Experienced player buying first Euphonium

[b.williams]

Hi. Ask your question on this site.
http://www.dwerden.com/forum/forum.php" target="_blank
Good luck.

[bearphonium]

Hi. Ask your question on this site.
http://www.dwerden.com/forum/forum.php" target="_blank" target="_blank
Good luck.

Beat me to it. That is a euphonium focused site, and you'll be able to read several posts there on this exact topic. Good luck.

[PMeuph]

For about $2500 I could get a new jupiter 570l, which is gradually looking more and more interesting, and it comes with case and mouthpiece.

I will recommend something that may seem counter intuitive to many people. Don't buy a new horn! For $2500 you can get a really good used euphonium.Heck, you might even find 2 horns for that price (There was YEP-321 for about $550 on this site several months ago)

The reason you shouldn't buy a new horn is that if you decide to quit playing, to buy a new horn or you have an unexpected financial problem you won't be able to get back what you invested in your horn. However, assuming you find a reasonably price used euphonium, you can probably resell it for what you paid for it. This might not seem important now, but if you peruse the for sale section here, you'll see a horn go up every couple months with somebody explaining that they need a down-payment on a house, they need to pay rent, etc...

I played on borrowed YEP-321 for 3 years. It wasn't the best horn for me but at least I didn't buy a horn prematurely and get screwed over when I tried to resell it.

You should wait until December, then head off to the Midwest Conference in Chicago. If you drive or bus in for one or two days, it shouldn't be too expensive. That way you can try many euphs and have a better idea of what to look for.

[JCalkin]

A non-compensated 3+1 - they make those? Who actually has bought a non-compensated 3+1 euphonium? The people I know either use four top action (or front action) or a compensated (3 or 4) euphonium.

A student of mine bought a Dillon 1095. He needed a four-valve horn but couldn't do the 4 valve inline due to a hand problem. It's a non-comp, and a great instrument for the price (actually, it would be a good instrument at double the price).

I bought one as a doubler axe. Love it.

[bbocaner]

I'm going to take a stab at actually answering the questions in the original post:

I think if you are a serious player, a compensating euphonium with either a large or medium receiver is the way to go. The YEP-321 (which is what it sounds like you are playing now) is a great instrument but the smaller bell, smaller bore, and small receiver are all a little limiting. You find a lot of trombone and tuba players who double on euphonium use them -- as well as some euphonium players who want a smaller more baritone-like sound, but most of the serious euphonium players will use a compensating instrument.

As far as finish, it depends. Most euphonium players opt for the silver plated finish. If you want to look like everyone else, then that's the way to go. Silver can be a little more high maintenance than lacquer, but if you do take care of it it will last longer. Some people say that silver sounds better, but that's debatable. A modern epoxy lacquer finish is pretty darn durable and is very easy to clean.

For mouthpieces, the most popular mouthpieces for euphonium are the Schilke 51D or its derivatives such as the DEG BB1 or the Denis Wick 4AL or its derivatives from Alliance or the Wick Steven Mead series. It depends on the type of sound you are looking for, your individual physiology, and your embouchure type and strength. You'll likely just want to start somewhere close to what you're using now and try some new mouthpieces depending on which way you want to go with the sound and what you feel your strengths and weaknesses are with what you are using.

As far as popular models are concerned, it really depends on your taste, however I think it's generally felt that anything on the following list is a good bet. You really need to try some of them -- either go to a trade show where you can get a little time with a bunch of different models, or have a few different ones sent to you on approval.

Besson 2052/2051 "Prestige" (I believe new ones are great, old ones are inconsistent)
Besson 967/968 "Sovereign" ditto
Willson 2900
Yamaha YEP-642II (S) "Neo"
Yamaha YEP-642 (S)
Yamaha YEP-842S
Sterling Virtuoso
Miraphone 5050
Adams

Most of these should be available used in excellent condition for between $3000 and $4000 and new for between $6000 and $7500. Watch the for-sale ads on this board, on dwerden.com, ebay, and music stores like Dillon Music for potential used deals. There are some other brands that are "pro" instruments, but I won't recommend them personally because I really don't like them myself anywhere near as much as what's in the list above.

If all of the above options are too pricey, I'd look into one of the following, all of which I've tried and were pretty impressed with their quality and the way they played, although they are certainly a step below the ones I recommend above.

Jupiter 570
Eastman EEP526S
Sterling Royale

These should all be somewhere between $2000 and $3000 new. Most of them are pretty new on the market, so there aren't going to be too many used ones floating around.

I've never tried the $1000 Chinese instruments myself, but I'd be wary given what I'd heard about their quality control. Some people love them, some people complain about problems.

[Bob Kolada]

Our Chinese comp euph (older, bought used) rocks. Good intonation, better low range than a Besson, fun to play. I still prefer the freeblowing-ness, sound, and low range of a non comp, but this was a hell of a buy.

[Uncle Buck]

No personal experience, but this has gotten good reviews from individuals I trust.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Schiller-Elite- ... 4608055106" target="_blank

[Rick F]

To the OP (original poster), you might get some good information from reading this discussion thread:

Buying an almost-pro level horn, for cheap

or this one about Schiller:
Cheap Euphs

[s511989]

Everyone, thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate it It has only been about 24 hours and I am already gettin gmany great ideas!