View RSS Feed

Instruments and Equipment

  1. Dave Werden Review of Wessex Sinfonico Euphonium

    I just came up in the testing rotation of the Sinfonico, and it is a real treat to test this new horn! In 2019 at ITEC I tried the prototype for this horn and found it very promising. Now we are looking at an early production model. My impression is that that the instrument has changed quite a bit in that time (which is not surprising - that's how the process works).

    The Sinfonico, unlike the less expensive Dolce, is hand made from sheet brass. Most other brands (and the Wessex "Dolce") ...
  2. Are Professional Instruments Only for Professional Players?

    The instrument choices today make this question more complex. Some of this post applies to tuba and other instruments, but I will specifically address euphonium.

    Until the late 1970's, there was a pretty wide line between pro euphoniums (i.e. Besson and Boosey & Hawkes) and everything else. That line was largely drawn by the compensating system, but also included the larger bore of the British instruments. Today we have large-bore, compensating euphoniums that cost less than some student-level ...
  3. Review: Cronkhite Leather Gig Bag for Euphonium

    After a great of thought and study, I decided to go with a Cronkhite leather gig bag. It was a hard decision because I have enjoyed my Altieri bag, starting in the 1990's, but I'm convinced the leather Cronkhite offers better protection. This review will include a comparison between the two bags. Let me also say that my Altieri bag gave me fine service for all these years. It held up well and was very convenient to use for my own situation (the horn is always under my control, for one thing). An ...
  4. The Magic of Old Instruments

    FOOD FOR THOUGHT

    On this forum and others we often talk about the "magic" of old horns. I have personally used the "m" word to describe the tone of the old, British-built Bessons. The reasons are many. No doubt materials, design, and construction methods enter into it. Age is also a factor. I've heard (from a very knowledgeable source) that a twisty brass instrument could have stresses at joints if not enough time is taken to make sure the metal is happy in its new configuration. The ...

    Updated 12-26-2019 at 06:01 PM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Instruments and Equipment
  5. Reviews - Eastman 826 and Shires Q41 Compensating Euphoniums

    These impressions are based on my testing at ITEC 2019. I chose to combine the two horns because they share similarities in manufacturing and are both part of the Eastman/Shires family.

    They seemed to share at least some parts, or possibly just design concepts. One I noted is the connector on the front side between valve 1 and 2. On both horns it follows the model of Willson, with more of a rounded-rectangle idea than a smooth curve. You can see it in this photo.

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	E-S Valve Connector Shape.jpg 
Views:	49011 
Size:	578.9 KB 
ID:	6983 ...

    Updated 11-14-2019 at 02:36 PM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Instruments and Equipment
  6. Review - Wessex EP600 Hand-Made Euphonium

    One opportunity I looked forward to when planning my visit to ITEC 2019 was seeing and playing the new Wessex EP600. This is their new, handmade model. My understanding is that the horn is made on a different floor of the Chinese factory, and that the workers building it are trained specifically for this type of work.

    As I have often said, patience is a virtue. It proved an asset at ITEC because the EP600 was delayed by a day or two. But I was able to get some time with it the day it ...
  7. Review - Wiseman Carbon Fiber Euphonium Case

    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	Wiseman Case Exterior.jpg 
Views:	47139 
Size:	197.9 KB 
ID:	6963NOTE: Comments from Wisemann appear at the bottom of this review.

    NOTE 2: Fletcher Mitchell, a euphonium player, gave me permission to use photos from his Facebook page of his Wiseman case. These show much better detail than my original photos. They are at the end of this blog entry, after the comments from Wiseman.

    The Wiseman case at ITEC2019 was impressive in many ways but seemed like a work in progress - although a promising work. The case ...
  8. All About Valve Maintenance

    Like Walter Matthau in "A New Leaf," we know that valves can be a problem (note: there may be a short commercial at the beginning of the video).



    In Walter's case the problem was with his Ferrari, which was constantly plagued with "carbon on the valves." In our case, as brass players, it is probably something else on the valves. In both cases, the valves don't like it!

    There are several possible reason for sluggish ...

    Updated 03-31-2019 at 12:03 PM by davewerden

    Categories
    Euphonium-Tuba Blog , General Tuba-Euphonium Blog , Instruments and Equipment
Page 2 of 3 FirstFirst 123 LastLast