Sterling Perantucci 1065GH Euphonium - thoughts?

[tbonesullivan]

I posted a few years back about picking up a Euphonium, and ended up not getting one, for various reasons. Well now I'm back in the market, and noticed that Dillon music has a few used Besson compensators, as well as the Sterling Perantucci 1065GH. Well, I can find tons on Besson Euphoninums, and they are all over the place, but there isn't nearly much out there on the Sterling / Perantucci brand.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[tbonesullivan]

Every make/model of euphonium has strong points and quirks.

This is true, which is why I'm thankful it's an hour drive away. Definitely need to spend some bonding time as I re-learn how to play a valved instrument. I've been going to Dillon Music since... 1995. I'm that guy that puts a horn back on the wall and watches it for a minute to make sure it doesn't fall off.

My main concern is whether it's a "good" Euphonium, which I see that it is. Like with older bessons, sourcing parts can be fun, but not earth-shattering. Definitely easier than sourcing the parts for the two Kanstul Trombones I own.

[Worth]

A prior, and now occasional, euphonium player I have three euphoniums. A very early Sterling (UK) Pre-virtuoso 1065S (with the hexagonal finger buttons) and the almost 90 degree outer downward bends of the first and third valve slide circuits. Later models rounded out the downward bends and changed the finger buttons. The silver plating seems thin in areas on my Sterling compared with the Besson and B&H but it was a very early model, maybe a prototype. I had it chem cleaned, spit valve added, and valves adjusted once by Lee Stofer and he commented that the pre plating surface treatment of the brass may have been an issue. Here are some other comparisons among my 3 euphoniums.

Both the Sterling and a late 70s round stamp B&H Sovereign each have bores of .590, the Sterling with an 11.5 inch bell and the Sovereign with a 12 inch bell.
My early 70s Besson New Standard has a bore of .580 and an 11 inch bell.

In terms of sound, each is uniquely voiced. The Sterling has a most beautiful sound, but takes more effort than either of the other two horns to consistently slot notes in the higher ranges. Of note, the valve alignments do seem proper both up and down. Mine is definitely without Bauerfeind valves, which the Sterling Perantucci you are looking at may have. A number of years back, I learned Sterling made their own valves on pre-V models such as mine, evidenced by the type of guides. They later went with Bauerfeind.

When I have to pick one to play or perform on, it's either the Sovereign or the New Standard, with the slightly smaller bore of the New Standard making for the easiest and most enjoyable to play. When I had to play Adam Frey's Nessun Dorma once, out in front of a community band, I picked the Sovereign due to the larger bore and power to project. When I got the very cool chance to play Bydlo with an excellent community orchestra a few years back, I ditched my CC and picked the New Standard as it has a bit more sonorous laid back sound to me and the easiest to play. The Sterling is always the last to get taken to the party, but it's a great piece of history from when former Besson designers and engineers set out on a path, culminating in the venerable Sterling Virtuoso. Bottom line, don't overlook the playability of a classic .580 bore horn like a New Standard or Imperial, of course with good valves and compression.

[tbonesullivan]

The Sterling is always the last to get taken to the party, but it's a great piece of history from when former Besson designers and engineers set out on a path, culminating in the venerable Sterling Virtuoso. Bottom line, don't overlook the playability of a classic .580 bore horn like a New Standard or Imperial, of course with good valves and compression.

Dillon also has two Bessons listed, one raw brass in .580/.650 with a Medium Shank receiver, and a more worn one in .580/.650 with a large shank receiver, which looks to have been refurbished.

The Sterling/Perantucci definitely looks 90s with the engraving style. It has an 11.75" bell with a .590/.670" bore. The buttons are round, and look to be kinda "flat", like most trumpets.

I'll definitely have to check out the higher range on all of them, as I am familiar with the issues some trombones have up there as well. On the other hand, I'm not averse to having to "work" harder for better rewards.

[tbonesullivan]

Well, it does have the hexagonal valve buttons. It's in pretty good shape, no super major dents, just some little dingers on some of the valve tubing, but nothing major. Plating is still very nice. I checked the valves, guides look great, the valves themselves look great. The case is.. a bit worse for wear, but still does the job of protecting the horn.

I played with it for about an hour, probably playing the Tenor Tuba part from Mars so much that I drove people insane. Thankfully there weren't that many people in Dillon this morning, probably due to the completely insane traffic jam that is New Jersey Beach traffic. While not on the beach, the Garden State Parkway is the main way to get there, and it was BBBAAADDD. On the way home, it was a parking lot for miles.

It slots well, and I didn't have any trouble making any of the high or low notes sound. I went from Pedal Bb all the way up to High F, and didn't find any duff notes or problems. Valve action was nice. Looks like it probably was sitting for a while, but now it's great. Takes a standard large shank mouthpiece.

I started playing it with a Hammond 11ML, which is my main trombone mouthpiece for large bore. Then I saw if they had an 11L, which Hammond says is closest to the a 52D, and I felt it opened up the sound a bit. After an hour, I made the decision, and it came home with me. My several year search is over, and now I need to find some bands to play in.

Thanks everyone for the advice! I also picked up a baritone/euphonium brass saver brush set. I've already got a nice bottle of ultra-pure, so I'll see how that works on the valves before looking at other options.