As they say, you can always tell a Taylor. And it’s not just the sound – it’s the feel of the instrument, the balance and the build. The Pocket Rocket is typical of the marque. Expertly engineered, it sits nicely in the hand and feels very solid and robust with its heavy angled supporting plate lifted from the Taylor ‘Chicago’ custom trumpet. The surprisingly long valves with attractive blue tortoise shell heads, carry a good action and come with heavy domed bottom caps. This extra weight, along with the heavier pipework to the receiver is clearly a deliberate design feature, which adds to the tone and sonic punch of this instrument. The sound is consistent across the full range and is very bright and clear, which presumably is in some part down to the wide flared bell (wider than most standard trumpet bells). With polished pipework running into that large brushed bell, this is a very stylish little horn and one that is in every sense, typically Taylor.

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