It’s taken two new trumpets, two trips to the post office, one “return to sender”, lots of waiting, but finally this week I got my hands on this horn. And I am very excited to begin sharing it with you.

www.brasssoundcreation.com is the home of Tomomi Kato and his unique brand of bespoke trumpets. He has been making high level trumpets for many years and is seen as such a guru that he now advises and helps design horns for a number of big european makers. He even sends and lets you play test before you make up your mind.

This is his new line of trumpets KAT (Kato Acoustic Technoogies) that sees him collaborate with other manufacturers to produce a horn that is of the highest quality for a reasonable price.

As soon as anyone has said this in the past it usually means an out of tune, not well made, badly finished, cheaply made trumpet stamped with someones famous name. THIS IS NOT THE CASE!

My KAT #5... Firstly you notice that the horn is covered head to toe in thick silver plate. It’s a great finish and I can’t see anything wrong with the horn. There is a heavy looking mouthpiece receiver and some really funky finger buttons. But it looks like a really well made solid trumpet.

So, I slip in my mouthpiece and play a simple scale to see how it blows. WOW! The first thing that hits me as I effortlessly go up and up is the huge fat sound that has loads of core to it and how silky it is. In fact my singing teacher pops in to see what it is, she was bowled over by the sound. I play some low notes and everyone is bang in tune and feels where it should be. Pedal tones are not only easy to play but they really project. I knock out some high notes, and again, they really sing from the horn and I’m playing with noticeably less effort than on my regular horn. I’m so excited that I’ve probably played half the Arban before I slip on a jazz track to see how it handles the changes. It really has some life, a big fat fluffy sound that really brightens up when you want it to.

If first impressions really do count then this horn has counted to well over 100! It’s knocked my socks off and my entire theory on trumpets has gone out the window. I’m a proud player of a super heavy weight, double braced, thick metal, copper insulated beast, now holding very tightly a light weight, silver plated horn. What has Tomomi done to me?

The horn has BSC designed valves which are really fast, leak free and smooth. The case is high quality and has pockets for your everyday brass needs. The telephone and email service was brilliant and helpful. The valve oil is super light and has made me retire the “blue juice”. I cannot find a fault with this horn, the company or the service!

This horn, and (fingers crossed) the next one I get, prove everything I have ever though about trumpets to be wrong. You do not need a four figure price tag to sound good, you need to have a horn that knows what it’s doing. This KAT #5 from Tomomi Kato is just that. He IS someone who has put all their years of experience and knowledge into a trumpet that does not break the bank, it hardly break a piggy bank!

So here’s the bit that I’m sure some of you have scrolled down too! 450 Euros! And if you told me that this trumpet cost 2000 Pounds, I’d still write you a cheque for it, here and now.

If ANYONE is looking for a new trumpet (and at this price you should be!) you should seriously consider a KAT from Tomomi Kato, because what he has done has not just “upset the apple cart” he has redesigned the apple!

“I thought I would write you a quick email to let you know my KAT trumpet arrived today and love it. I've only had the chance for a little play around but it plays much better than the instrument I was using before. It is nice to have a trumpet which inspires me to learn on and keep trying to get better. Thanks for your help and advice on the purchase.” Pete Mosca - Trumpet Player, Gibraltar