Yamaha SB29C Silent Brass System for Euphonium

[bariforhire]

I have a Besson 967 Sovereign and I am not sure if the silent mute will fit my euph. Does anyone have experience using this silent brass system? What are your thoughts?

[Cameron J.]

If there is anyone that can provide some feedback, please do. I'm interested about the Silent Brass systems as well.

[davewerden]

I can't speak from personal experience, but see this post. It seems to answer your question.


http://www.dwerden.com/forum/showthread.php/18944-FS-Silver-Besson-Sovereign-967

[bariforhire]

As a follow-up to my original post in case someone is interested, I have since bought the Yamaha PM2 Euphonium Silent Brass system and the pickup mute fits the Besson Sovereign 967 perfectly. I now practice without disturbing my wife or neighbors. Instead of the earbuds that come with the system, I use a good set of wireless headphones and the sound is the same as if I was playing without the mute, it has a good volume control and even has a concert hall setting. I searched for quite a while to find the PM2, Yamaha stopped making that model years ago, you have to find a used one. I was fortunate to finally win an auction on eBay after several previous attempts and being outbid. Mine is in perfect condition and performs beautifully. I highly recommend this system for anyone who has noise problems with the wife or neighbors.

[Euph.GenX]

Hello bariforhire, or anyone else on this thread that has acquired a Yamaha Silent Brass mute for their euphonium.

I would like to ask, what does the backpressure feel like with the Silent Brass system? I am currently using a Dennis Wick travel mute, which works really well for getting rid of the noise for the neighbors and roommates, but the amount of backpressure and the way it completely changes the tone of my euphonium bugs me too much lately and I can not use it anymore unless I absolutely have to. I think the Silent Brass system would be perfect for me, I am just wondering how it feels to play!

[TheJH]

The amount backpressure (or resistance) with the (old) PM2 is A LOT. In my opinion it forces you to open up your throat and use proper air support to actually feel nice to play with instead of having the feeling of having a brick wall stuffed halfway down your bell. And even then, the sound that comes out of it is very minimal so you definitely don't have to worry about your neighbours.
The only negative is that it's quite a tall and heavy thing, so having it in your bell makes your euph kinda top-heavy, so it's quite a strain on the arms.