Re: Re: Re: comparing euphoniums


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Posted by It's.. on March 31, 2003 at 12:57:20:

In Reply to: Re: Re: comparing euphoniums posted by Hiram Diaz on March 31, 2003 at 11:28:11:

...luck. I was at a well-known northeast tuba dealer not too long ago, comparing euphoniums there to my 1978 Hirsbrunner. While I love the sound and response of the Hirsbrunner, I constantly have my eye out for something else, because the low register is fairly stuffy, and there are a couple of notes that are extremely (almost unusably) out of tune. Anyway, I played four Besson Prestiges, and in my opinion, the opinion of two trusted friends who were listening, and the opinion of an innocent bystander, the sound wasn't close to that of the Hirsbrunner. From a player's standpoint, I found the valves to be uneven, the tuning triggers to work not very well, and the response of the four horns to range from sort of stuffy to awful. Frankly, I can't believe that Steve Mead spent any time at all play-testing them and liking them well enough to give them his signed endorsement that is included in the case. Then I tried a couple of Yamaha 642's and the distingished panel liked the sound of them better than the Prestiges, but not as much as the Hirsbrunner. From my standpoint, they were fun and easy to play, had a big sound (maybe a little bit vanilla)and had great intonation. THEN, I spied a Besson 968 in lacquer that was sitting on a shelf. I began to play this horn, and everyone's eyes lit up. Even one of the store employees came walking in, asking "what horn is THAT?" The sound was big, smooth, and rich...the horn seemed to vibrate slightly in my hands on every note...not an annoying vibration, but a pleasing resonance. The pitch was basically good; I just needed to use a couple of common alternate fingerings in the upper register. The low register was free and easy. If I had $3000 in my pocket at the time, I would have walked out of the store with it on the spot. I was told later that the "innocent bystander", a college euphonium major, came back a different day and bought it. So, draw your own conclusions, but mine are:

1) play test as many horns as possible
2) don't let brand names or model numbers influence too greatly your final decision

If you play enough horns, the right one will find you. Hopefully it will be on a day that you are financially prepared to buy it! I've only had this experience happen one other time, when years ago, I tried a prototype of the Yamaha 642 (in gold plate!) at the New York Brass Conference. Incredible instrument, but it wasn't for sale at the time.

By the way, to answer the original question...at a different dealer, I once played on a couple of MW euphoniums, (the price was right) but my trusty listeners thought the sound on both was dull and grainy. But, they come in a very cool case!

Good luck


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