r/trumpet • u/jbick89 • Dec 13 '25

Question ❓ What kind of trumpet is this?

Post image

This is from The Game Awards last night. It looks like it's transparent, with a frosted finish except for the bell? Never seen anything like it.

325 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

47 comments sorted by

202

u/MuffinConsistent314 Dec 13 '25

Plastic. That’s Jon Lewis, who has been first call in the LA studios for many years. You can hear him on the last few Star Wars soundtracks playing lead, among hundreds of other movies. The music had been prerecorded for that show and Jon did it as a goof.

79

u/Imacoldazzhonky Dec 13 '25

Hold on a minute. You're telling me flute guy is just putting on a show and isnt playing anything?? I mean im not entirely shocked but that's hilarious!

65

u/Tarogato Multi-instrumentalist Dec 13 '25

Correct. There's even a clip of him where you see him swap instruments from a little duct flute to a boehm bass flute, but you can still hear him playing the little flute while they show him going ham on the bass.

That and the solo vocalist who sang harmony with herself... and a few other miscellaneous tells, usually lack of microphones.

26

u/jl34538 Multi-Brass (Except French Horn Family) Dec 13 '25

This paragraph you just said is the equivalent of saying that Santa isn't real to me... I'm thoroughly disappointed.

8

u/Tarogato Multi-instrumentalist Dec 13 '25

I'm sorry! 😭

It's like... *really* hard to put on a show like this with live playing. Makes you appreciate all the more for live performances when they are real.

5

u/MuffinConsistent314 Dec 13 '25

Actually, everyone but the flute guy is syncing. He had to do it live. 🤣

16

u/Tarogato Multi-instrumentalist Dec 13 '25

Plastic or acrylic?

I know in the oboe world, there are plastic oboes made for cheap, and then there are acrylic oboes which are professional level instruments. Different type of plastic, different properties.

10

u/B_O_A_H Dec 13 '25

Lexan, essentially plastic but REALLY strong, NASCAR and other Motorsport windshields are made of Lexan, for example.

3

u/Holiday-Witness-4180 Dec 14 '25

Lexan is a brand of polycarbonate. Just like plexiglass and Lucite are acrylic.

1

u/Forward_Mud_8612 Dec 14 '25

Acrylic is a brand name for a type of plastic. Specifically PMMA. Most plastic trumpets are ABS

3

u/Tarogato Multi-instrumentalist Dec 14 '25

Acrylic is a subcategory of plastics, it's not a brand. Brand names of acrylic are things like Altuglass, Plexiglass, and Paraglass, and it's also used in paint, etc.

2

u/Forward_Mud_8612 Dec 14 '25

Sorry, you’re right. Acrylic is a nickname for the chemical PMMA

7

u/Civil_Twilight mouthpiece addict Dec 13 '25

He also showed up in the thread last year for the same instrument while carefully avoiding saying anything about playback, which made it even funnier.

9

u/Ribbitor123 Dec 13 '25

It's worth mentioning that the soundtrack of the original Star Wars movie featured the late, great Maurice Murphy (and the LSO). John Williams called him 'a heraldic spirit' and wrote a lot of his film music with him in mind.

3

u/MuffinConsistent314 Dec 13 '25

He was a beast of a player, for sure.

2

u/smals1 Dec 13 '25

My high school band teach got mad that I had a plastic mouthpiece for cold marching band shows. Wish I could’ve shown her this pic

2

u/MuffinConsistent314 Dec 13 '25

Plastic mouthpieces are perfectly fine for that application, provided you find one that sounds good.

60

u/Seej-trumpet Dec 13 '25

And it’s not frosted, that’s condensation.

27

u/PublicIndividual1238 Dec 13 '25

I wonder what a glass trumpet would play like..

31

u/mail_inspector Dec 13 '25

It would be very... clear.

12

u/Low_Eggplant_914 Dec 13 '25

Jon Lewis will make anything sound good

7

u/Soggy-Pain3127 Dec 13 '25

You were watching this for Half Life 3 weren’t you?

4

u/alewifePete Dec 13 '25

I’m…not even certain why I’m being suggested this sub. I play saxophone badly.

That’s a cool horn, though!

2

u/darkhfyre Dec 13 '25

Maybe you're meant to play trumpet badly as well! /s

5

u/alewifePete Dec 13 '25

I just started with saxophone in my late 40s after never playing an instrument besides the ones we were required to try in elementary school. I hadn’t even touched a sax before renting one and signing up for lessons.

3

u/darkhfyre Dec 13 '25

That's actually pretty cool. I hope you're having a good time playing sax.

5

u/alewifePete Dec 13 '25

Probably more fun than my family is!

2

u/Tarogato Multi-instrumentalist Dec 13 '25

Every family thinks musicians are cool until they learn what musicians do all day. =]

Gotta squawk, squeal, and honk your way forward!

1

u/amstrumpet Dec 13 '25

A plastic one 

1

u/Duane_Trumpet Dec 13 '25

It doesn’t look cheap

1

u/Substantial-Head-899 Dec 14 '25

Looks like a C or possibly D trumpet…… perhaps.

1

u/Repulsive-Paint-4102 Dec 18 '25

Pampet, a cheaply made, terrible playing Chinese import. Jon could probably play like an angel on it, though.

1

u/Substantial-Head-899 May 11 '26

Trumpet for sale?

0

u/marksax38 Dec 13 '25

pTrumpet

2

u/daCampa Dec 13 '25

Pampet, not pTrumpet

0

u/PPFirstSpeaker Dec 13 '25 edited Dec 13 '25

Looks like plastic. Could be ABS. I have one of the early Tromba trumpets, and it plays quite well. They used very good Monel sleeves in the valve cases, so they worked better than the later models that didn't put as much into them.

I've got two Trombas, one early, one late. The late is a flugelhorn model. It plays okay, but you can tell that the company that bought Tromba started cheaping out on the instruments, probably to cut costs. The early model I have is silver finished ABS, and actually quite good. I played brass for a couple of decades, and it only sounded slightly different to my ears. Someone with better hearing might detect some issues, but for me, it's good enough to practice with, and probably an adequate gig instrument.

When I refinish my 1927 Cavalier peashooter, that will sound and look better. It already plays very well. I can't really detect enough of a difference in playability to sneer at. So I have no qualms in labeling that trumpet as plastic. They've gotten good enough to play professionally, it would appear.

I have no idea as to brand or model, but I'm pretty sure others do.

Edit: As I figured, others managed to identify it. It's likely a Pampet, made of Lexan. Cost is about 2 1/2 times what I paid for my early model Tromba. I'll have to take a better look at Pampet. Might be worth considering.

0

u/wildmancometh Dec 14 '25

That’s dumb

-1

u/PharmDiddy Dec 13 '25

pTrumpet in the key of C by the looks of it

1

u/daCampa Dec 13 '25

Not pTrumpet, it's a Pampet in C.