Trumpets: Yamaha Xeno or King Flair?

Hi!

If you are looking for a good trumpet for a lifelong hobby,I always suggest the Bach Strad. It's the "standard" awesome trumpet but for a reason; the valves are nice, the slides move, the bell is finely crafted (for good intonation), the sound is nice, the trumpet is responsive, and the instrument looks beautiful. Here is a link:

http://www.wwbw.com/Bach-180S37-Stradivarius-Serie...

As for the two trumpets you picked, if these are the instruments that you have to pick from, I'd pick the Xeno. It's a trusted brand that gives a good sound. I don't like the feel of King trumpets and I dislike the valves on both.

But the best idea for you is to go to a music store that stocks a lot of trumpets and just play them all. Buy the one you like the best, because everyone is different.

btw, I looked up the price on a pro King Flair, and you quoted a much cheaper option. Beware if an instrument is a lot cheaper than it should be... something could be wrong with it.

Get in touch with a trumpet player with a major symphony. Every few years they like a different trumpet. I'm out of the biz for a long time but remember when Conn made a student model C coronet that was so good all the Los Angeles pros bought it and redid the lead pipe to make it perfect.

As far as lifetime trumpet, that's iffy. If you have a lot of body acid it will eat out the insides of the horn in about 10 years. Best case scenario would be you will be faced with a valve job or a new horn.