Posted by Alan Herold on February 27, 2003 at 19:04:00:
In Reply to: Silver vs. Laquer posted by Tyler's Dad on February 26, 2003 at 12:14:32:
I have found that (on euphonium) the laquer horns FEEL like they sound better and they also sound better to the player (the player being myself and a few others who helped me test my theory when I shopped for a horn). The silver, however, sounded better to the listener 15 feet away (and beyond). The silver horn had a more solid tone and projected better.
I was completely sold on getting a laquer horn because it sounded better to me, but when I had others listen, they MUCH preferred the silver.
By the way, I had them turn around so they did not know which horn was which. Every time the silver was chosen as the "winner."
Tubas may be different. My suggestion is to have him get a few people to listen to a few horns before a decision is made. Take your time to find a horn. Try out plenty of them before you buy. The usually seems to be some magic every time a new horn is tried out and the lips respond like Superman (Superperson? nope. Superman.).