I started with both the marching baritone and the much larger marching euphonium. They were both well balanced and not too heavy for the size, but they had some serious tuning issues, especially the euphonium.
The 4 valved oval euphonium played pretty well without too much issue, at least no more than any other horn I've played. It was very strange listening to the sound come at me from the left rather than the right, that close to my head. It was a little awkward to hold but I did like the sound it put out.
The 3 valved British style compensating baritone was a fun little horn. It had the typical bright sound, was easy to hold, and an easy blow. Where it lacked was the intonation. I'm used to using alternate fingerings on my 967 and my 983 for a couple of notes with quirky intonation, but even with that help the C, D, and Db right above the staff were pretty off. Enough for me that even the cheap price tag isn't enough.
I had a good experience with the store and a nice diversion from everyday life. We'll see how it goes next time with the hope of the other horns.
The 3 valved "American Heritage" at just over $1k wasn't too bad. It was very easy to over blow. I was hoping it would be a decent 103 alternative but no. It was bigger than the 103 with a funky angle on the valves. The tuning wasn't terrible, wasn't great. It played nice at medium volumes but once I started moving some serious air it was not pretty.
The 4 valved "American Heritage," well again, I was hoping for more than it offered. I was hoping for a 621 alternative but it was everything the 3 valved version was and worse. The scale on this thing was horid, IMO. I played some scales and some lip slurs to check for problem notes and just ended up putting it back in its case pretty quickly.
The 5 valved rotary CC however, was a nice contrast to the 2 BBb horns I played. This was a little heavier and appeared to have a thicker wall than I would have expected. The 4 rotors were a little wider spaced than I would have liked, but not unplayable for me. The horn just sang through all the registers, or at least as much as I can sing throught the extreme ranges
This being my first experiences with a CC I can't really comment on that side of it, but it played very well for me and if I were in the market for a CC horn I would definitely give this serious consideration.Just for fun I also honked on a couple of the trombones. They seemed to be decent playing and decent build but I didn't spend more than a minute or two on any of them except the alto. That was a fun little horn. I might just have to pick one of those up at some point to add to the collection.
Next time I make it back to the cities I'll be checking with them to see if they have the other horns to try out. I really am interested in those three and am hoping that at least the euphonium and the Eb are everything everybody else says they are.
