My Experience With The Jean Paul
TR-430 Trumpet Review

When working on an article about what intermediate / beginner trumpets I consider to be the best, I tried out a lot of different horns. I had music shops send me trumpets to try out and one of them was the Jean Paul TR-430 trumpet, and to make a long story short…

…I ended up buying this trumpet for myself!

That is the very horn you can see on my kitchen table in the picture above.

Short About The Trumpet

The Jean Paul TR-430 trumpet is made by a company in USA and it is marketed and sold as an “intermediate” trumpet. However the pricing is actually so low (click here to check the pricing on Amazon) that I’m including the trumpet in my article best trumpets for beginners.

Since the TR-430 has got an incredible amount of positive testimonials online, I wanted to know what the fuzz was all about. This is why I decided that the Jean Paul absolutely must be included in the “trumpet batch” delivery from the music shops.

Down below I present my personal experience and a detailed review of the  Jean Paul TR-430. If you are interested to learn what others think, you can also click here to check the trumpet rating and read other real user reviews on Amazon.

So are Jean Paul trumpets good or not?

Let’s get to it…

Specs

• Bb-Trumpet
• 1,07 kg
• Rose brass lead pipe
• Adjustable third slide trigger ring
• Comes with a solid, good looking and protective trumpet case
• Durable piston valves
• Medium large bore size

Jean Paul TR-430 Trumpet Review:

Build Quality

How well the tuning slide operates is one of the first things to check when we are talking about cheaper trumpets, and the TR-430 has no problems here. In fact all the slide fits perfectly and the compression is there. The soldering is done with precision, and as I look through the lead pipe I can’t see any nasty “leftovers” from the build, like many other cheaper trumpets have.

I pull out the slides and press down the valves to check the valve alignment (how well the holes in the valves are lining up with the tubing) and I’m surprised to see that they are almost perfect. As good as on my professional Yamaha trumpet and even better than on my old Vincent Bach.

Now, of course I’m not able to check the “upstroke”, as one need special equipment for that, but since the downstroke is this good, I have no reason to doubt that the valves line up with the tubing just as well when they are in the “up-position”.

Valves

The valves are really something that a lot of “non professional” trumpets are having big issues with. They run half bad for a few weeks and then get even worse with time. Now, I have only been playing the Jean Paul TR-430 for a couple of weeks now so I can’t comment on how well they stand the test of time, but so far there are no problems here…

…the valves run smoothly and are almost as fast as on my professional Yamaha 8310Z, which is known for its super fast valves. I use the word “almost” here because the TR-430 does not really reach the level of my Yamaha in th this department…

…they do work very well though.

Looks

The horn looks beautiful with perfect lacquering and there is no way one could tell that this trumpet costs under 400 dollars. At least it was under 400 bucks at the time I bought it, you can click here to check current pricing on Amazon, however I highly doubt the price will stay this low forever as this instrument is, in many ways, almost as good as a professional trumpet.

Balance / Hold

The Jean Paul is well balanced and feels good in my hands. It is just a tiny bit over one kilo (1,07 kg) compared to my Yamaha (961 grams) which is a light weight trumpet. This makes the Jean Paul medium weight, but a little more on the side to being a light weight trumpet.

Sound

The sound is very pleasant. On a sound spectrum from dark to bright the TR- 430 is a bit more on the brighter side. In my opinion the sound will fit well in any musical setting. That said, I’m sure there are jazz trumpeters, playing soft smooth improvisations, that would prefer a darker sounding horn.

Beginner and intermediate trumpets usually lack a distinct “core” to the sound, but the Jean Paul trumpet definitely has got that core. The trumpet gets a big thumbs up from me in the sound department.

Intonation (this amazes me!)

This is what surprised me the most about this horn and this is also what made me buy this trumpet for myself, and not just make a Jean Paul Instrument review. The intonation is spot on. In fact it is as good as on my Yamaha 8310Z professional trumpet…

…this is something I have never ever experienced before with a trumpet in this price range. When it comes to intonation I give the horn a 10+

Responsiveness

The response is also great and the trumpet speaks easily. This makes it easy to play softly and it makes the attacks easier. This has probably a lot to do with the trumpet being pretty light, and also because of good placing of the braces, which other manufacturers of instruments in this price range seem to have trouble with.

I give a big thumbs up for the responsiveness!

Slotting

The slotting on the Jean Paul TR-430 is also good. In fact, for being a light trumpet it is great. The notes lock in as they should and it all feels good. I owned a “Hub Van Lar Oiram III” a couple of years back, and that horn had even better slotting…

…however that was a heavy horn and, oh yeah, it also costed about 4000 dollars more! That horn had the most secure slotting I have ever experienced.

