Posted by Jailbirdwatcher on June 03, 2003 at 12:18:06:
In Reply to: Meinl Weston 451 Euphonium Question posted by Bob on June 03, 2003 at 07:13:04:
I have owned one of these for about 2 years. I very much like the sound that comes from it. Fit and finish are head and shoulders above the Besson Soverign I tried 2 years ago. The Besson I received had a weird slide alignment problem. Slides were very difficult to remove and install, as if not fitted to the horn I had. There was also a resonance when the horn was played FFF. Maybe something loose inside, maybe the valve springs, I do not know for sure. I'm not sure of any intonation quirks as I had no chromatic tuner at the time, but it seemed Ok by my ear on most notes. I was quite disappointed with it. Mike R. at Brasswind informed me that their quality control was not good, at that time. I sent it back and received MW 451. The major problem with this instrument is the Eb above the staff. Mine is 40 cents sharp, just as the one mentioned in the post below. It also took some playing to "break in the valves", as they are tightly fit, in the valve bores. I have heard some complaints about the valves being noisy, but I do not find that to be a problem. Ultimately, YOU must play both instruments for yourself and decide which works for you. Take a musician friend and a chromatic tuner with you.