The other day one of the Moderators over on the Woodwind Forum saw this interesting oddity on eBay: a Pierret trumpet.
Source: giacas71 on eBay.com
If you think this is odd, you’re not alone. Ever since I started researching vintage saxophones—way back in 1998—I have come to believe that Pierret was a saxophone-only manufacturer. Furthermore, until this Pierret-branded trumpet popped up, I had never seen any instrument other than saxophones with the Pierret name on it.
Unfortunately the seller could shed no light into this enigma. This is what he wrote about this Pierret trumpet:
VENDO UNA RARA TROMBA SEMIPROFESSIONALE PIERRET PARIS IN SIb E DO (BASTA METTERE O TOGLIERE LA POMPA AUSILIARIA
COMPRESA E VISIBILE NELLA TERZA FOTO), VENDUTA CON UN BELLISSIMO BOCCHINO SEMINUOVO SELMER PARIS 3S, MADE IN
FRANCE. LA TROMBA E’ STATA APPENA REVISIONATA E CONTROLLATA DA RIPARATORE: TUTTE LE POMPE SONO PERFETTAMENTE
FUNZIONANTI, COMPRESSIONE OTTIMA ED E’ E’ PRONTA ALL’USO; CUSTODIA COMPRESA.
POSSIBILITA’ DI SCONTO DEL 10%…..MILLE GRAZIE
ENGLISH: PIERRET PARIS Bb/C TRUMPET , READY TO PLAY; INCLUDED HARD CASE AND SELMER PARIS 3S MOUTHPIECE. THANKS
Google Translate says:
I AM SELLING A RARE TRUMPET IN PARIS SEMIPROFESSIONAL PIERRET Bb And DO (OR JUST PUT OFF THE PUMP INCLUDING AUXILIARY
AND VISIBLE IN THE THIRD PHOTO), SOLD WITH A BEAUTIFUL SEMINUOVO MOUTHPIECE SELMER PARIS 3S, MADE IN FRANCE. THE
TRUMPET AND ‘JUST BEEN REBUILT AND CONTROLLED BY REPAIR: ALL PUMPS ARE PERFECTLY WORKING, GOOD COMPRESSION AND’
AND ‘READY; CASE INCLUDED. POSSIBILITY ‘OF 10% DISCOUNT ….. THANK YOU SO MUCH
See what I mean? There’s no help about the history of the brand vis-à-vis trumpets, or any other instruments.
If you’re a trumpet player who happens to land on my site, perhaps the photos will help you ID this horn. Here are the remainder of the photos of this Pierret trumpet.
If you can shed any light onto the origins of this Pierret trumpet, please drop me a note. Thanks!
Originally when I saw this horn, I came up with 3 possible explanations for its existence:
- This is a one-off. Perhaps Pierret was just experimenting with other instruments made of brass, to see if it was something that they might want to/or could do.
- This is a stencil horn. Maybe Pierret just ordered some trumpets, and/or other instruments, from other manufacturers to see if they could sell them. Or perhaps they had an order to outfit a military band or school with all its instruments, so they ordered a full band of instruments from other manufacturers.
- It’s a fake. Although why anyone would engrave a fake Pierret trumpet, when Pierret was known to make only saxophones, seems rather stupid to me. But hey, not all fraudsters are brilliant. (This seems like the least likely explanation in my mind.)
Whatever it is, or wherever it really came from, there’s a chance that we’ll likely never know for sure. Until such a time an answer for the origins of this Pierret Trumpet are found, it will be a footnote on the Pierret page of my website.
If you are interested in acquiring this Pierret trumpet for your very own, be aware that it is in Italy. The auction ends on July 22. The Buy It Now price is listed as €419.00, which xe.com currently estimates to be $566.32.
That horn looks a lot like a Selmer Bb/C Radial I saw once, except for the non-radial valve block. I know…not much help. Now, I’ve got a question – Did the American Selmer company ever build a trumpet marked “Selmer U S (no Bundy, Bach, or any other name)? I’ve researched until my eyes crossed with no results. It has decent engraving on the bell, but has strange “S” braces (apparently stands for “Selmer”) that look like those hooks you’d use to attach a swingset chain with (Ha!). I’ll try to attach a picture with a K-Mod on the left, Selmer U S on the right. Thanks! – Don
Hi Don
Is that S-brace comparable to the S-brace of the Selmer signet saxophone made by Buescher?
Update: I don’t know what happened to this Pierret trumpet, but after a couple of sales attempts on eBay, it seems to have fallen off the radar screen unsold.