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Thread: Hey All New Member With A Question

  1. Hey All New Member With A Question

    Greeting yall my name is Daniel im 21 and i used to play the euphonium in high school and i would like to get back into playing it, my main question is, is Selman a good brand horn? You see them on ebay for 300 bucks and i was just wondering if they are good or junk are the ones on ebay real or fake please let me know thank you

    Daniel

  2. #2

    Hey All New Member With A Question

    I'm pretty cautious about such brands. If you want to really play again, then I think there are better ways to go. On the other hand, if you already have a good horn and want a rotary valve horn to fool around with, a cheap horn like the Selman might be fine.

    But there have been some posts about Selman already. Check out:

    Which is the better euphonium brand? (Selman or Schill)

    Rotary Valve Euphs

    St. Petersburg Tubas

    Jupiter Euphoniums

    Tuba Choice - Advice
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. Hey All New Member With A Question

    hello daniel. glad you didnt wait as many decades as i did to pick up a horn again. the link i am adding will hopefully help you out also. i stumbled upon it recently. these are mostly known brand, used, some restored, etc horns that can hopefully fit your needs.

    http://stores.ebay.com/Leisure...fsubZ12QQftidZ2QQtZkm


    Neal

  4. #4

    Hey All New Member With A Question

    There are a couple of Conn 15I three-valve horns on ebay right now. One has a buy-it-now price of $195.

    http://search.ebay.com/search/...chi=&fsop=2%26fsoo%3D2
    Bruce H Ward
    Houston TX

    Besson BE2056-2 4-Valve Compensating Baritone
    1946 Conn 30-I Wonderphone 5-Valve Double-bell

  5. #5

    Hey All New Member With A Question

    I think it depends on your aspirations and expectations: if you're just looking for a horn to toot around on, a Selman may be fine, but if you want somethng that will allow you to develop musically, I suspect that the limitations of a cheap (as opposed to merely "inexpensive") horn - spotty intonation, difficult centering, poor fit and finish, etc. - will hold you back.

    FWIW, a friend of mine who is a professional Tubist recently had a chance to play a Selman tuba. His verdict:

    It did not completely suck.

    It was actually of a far better quality than a $500 tuba should be. [NB: knowing the way Mike puts things, he's NOT saying the quality is good per se; he's saying that it's better than you would expect for $500.] I would not take a chance on the Great Ebay Indian Brass Instrument Lottery just yet, because these things must still be fairly inconsistent. But the pitch was not bad ... workable. The rotors worked well and the linkages were pretty good. The finish was pretty decent. And the bell throat was very large. It made a pretty decent tuba.

    Caveats:

    1. I got to play ONE, and that ONE happened to be pretty decent, and quite inexpensive.

    2. I did not play it with a tuner.

    3. I did not notice whether it used a large or small shank mouthpiece.

    4. I was not able to inspect the internal joints to see what is being hidden, so I have zero ideas about durability or solder globs or ragged tube ends.

    It is balanced poorly, IMO. If you are a real tubist, forget about this one and resume snickering at it like the rest of us. But as a cheap tuba it was not the craptacular POS that I was expecting.

  6. #6

    Hey All New Member With A Question

    I am a High School Euphonium player, I use the Yamaha YEP 321S. It's a great Intermediate 4th valve instrument. I really reccomend it especially if you just want to fool around with playing again. It retails for 1500 to 2000, but seeing as though it is one of the more popular student models you should be able to find a used surplus of them somewhere.

    Enjoy

    FlaEuph

  7. Hey All New Member With A Question

    Smart move, not waiting 15-30 years to pick back up again like some of us!!

    When I decided 18 months ago to start playing the euphonium, I bought what I have come to know as an ISO (Instrument Shaped Object) euphonium off e-bay. It cost me abuot $200.00, was brand new, and silver. It came with a lightweight case and a cheap mouthpiece. I hacked around on it for about a month, and felt good enough to join a New Horizons band. (There is a digression here, as I ended up playing the tuba for them, and now list tuba as my primary, but I'll try and stay on topic here.)

    As my playing improved, and as I started playing with others, I discovered that the intonation in the horn was awful. I could not get several partials within about 75 cents. In the mean time, I had bought a York Master tuba from a guy on the Tubenet website (for $850) and eventually was able to pick up a Conn 191 4 valve off e-bay for $850. I have since seen a couple of 4 valve BBb tubas go in the 1200-1500 range, and sometimes wish I'd been more patient.

    My experience, YMMV, is that you need to get a decent horn, and if you are patient, you can often pick one up under $1000. Buy a good brand, with a good track record of both repair and resale. Good Luck!!

    Ally

  8. Hey All New Member With A Question

    Wow, I remember being 21 and playing my horn. Free Hockey, free Basketball, Free Womens Basketball. Now, its free food and fun.

    But for a horn, I will be very straight with you. You don't have the time to mess around with a screwy horn. For the Selman, I would want to play it and take the valves out to inspect and see how good they are made. I have seen trumpets that it was very hard to get the valves back in after you removed them.

    You can find very nice horns with 3-valves for under $300. If you must add the forth valve (and I realy don't know why you would) then you could look at the older Conn, King and Buscher horns and find a realy nice on for under $1000. Or, a beat up horn for under $300.

    Check the local pawn shops and music shops. Even the Guitar shops. You will eventualy find something.

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