Experience with Selman Euphs?

[Tortuba]

Does anyone have first-hand experience with the Selman branded 4v rotary oval euphs being sold on Ebay.

I realized that they are not hand-made by elves in the Black Forest, but do they represent a decent value for $400?

[Ryan_Beucke]

I have no personal experience, but my guess is that you're better off getting a used bell front euphonium for about the same price.

[ufoneum]

Selman is a East-Asian brand that is being sold to "USA and Canada", don't let this fool you into thinking that it is made anywhere near here.

I myself have played these instruments on a recent trip to China. The whole military band that my quartet played with was outfitted with a whole set.

If you are wanting to grow as a musician on this instrument - you might want to look elsewhere. It might be pretty and cost under $400, but it would cost you almost that much (guessing, of course...) to get it to play. Also, the one of these instruments that I played was marked as "high pitch." You know what I mean by that...

So, if you are looking for a "good" horn, you might look at used reliable brands. I would rather play a horn with no laquer and a broken valve stem than one of these new Chinese babies.

I don't mean to be discouraging, but you hate to see people getting ripped off.

- Pat Stuckemeyer

[Donn]

As for the kind of people who sell this stuff online, here's some ideas about one to steer away from.

http://www.geocities.com/yuenli_low/trombone/ebay.html

(Have no personal experience, no affiliation with, standard disclaimers apply even if prohibited by law.)

[lgb&dtuba]

I bought one of those Selman euponiums recently. I don't believe it is good enough for a professional player but ok as a second beater.

Comparing it with a Cerveny oval euph I saw the following. It's made out of slightly thinner brass, so it needs careful handling. That would make it completely inappropriate for a middle/high school environment. Unless you want an inexpensive sacrificial horn.

The linkages to the rotors are nowhere near as thick and heavy as those on the Cerveny. They work fine and seem to be ok, but time will tell how the connections hold up.

Fit and finish was exceptionally good on my euph, especially considering the $299 price I got it for. That said, the Cerveny has heavier nickle tubing in places where the Selman is brass.

Intonation was pretty good. Much better than the Jupiter it replaced. I have no problems playing it in tune. Rotor action is smooth and precise.

As to tone, after replacing the stock mouthpiece with one out of my collection it sounded enough like the Cerveny that I really doubt that a blind test would consistently pick out which was which.

Speaking of mouthpieces, you should be aware that the Selman requires a European shank. If you already have a number of tenor shank mouthpieces you'll need some kind of shank adapter to use them on this horn. I've had trouble running one down, but find that a piece of transparent heat shrink tubing works just fine as an adapter. Cheaper, too.

Bottom line, I found it to be an acceptable horn for doubling on in the German band I play in. I wouldn't use it in a concert type setting and clearly can't carry it into a "mine is bigger than yours" fight. If the bus runs over it or it falls off the equipment truck, well I can afford to replace it quite a few times.

Jim Wagner

[SplatterTone]

They don't list them on their web site or catalog, but WWBW stocks medium shank euphonium mouthpieces (or did about two months ago when I got a couple for an Amati). You have to call them up. If I recall correctly, the mouthpieces are distributed by DEG.

Kelly makes a couple of plastic medium shankers too. Not many vendors carry them, so you might have to order from Kelly. I have them, but have forgotten the size. Maybe 51D and something else??