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Thread: Blessing Euphonium

  1. Blessing Euphonium

    I've recently taken up playing my horn again after a near 30 year lay-off, which seems a common thread here. I broke out my Olds Studio that I bought used in H.S. freshened it a bit and started working on my chops, which amazingly, are coming back strong. I also purchased a used King 627 that I'm not too fond of, the tone is quite brassy, whereas the tone of the Olds is warm, dark, and round. Thankfully I've played bass guitar through the years, so my reading skills stayed sharp.

    Wanting to transition to a top-valve horn, eventually something of high quality, when finances allow, I snapped up a used Blessing 3-valve with some bell damage, for $150. Otherwise, it's in good shape, and skills gained as a metalworker will have the bell straight in a jiff...that and the english wheel in the garage.

    I've been able to find virtually no information on these Blessing horns, and will welcome any assistance the forum might provide, as well as opinions on this instrument. Such as who actually makes them and where parts might be obtained if necessary. The only markings on it are "BLESSING USA", and the serial, 11030.

    Thanks in advance,

    Chris


  2. #2

    Blessing Euphonium

    E. K. Blessing is a subsidiary of Verne Q. Powell Flutes and is headquartered in Elkhart, IN.

    They primarily produce student and intermediate level band instruments (clarinets, flutes, saxes, trumpets, flugels, trombones, euphs, tubas) and mouthpieces, though they've recently begun made forays into pro (primarily trumpets and trombones) instruments.

    There is a serial number list for E K Blessing, however, unless the serial number you gave above is missing a digit or the horn is an antique, it appears to bear no correlation to the information listed there.

  3. Blessing Euphonium

    I'd found that list as well, this horn is nowhere near old enough to correspond to those digits. The number quoted in the OP is correct, and I have found two others, on e-bay, that bear comparable serials. Definitely a student level instrument, for sure.

    The link to the Blessing Co. website appears to be broken.


  4. Blessing Euphonium

    Blessing has been bought out by Sonare Winds and will no longer be producing instruments labelled E.K. Blessing anymore.

    Blessing also stopped making euphs and tubas several years ago as they were not that profitable for them. Essentially their euphs were copies of Yamaha's student euphs.

    Blessing used to do their own designs but for the most part, they were a cheap American copy company. The student instruments were quite good and their "pro" instruments had a decent reputation in the intermediate price range as they were inferior copies of very good pro horns.

    Besson, Zeus, and several other companies have used Blessing as a manufacturer for instruments that they didn't make themselves.

  5. #5

    Blessing Euphonium

    Originally posted by: prototypedenNIS
    Blessing has been bought out by Sonare Winds and will no longer be producing instruments labelled E.K. Blessing anymore.
    DenNIS,

    Blessing was bought by Verne Q. Powell Flutes, which also owns the Sonaré Winds label.

    The articles here and here suggest that Powell will continue producing and marketing instruments under the Blessing label:

    I [Steven Wasser, owner of Powell] felt like here was an opportunity to buy a 103-year old company at a very fair price, with very good quality instruments, and rejuvenate the brand.

    MMR: Will you ultimately be fielding a full range of instruments, from student through professional?
    SW: We're probably going to be in what I'll call the "advanced student" segment up through professional. How we rationalize what gets the Sonaré brand vs. what gets the Blessing brand is still a somewhat open question. I think that in the true beginner student segment - the $99 flute you can buy at Costco and the like - we can't compete with that. But we will be very strong in the areas we can compete in. Our strategy is "Made in U.S.A." Anything that's going to have the Blessing name on it will be made in America. -- from Musical Merchandise Review, Feb 2010
    Noting that Blessing has improved the quality of its horns in the past year and a half, Wasser said Powell will focus on making some design changes and aggressively marketing the product. He anticipates improving Blessing's bottom line by building its export business and introducing the brand into Sonaré's dealer network.

    "A 100 percent increase in sales over the next two years is completely reasonable," he said. -- from Indiana Economic Digest, 10/31/2009

  6. Blessing Euphonium

    Thanks fsung and denNIS for the replies, it does, now that I look more closely, definitely resemble a Yammy 201, that and the quality of the bell engraving lead me to think this would be the student model and not anything more. What can one expect for 150? Plays well, doesn't require a high volume of air, and has a good ring to the tone, for the expenditure, I can say I'm happy with it.

    I tested a 4-valve comp. Nirshl? at a local shop a week or so ago, amazed at how much extra air volume that took in comparison to what I've become used to.

    The Blessing did have a stuck 3rd slide when it came, that freed up with super hot water poured over the tubes prior to its' bath, must have either melted the grease or expanded the tube just enough to set it free. This eve I'll start working on the bell damage, thankfully is isn't crinkled.

    Kind of like a pig.....with a bit of lipstick.....but fits my musical qaulifications at this time.

    Thanks, once again,

    Chris


  7. Blessing Euphonium

    Thanks Fsung!

    I don't keep up on the Journals much and got some wrong information on the name being phased out.
    We'll see what goes on with the product as things change. They've certainly got room to improve and can steal back American marketshare if they do it well enough.

    euphanewb, it's a student horn, but it's a decent quality student horn. The Nirschl Probably has a much larger bore and a large shank mouthpiece, which will open the sound up a lot but will require much more air. Like most pro horns, it would be hard to get the first notes on it, but the difference when you build that kind of strength up is very big for your tone.

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