As some may know, I recently purchased a new Sterling Virtuoso Baritone. I had originally tried the Sterling baritone in July of 2014 when visiting Paul Riggett at his shop in Bedfordshire. At that time he had made up two instruments in raw brass for Sarah Lenton, Principal baritone of Foden's, to audition. One of the horns was in a standard 3-valve compensating configuration with yellow brass bell. The other horn had a heavy red brass bell. During the day I was able to play both to my heart's content. While the standard configuration played well, the horn with the heavy bell was astounding. I found that pitch was great, response was great, and I could easily play soft to very loud without ever having the sound break up. The high range from G up through F above high C (Bb treble clef) was MUCH easier to play softly and in tune than on the 4-valve York 3056 I have been playing for years. Later that evening, Paul gave the two horns to Ms. Lenton to try out during a Bedford Town Band rehearsal. She ended up choosing the heavy bell horn that I liked and took it back to RNCM and Foden's. That horn is now her daily instrument and the one she took on tour to Las Vegas for a solo tour this spring. You can see Ms. Lenton and her horn (still in raw brass) here: http://www.4barsrest.com/news/detail...2#.Vfwpg99VhHw
Let's move forward a year. Last spring after selling off some of my vintage horns (my Holton double bell and my SA baritone), I arranged to purchase a new baritone from Sterling. Communication with Paul Riggett helped to set up the specs. Since I already have a Sterling Virtuoso Euphonium with the fancy gold trim, I decided to go "over the top" and do the same with my baritone. So the horn you see below is a Sterling Virtuoso Baritone with the optional heavy bell, gold fittings (valve buttons and caps), and gold slides. It is a model 1050HS. The H stands for Heavy Bell, and the S stands for Silver. The horn comes in a standard black plastic case exactly identical to the one a York Preference 3055/56 or a Besson Sovereign 955 uses.
Physically, the horn is very similar to a Besson Sovereign 955, York Preference 3055, or Yamaha NEO baritone in layout, except for the leadpipe. The leadpipe on the Sterling is a bit straighter and sticks out a bit further from the bell than on my York, allowing the horn to be held more like a tenor horn. and less like a euphonium. Also, the lyre attachment (lyre is not included) is on the first valve slide instead of the third valve slide as it is on many other baritones.
On disassembly, I found that the valves are very well done. They appear to use synthetic felts similar to the Besson felts. After a bit of cleaning and a little adjustment, I conclude that they are very smooth, quiet, and very fast. I am currently using my "Mead Springs" for breakin as they are a bit heavier than the stock Sterling springs. Once I get the horn broken in, I will switch back for the lighter action. My only gripe with the valves is that the guides are a bit different from either Yamaha or Besson.
They look like Besson valve guides where the plastic tab hangs over the edge of the piston in its own recess on the piston. However, instead of slipping tightly over a notch in the valve stem, the guides are held in place by a metal washer on the valve stem just like Yamaha guides. I have spare Besson/York baritone guides, and while the outer dimensions are identical to the Sterling, the inner hole that goes around the valve stem is larger on the Besson guides, so they would not properly center on the Sterling. Unfortunately, this means that replacement guides cannot be sourced easily from either your Yamaha repair shop or your Besson repair shop. Bummer.
So now that we have established that this is a good looking horn that is extremely well built, has great valve action, and is about as fancy of a 3-valve baritone as is on the market these days, the real question is: "How does it play?"
For the answer to this question, see Part 2 of this review. You will not be disappointed...!