Posted by Rick Denney on November 19, 2003 at 14:31:27:
In Reply to: When did you buy yours? posted by Steve W on November 18, 2003 at 22:02:09:
-Miraphone 186 BBb, for which I traded a Sanders (Cerveny) BBb and a Musica F tuba in 1991. (I'd bought the Sanders as a demonstrator in 1984, and the F tuba from a surplus store in 1988.)
-York Master BBb, bought in 2000.
-Holton BB-345, bought in 2002, after which I sold a Conn 20J that I'd had for about eight months.
-Yamaha YFB-621, bought new in 1989 or so.
-Reynolds euphonium, bought in 1988 or so.
-Besson euphonium, bought as a junker in 2001 (it's still a junker, but it plays nicely).
-Missenharter Eb (now ~F), bought to experiment on in 2000.
-Olds Ambassador tenor trombone, bought from a junk store in 2003.
-Conn 48H tenor trombone, also bought from a (different) junk store in 2003.
All of the last four were bought as toys with money in the toy range. The first four were bought for serious use and I paid real money for all of them. The Reynolds euphonium was bought for serious use but it never served that purpose effectively.
Of the four contrabasses I've used as my main horn since my return to playing, I still own three of them.
On the other hand, buying used or demonstrator instruments of good quality "on spec" isn't such a bad idea. I could sell any of my tuba for a high percentage (or more) of what I paid for them. I tried out a Vespro while my Miraphone was being overhauled, only to finally determine that I still preferred the Miraphone. That dalliance only cost me a few hundred dollars. Of the tubas I've bought and then subsequently sold or traded, I'm only down about $300, which is about 5% of the total price I paid for them. That's a lot cheaper than renting them to conduct those experiments.
Rick "done for a while" Denney