Need Help Deciding

[DLHgn]

So i'm going into college this coming fall and I need to purchase my own euphonium but I am at a tossup between two different brands and models.

The Yamaha YEP-842S
or
The Besson 2051 Prestige Series

Any information on either of these models would be greatly appreciated.

[coolguy684]

http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthr...rison-Reposted

This should help.

[DaTweeka]

First, have you tried either of these horns? And, what are you looking to do with them? AND, what do you play on right now? AND have you tried any other horn (or, what has made you pick these two)? The Yamaha only really sits well as a solo horn (if at that) and their quality control has a very wide range. The Besson is heavy enough to be an all-rounder, has a tuning trigger as standard, and their quality control tends to be a bit better (in case you can't tell, I kinda favor the Besson). However, the bell flare/slightly wider bore on the Besson makes the high range finicky at times, while you can usually point and shoot with the Yamaha. Either way, they cost about the same, and they resell for about the same, though the Yamaha has, in recent years gotten a bit of a bad rap (the only people I see playing the horn are people who are issued it by the military and people in Adam Frey's studio; it's ridiculous). But, it all comes down to the questions above.

[coolguy684]

I was under the impression that Yamaha's quality control was relatively flawless, better than most of the other brands. Did they suffer during the lottery era as badly as the old Besson?

[DaTweeka]

I was under the impression that Yamaha's quality control was relatively flawless, better than most of the other brands. Did they suffer during the lottery era as badly as the old Besson?

I've run into a few older Customs that have made me hesitant to pick them up ever again. I don't know if they get as bad as the Bessons, but there are certainly some whacky ones out there.

[DLHgn]

I have not tried either of the horns and I do not know where to go to try them in my area (I will look into it). I am looking to perform with the band at my college. Right now I play on a Yamaha YEP-642. The reason I was looking into getting one of these two is that I want a horn that is nice, but not too ridiculously expensive, and a horn that is better than the one I play on now.

[DaTweeka]

Well, the 642 isn't a bad horn as it is; they work really well as all-around horns with a fairly easy high range. And, assuming you're in a wind ensemble, you want to be able to support the band when you aren't wearing your soloist hat. When you say "better", do you mean darker, or with a faster response, or is the school horn just a piece of crap as it is? And, where are you located; we other forum members can probably point you in some direction so as to get your hands on a horn.

[superted]

The 642 Neo is definitely the better all-round instrument (compared to the 842). More robust sound, slots better and is easier to play.

The only reasons you'd pick the 842 is:
1) if you actually prefer the 842 sound. It's hauntingly beautiful but just not very big or dark. Forget blending with tubas, it blends better with horns.
2) if you are the type to have after thoughts because you didn't buy the most instrument you can afford (I'll raise my hand and confess to being of that type).

Don't get me wrong, I know there will be people who prefer the 842 but is the difference between them really worth the extra $$$?
The person who Yamaha customised the 842 for went to Besson!
Also Yamaha put A LOT of work to develop to Maestro 642 and even more work into developing that into the Neo.

As to Yamaha vs Besson. I've chatted to 2 Besson endorsers about it and one of them said something along the lines of "You must play a Besson to sound like a euphonium", which sounded like a hard sell to me (there were people from Besson watching at the time). The other one "they (Yamaha) still haven't got the sound quite right yet but they've solved a lot of the problems that we've been trying to solve).

ted

[DLHgn]

I would like a darker sound and yes, the school horn is a shiny, barely even that, piece of crap. I live in Austin, Texas. My school just recently bought two brand spankin new 642 Neos, but I unfortunately was not able to get my hands on one. I have played on it though and it does seem quite nice (at least much nicer than mine), but I can't, at this point, compare it to the 842 and the Besson seeing as I don't know where to go to test out instruments. I have only really played on my 642, so I can't really say what I would prefer as I have not really experienced anything different. And yes, I am in the school wind ensemble and I plan on being in the college's wind ensemble.