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Thread: Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

  1. #1

    Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    My son is 16 and has been playing euphonium since he was 10 years old. He is currently playing a well-worn Yamaha YEP321s. He is quite talented, has made the state regionals (1st chair this year!) and loves music, his euphonium, plans to major in music in college.

    His teacher, whom he has been with from the beginning says he is ready for a professional grade instrument, and I agree. I am already aware of which horns are preferred, my problem is, how and/or where can he have the opportunity to try them out before buying? There is no one in my area (Phoenix, AZ) who keep more than one, if any, of any brand of professional grade euphoniums in stock. He has been able to try out one of the Besson Prestige, but wants to compare it to others in its class.

    I have no problem spending $5K+ for a good horn, but to buy one without having tried it out first just isn't an option. I know some of the online retailers have "trial periods" but shuffling what could be a number of large, expensive instruments through the postal/ups, etc system over the course of a number of months does not sound very practical.

    Ideally, I would like him to have the opportunity to try more than one at a time, which I am beginning to realize may not be possible.

    Where do I go? Are there any retailers in the southwest (CA,AZ,NM....) that would have these instruments on hand to try? Euphoniums-R-Us?

    I am at a loss at where to go from here. How does one decide on which euphonium to purchase, if one cannot get hold of one to test?

    Any thoughts or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

    Thank you!

    H. Peterson

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
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    West Palm Beach, FL
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    Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    This is always difficult. These instruments are very expensive and most dealers don't want to make the investment of having several brands of professional instruments in their inventory.

    I would think the best place to go would be one of the shows or conferences that always have horns to try out. The biggest conference coming up is ITEC (International Tuba/Euphonium Conference) in just two months in June in Cincinnati, OH. See this link for more info:

    ITEC 2008

    I went to ITEC in 2002 and there were at least 6 or 8 different brands of professional euphoniums to try out.
    Rick Floyd
    Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
    YEP-641S (recently sold)
    Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank


    "Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
    Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
    El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
    Chorale and Shaker Dance
    (John Zdechlik)

  3. #3

    Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    I would recommend contacting Roger Lewis at WWBW (Woodwind Brasswind.

    WWBW will ship multiple instrument (free shipping) for you to trial for up to 45 days. The most expensive one will be billed to your credit card; the others will be reserved but not billed. Once you've made your decision, you ship the ones you don't want back (you pay return shipping), and they bill you for the one you keep. If you decide to keep a less expensive one, they refund the difference; if you decide to send them all back, they'll refund the full amount you were billed for.

  4. Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    Yamaha, Willson, Besson, and Sterling are among the most popular around. I love my Willson 2900, though for others it might not be there cup of tea. There are many options and wish you the best of luck on your search. The Sterlings from what I've heard are the "Cadillac" of euphs. They seem VERY nice and many people endorse them(Dave Werden ). Wish the best of luck.

  5. Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    I would contact the low brass professor at the college your son plans to attend and get his advice. Your son will be this professors student for 4 or more years and it would be best if the horn he was playing on was to the approval of his teacher.


  6. Where can I find euphoniums to try before buying?

    Hi~~

    I was just wondering, there seems to be a lot of places for people to try and buy euphoniums in the states. Just wondering if anybody knows where I can try out some euphoniums in Vancouver, Canada? thanks~~ =D

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