Edwards Instrument Co

Wow… what a rip off! This is the elite division of the Getzen Instrument Co. They are in the same building, use the same phone number, use the same artisans and technicians to make the horns, even use alot of the same tools, forms and dies to make these instruments but are trying to convince musicians that they can charge over $ 1200 more because these are custom horns. I called and asked alot of questions and it was revealed that these aren’t true custom horns. They just give you alot of options to choose from to put together a horn that you like and that suits your needs. Kinda like going to the car dealership and picking the options that you want. The problem here is that they are tacking on a $ 1200 upcharge for you to be allowed to pick those options. I asked if the craftsmanship was any different when compared to the Getzen line and the rep told me no, that they were 95% the same, minus whatever options you wanted, of course. Geezz, I have a horn that is over 20 years old and when I bought it I chose from many options that I wanted and they didn’t charge me an upcharge. I was also told that their Edwards line had better tolerances that the ‘big boys’. When I asked what the difference was, I was told they do things in ¹⁄₁₀₀₀^th of an inch and the other guys ¹⁄₁₀₀ of an inch. OMG… you have got to be kidding me! That is your selling point? To justify charging so much more?!? The thickness of a piece of paper in terms of extra solder or a brace placement on the horn? No, that is just ridiculous! There are TONS of professional musician that still use the ‘big boys’ horns and they sound great; but to say that you will sound so much better on one of their horns as opposed to more traditional brands, I don’t think so.
Be careful and skeptical if they give you this line that their horns are custom made, they are not! They may do some hand-​hammering of a select few metal parts but they still are using machines to form the metal.
BTW, one of their big things is that they want you to come to their small factory to be ‘fitted’ for a horn. Right… I’m going to pay upwards of $ 1000 for a plane ticket, rental car, hotel and meals just so you can charge me $ 1200 more to have the right to pick out options for my instrument? I don’t think so.