Stole It! Now I Can Play It!

[CA Transplant]

Yesterday, I finally found the euphonium I've been looking for. It had to be in good condition, have a big bore and decent intonation, and had to be good enough looking to be presentable in a community band. I'm just learning the euphonium, so a student model would be OK.

I've been searching the local Craigs List for two years. I had an old Czech instrument, but it was way flat with all the slides pushed in, so it wasn't going to work in any ensemble. Well, Thursday, I saw it. A Blessing B-350 three-valve horn that is basically a copy of a Yamaha 201. .585" bore. Looked like good lacquer in the photo and the ad said it played well and sounded great. Case, a Bach 6 1/2AL mouthpiece, valve oil, etc. Price? An incredible $125.

So, I emailed the owner. He said he had four calls already on it (no wonder), but he'd meet me on Friday morning, about an hour away from where I live. I'd be the first person to actually look at the thing. I went, and he showed up with the thing. Nice case, nice looking horn with just the usual small dimples and lacquer worn off a little on the bottom bow.

Guy said it was his high school horn, but he's playing trombone now and didn't need it any more. When was high school? Early 2000s. I played a little on it, and asked him if he'd play it for me, since I'm not that good yet. He did, and it sounded all Euphy with a big fat, round tone. He had advertised it as a baritone, but that happens a lot. His name was on the case in very faded magic marker, so it's not a stolen horn.

Anyhow, the $125 changed hands and I drove off with the horn. I've been practicing scales and working on tone production, etc, and it's great. Got my tuner out, and the intonation and pitch is great. Nice student horn for me. Now, by Spring, I'll be ready to find a local community band in the Twin Cities, MN area and start playing with people again.

This 69-year-old retread player is very excited! Seller sets the price, so I didn't tell him he gave it away.

[CA Transplant]

Thanks for the welcome!

[Radar]

You got a super price on that horn. You should be very happy with it for a long time to come. Welcome to the forum.

[CA Transplant]

The valveset was made in Europe...possibly by the same manufacturer that - at that time - made the Kurath (Willson) valvesets.

That's interesting. The large bore (.585" - larger than the Yamaha), and maybe the valve set, give it a really robust sound quality. The only thing I fault it on is the lack of water keys, except on the main slide after the 3rd valve. It tends to collect water in the first and second valve loops. Not a big deal but dumping them takes a bit of time.

For a student horn, it has many good qualities. It's much heavier than the Chinese horns and just feels substantial. So far, I'm having the best results from a Blessing 7 mouthpiece.

[CA Transplant]

You got a super price on that horn. You should be very happy with it for a long time to come. Welcome to the forum.

Thank you very much. The price was outrageously low, I think. I'd expect a price of between $400-500 for it on eBay. I'm not selling, though. I'm just excited to have a decent, low-priced horn to learn on.

[edsel585960]

That was a great find. Welcome back to the playing arena!

[CA Transplant]

Honest, Dad, I'll take real good care of it. I promise.

As I recall, bracing is somewhat flimsy...but it's not as if you're some ADD 11-year-old who will be throwing it across the band room, or dropping it on the floor every five minutes.

[imperialbari]

Welcome back to low brasses!

Klaus

[CA Transplant]

Yup. It has the original plastic case with tons of padding. I do need to get something to keep the mouthpieces protected though. I have a Bach 6 1/2 AL, a Blessing 7, and one other unmarked one. For now, I seem to be doing best with the 7. Three days after getting this Euph, I'm finally managing to produce the pedal Bb. I'm amazed at how difficult that was to do. What I had to do was play the F above it and then drop to the Bb.

What I'm doing mostly now in practicing is long tones throughout the chromatic scale, focusing on producing each note musically, with proper intonation and with varying dynamics. Then, I'm playing through all of the scales slowly, with different articulations. I'm really trying to focus on quality of sound and getting used to the horn and brass playing in general. I'm actually a woodwind guy, so this is really my first brass instrument. I can now do reasonably OK with 2-octave scales from F through Bb. But slowly and methodically, trying for zero cracked tones.

Lots of little frustrations, but they'll all work themselves out over the next couple of months, I think. I got really excited yesterday when I finally figured out the harmonic patterns of the different fingerings. The last time I tried to learn low brass, with a very flat old Czech horn, I was writing fingerings on the music. I'm not going to do that this time. I need to learn to sight-read as quickly as I can. Previous instrumental training is helping.

However, I do need to play some music, too, or practicing is boring. I got myself through the euphonium solo from Holtz's 2nd Suite yesterday. That solo is the reason I chose the euphonium, frankly. I always loved hearing it. It doesn't sing for me, yet, but it will.

Sorry for the long-winded post. I'm just excited by all of this.

If you have the original case with it, those are bulletproof...thick molded plastic cases...

[imperialbari]

If you browse through the index of my Yahoo-based project of free downloadable music you may find sight-reading-stuff from the rather simple through the more challenging. Most of the relevant stuff comes in treble clef Bb and in bass clef concert. There are several modes of scales and the interval exercises will extend your range and flexibility.

With some of the 2-, 3-, or 4-part stuff you might record yourself on the computer and then play in ensemble with yourself.

Send me an email-address via the mail button to the right of here, and I will send you an invitation (goes for all TubeNet’ters).

Klaus