Some perfer a bit more “lose” slotting though, especially trumpet players who play a lot of commercial music, with bends, shakes and other “fancy stuff” being part of their playing style. A super secure slotting is mostly  desired in classical music, and in particular symphony orchestras. Don’t get me wrong though, the Jean Paul’s slotting is indeed good enough for classical music.

A big thumbs up for the slotting and I would put it at a medium to a bit more on the “secure” side than trumpets with a lose slotting.

High Register

The high register is easy on the Jean Paul TR-430. This trumpet could indeed be used as a lead horn just as well as a classical trumpet. When I step on the gas, and play loud and high, the sound is bright and has an edge to it. In fact, I like the high register on this trumpet even more than the high register on my Yamaha YTR 8310Z.

In addition to this, I seem to be able to go about a half step higher with the Jean Paul than I can on my Yamaha or Bach, when talking about high notes with good quality, not squeaky notes, that is. Gotta love that…

…hey, I’m a typical trumpet player after all!

Agility

The flexibility and agility is good, and it is easy to move around the register with this trumpet. I try to find something negative to say as a counter weight to all the positive words, but I honestly have no complaints in this department either.

General Feel When Playing

The Jean Paul TR-430 is easy to play. At first I thought that the trumpet feels a bit tighter than my Yamaha, but after playing it for a few days I do not experience it like that any more. It’s not a big bored trumpet, but it can take some power playing if you want to really step on the gas.

The way a horn feels, when playing it, is very much a personal preference and I like the way the TR-430 feels. Only slightly behind my Yamaha 8310Z trumpet in this department, and it may even change after I spend some more time with the horn. Time will tell.

Casing

The trumpet comes in a nice looking and very protective case. It is not a soft case, and you won’t damage your trumpet even if you drop it from your bicycle…

There are two belts that you can strap on to it and then you can wear the trumpet case comfortably on your back while you walk, use your bicycle, or whatever.

On one side of the case there is a pocket where you can keep your sheet music. This is very convenient, however I would like to see a bit more room inside it.

Pricing

At the time of writing this article the price is shockingly low! You can click here to check the current pricing on Amazon, and this absolutely dumbfounds me….

…why?…

…well because the Jean Paul TR-430 does not play like a beginner horn. It does not play like an intermediate trumpet either. I have actually  tried professional trumpets that does not play as good as the TR-430, so it must be just a matter of time before they up the price, but as it stands right now, the pricing gets a 10/10 …

…or even a 10+

Summary

If you are looking for the best beginner OR intermediate trumpet for your kid or a good “student trumpet” for you high schooler, then the Jean Paul TR-430 will not disappoint.

Please do yourself a favor and skip the 90-200 dollar horns and go straight for this one. With those you run a serious risk of getting a crappy horn, when for just 100 dollars more, you get an incredible trumpet for the price.

If you are a professional trumpeter I have no problems with recommending this horn as a “backup horn” for you, and this is exactly why I bought the trumpet myself. As a backup horn.

Personally I bought the trumpet from Amazon as they sell it for a lower price than the music store that sent me all the trumpets to try. You can
click here to check the current pricing on Amazon as it’s always changing a bit. The trumpet also comes with a one year guarantee and should there be something that does not work, the manufacturer will fix it for you.

Score: 10/10

If someone blindfolded me, gave me a new horn, didn’t tell me the brand, just had me play it and give it a score from 1-10 I would probably rate the Jean Paul TR-430 as a 8/10 (as I’m used to playing professional trumpets)…

…however, when considering that this is an intermediate/beginner trumpet, and it should be rated in its own class, I simply can not help but give it a full 10/10.

So if you were coming to this article with the question, “are Jean Paul trumpets good ?”, I hope you now are, at least a bit, more wise.

Thank you for reading this Jean Paul trumpet TR 430 review.

-Robert Slotte-

P.S. I also wrote an article about the Jean Paul student model 330, which is a cheaper model. If interested you can click here to read that Jean Paul TR-330 trumpet review.

P.P.S. Have you tried the trumpet and, if so, what is your experience with the Jean Paul TR-430? Leave a a few words in the comment section down below, I would love to hear from you. Feel free to make your own, short, Jean Paul trumpet review 🙂 Oh, and also, If you do write something, please give a bit of info what kind of music you like to play and if you play on a professional level or if trumpet playing is just a dear hobby of yours.