giardinelli has also manufactured a line of brass mouthpieces that have earned fame and favor among professional musicians.
Giardinelli's Professional Trumpets What is new is the Giardinelli trumpet. It's surprising that Giardinelli didn't expand into trumpets years ago. The other trumpet companies make mouthpieces, so it seems only logical that a mouthpiece company would expand into making trumpets. Yet the first Giardinelli model made its debut less than a year ago.
The goal
Essentially what Giardinelli was looking for in its trumpet line was quality at a low price, which is a simple and noble idea, but not easy to achieve in the real world. Well-made instruments are expensive for real reasons—more costly materials and more handwork, for example. Since Giardinelli is both manufacturer and retailer, it can cut costs by eliminating the middleman, but this alone wouldn't achieve the low pricing Giardinelli intended.
The key was to find a place where high-quality instruments could be made for relatively lower cost. Instead of turning to Asia, where many instruments are produced these days, Giardinelli went to the Czech Republic and chose a factory in the town of Hradec Kralove that had been producing brass instruments since the 1840s. It had a pool of skilled craftsmen, and the factory had been modernized to incorporate state-of-the-art computer-controlled machine tools into its production processes. It could be streamlined and consistent, yet had the eyes and hands of experienced craftsmen to see that quality was maintained. Adding to all this was a Czech economy that made production costs low by world standards.
The process
After negotiating a partnering agreement and developing a working relationship with the Czechs, Giardinelli set about designing trumpets that would meet their standards. They worked with the Czechs to create prototypes, tested them with the help of numerous professional musicians, then returned to the drawing board for further refinements. They wanted traditional European-style instruments that performed substantially above their price ranges, yet could be sold for musician-friendly prices. The first new Giardinelli trumpets meet both of these goals admirably.
Currently three Giardinelli models have been introduced: the student GTR 312, an intermediate-to-pro GTR 512, and the master level GTR 812. Here I want to focus on the first two because they have the greatest relevancy to the greatest number of trumpeters.
Click to Enlarge The GTR 312
The GTR 312 is an exceptional student horn. Giardinelli especially wanted its student model to have real quality. They wanted it to be a horn that would help students grow, not hold them back. Too often new players end up with instruments they have to fight and overcome while they are learning, so they don't develop as fast and freely as they could. Giardinelli wanted a student horn that was easy to blow, with good tone and fast and sure valve action; and it had to be tough enough to take occasional rough handling. It also had to be affordable. The GTR 312 fulfills all these requirements beautifully. It is priced to make parents, pay-their-own-way students, and program directors smile.
The GTR 312 is simple but its quality is excellent. It lacks a second water key and does away with fancy cap buttons. But the key features are right: stainless steel pistons, nickel trim (including plated top and bottom caps, finger buttons, and water key), and a lacquer finish that gives it the look of a more expensive instrument. Another nice feature on all of the GTR trumpets is the artfully engraved bell. Engraving is cosmetic, but it is usually reserved for more expensive horns. I like it on the student model because it will encourage pride of ownership.
Click to Enlarge The GTR 512
This horn takes a big step up in features. It's a trumpet that advanced students will love and most professionals will find impressive. Giardinelli touts it as a professional-quality instrument at an intermediate price, and the GTR 512 lives up to this hype quite well. It builds upon the virtues of the student model with heavier bracing, a 1st slide saddle, two water keys, mother-of-pearl cap buttons, rose brass mouthpipe and slide crooks, and impeccable craftsmanship from top to bottom including perfectly hand-lapped stainless pistons.
Like the GTR 312 it is traditional in style, responsive and free-blowing in all registers, with a rich, full tone that is quite dark. And though it is a very capable instrument, it too is accessibly priced—about half of what many comparable instruments fetch. It is available in gold, silver, and black, and also in both silver and lacquer with a rose brass bell. The rose brass gives it a warmer and even richer tone which makes it an especially effective instrument for jazz or as a second instrument for use in certain symphonic contexts.
Both the GTR 312 and the GTR 512 are excellent horns, especially for their low prices. These are instruments that can give program directors real advantages: better quality, lower price, longer life with fewer repairs, and a noticeable improvement in the trumpet section's sound. And together these two horns can cover the full sweep of a serious trumpeter's career. Giardinelli trumpets may be the new kids on the block now, but it won't be long before they make a highly regarded name for themselves.
