Page 1 of 1
SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 9:35 am
by bloke
I'm shopping for a trumpet for my son.
My Dad worked at SEARS, and we always trusted their merchandise.
Has anyone purchased one of these?
https://www.sears.com/ashthorpe-8423641 ... A096625203
Additionally, I've been working on embouchure strength. Is the SEARS tuba BERP any better than the other one?
https://www.sears.com/berp-a0002e1ni2-b ... 8727118909
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 9:39 am
by arpthark
My son (age 4) has a junior "Ashthorpe" drumset.
I can confirm that it makes noise, so (logically) that trumpet should also make noise.
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 9:47 am
by tubatodd
I legit thought Sears was gone gone. I didn't realize there was a sears.com.
I remember as a kid my grandmother having a reproduction of a vintage 1900s Sears and Roebuck catalog where they sold all kinds of musical instruments.
I found it online
https://easygenie.org/blogs/news/1908-s ... 0dab-NUJRI
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 9:58 am
by arpthark
tubatodd wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2026 9:47 am
I legit thought Sears was gone gone. I didn't realize there was a sears.com.
I remember as a kid my grandmother having a reproduction of a vintage 1900s Sears and Roebuck catalog where they sold all kinds of musical instruments.
I found it online
https://easygenie.org/blogs/news/1908-s ... 0dab-NUJRI
All really cheap stuff imported from Central Europe, I think. I've encountered a few, with names like "Tone King" and such.
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:12 am
by the elephant
I had a Sears trumpet in 7th grade. The case said Sears, but the bell was stamped "LARK". It was the epitome of "Chinese" workmanship from 1977.
Nothing worked. Everything broke. It has ZAMAK waterkeys and a 3rd slide adjustment ring, and a ZAMAK brace that melted when a tech tried to reattach it. The pistons were nickel silver but lacked any sort of hard nickel plating, so they moved like really loose slides. The slides were so out of alignment that even my 12-year-old eyes could see they were pathetic.
Once it broke so badly that our tech could not fix it, I was pretty upset about it. Thankfully, my mom did a rent-to--own plan to get me a new Conn Director that Christmas. I still have that Conn somewhere around here. (It was a shame that Conn shuttered two years later.)
I also have the 1957 Olds Ambassador cornet I used in beginning band in 1976. One of my mom's work friends gave it to me.
I wanted the new "Sears" instrument because it was a trumpet, and only the 7th and 8th grade kids were allowed to "step up" from the kiddie cornet to the big boy trumpet. It was new, and it was shiny.
Just like a lot of people today. At least the Chinese have largely improved most of their brass instruments since then. Some are even quite good now.
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:40 am
by gocsick
$23.80 for the top of the line cornet in the catalog is about $870 today.. So about 1/2 of the list price of a Yamaha YTR02330 student trumpet at $1,860 or a Bach BTR-302 at $1,759
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:50 am
by hrender
I had not known before this point that Sears and Kmart still existed. Apparently they still have some actual stores out there:
https://brilliantmaps.com/us-locations/sears-locations/
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 11:14 am
by arpthark
I get (or used to get, before I moved to a house with a smaller yard) lawnmower parts from Sears Parts Direct, as recently as last year.
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 11:50 am
by bloke
the elephant wrote: Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:12 am
I had a Sears trumpet in 7th grade. The case said Sears, but the bell was stamped "LARK". It was the epitome of "Chinese" workmanship from 1977.
Nothing worked. Everything broke. It has ZAMAK waterkeys and a 3rd slide adjustment ring, and a ZAMAK brace that melted when a tech tried to reattach it. The pistons were nickel silver but lacked any sort of hard nickel plating, so they moved like really loose slides. The slides were so out of alignment that even my 12-year-old eyes could see they were pathetic.
Once it broke so badly that our tech could not fix it, I was pretty upset about it. Thankfully, my mom did a rent-to--own plan to get me a new Conn Director that Christmas. I still have that Conn somewhere around here. (It was a shame that Conn shuttered two years later.)
I also have the 1957 Olds Ambassador cornet I used in beginning band in 1976. One of my mom's work friends gave it to me.
I wanted the new "Sears" instrument because it was a trumpet, and only the 7th and 8th grade kids were allowed to "step up" from the kiddie cornet to the big boy trumpet. It was new, and it was shiny.
Just like a lot of people today. At least the Chinese have largely improved most of their brass instruments since then. Some are even quite good now.
Things have DEFINITELY changed (re. China).
Adjust for inflation from 1977, please sir.
I can sell these for $325 (new) including shipping to the CONUS.
EXCELLENT fit stainless steel pistons
WELL-ALIGNED #1 and #3 slides.
WERE I A TRUMPET PLAYER, I'd have one to use for "dubious" gigs (whereby I would be playing "sets" and walking away from the bandstand two or three times).
They play WELL...
SEARS PICTURE:
Those four small windows just above "SEARS ROEBUCK AND COMPANY"...That was my Dad's (sound-insulated and air-conditioned) office.
Re: SEARS trumpets
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2026 10:22 pm
by ronr
Go for the trumpet. You even get the white gloves; there’s a true symbol of quality!