Posted by Rick Denney on August 02, 2002 at 10:19:45:
In Reply to: Stencil Horns posted by ME on August 01, 2002 at 20:04:45:
A stencil is when a marketing brand is placed on an instrument that is different from the manufacturer's brand. It's done all the time, even by the manufacturers. A true stencil is identical to the manufacturer's own model. Sanders, Musica, and F. Schmidt are brands that are stencilled onto instruments made by Cerveny (in the case of Sanders), and VMI, for example. Yamaha makes instruments identical to their own models for a number of companies with American names that used to make their own instruments, such as Bach.
Even UMI does it. They put a Conn label on the 52J even though it is really a King. At least UMI owns both companies.
Then there are stencils that accompany modifications made by the brand owner. Sear, Marzan, York Master, and even Parantucci are brands that incorporate at least some modifications just to achieve that labeling. I've seen these labels on tubas from a number of manufacturers, though they are usually associated with Cerveny (Sear), Boehm and Meinl (Marzan and York Master), Willson (Marzan), and B&S (Parantucci). Even B&S is a label for instruments that are also marketed, perhaps with some modifications, as VMI.
Some brands are put on whatever tuba is cheap that year. "Sanders" is put on some Asian instruments just as readily as on Cervenies, and Musica instruments were sometimes VMI's, sometimes Cervenies, and sometimes Musicas made from the same parts as Cervenys. Some Sanders were Amatis, but were really Cervenys, and so on.
If you can identify the actual maker, the tubas are likely to be just as good as the original. I highly doubt that the factory sends out any substandard tubas that would compete with their brands, unless it is a distintly different model, such as a student instrument.
This doesn't apply to Weril. Werils are not stencils. They make their own horns. They are not direct copies of Yamaha instruments in many ways, but they certainly do use very similar bells and outer branches. The valve arrangements are different, however.
The process have been going on for generations, and it's what keeps the historians among us busy. I have a Missenharter tuba that was made in the 1800's that has at least three different labels on the same instrument.
Rick "who enjoys such confusion" Denney