I have been using the John Packer JP271SW for the last year and although I have had some issues, I have been pleasantly surprised with this budget instrument.
It has a medium-large bore, typical of a student/intermediate cornet, which can produce a relatively big sound with minimum effort. I would recommend trying this cornet before buying in order to establish whether it feels right for you but it does have the potential to make a very nice sound.
It features 1st and 3rd slide triggers (a feature of many professional cornets) something that makes this student cornet stand out from the rest.
Unfortunately I have had some issues with the valves, the first valve often sticks and they are very noisy. This is something that should be relatively easy to fix if you feel they're not up to scratch.
The cornet comes with a John Packer 4B mouthpiece - comparable to the Denis Wick 4B. It is a good size mouthpiece but unfortunately it is poor quality and I found that it didn't last long before the silver plating began to wear off. I would definitely recommend investing in a better quality mouthpiece.
The case that it comes with is very lightweight and includes: a pocket for music on the front, backpack straps, a shoulder strap, space inside for mutes etc and a space for one mouthpiece. The only problem I have found so far with the case is that while the backpack straps can be tucked into the pocket on the back for storage, the big plastic clips they attach to remain on the bottom of the case. This means that the case does not lie flat and as a result I have removed them.
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| Clips which mean the case doesn't lie flat |
For more information on this cornet, visit the John Packer website.
