End of June I had a BR140/silverplated in my hands and of course on my lips for a couple of hours. I ordered it for our band from Wessex and was very pleased with their customer service. Though we have not kept the instrument we do recommend the company and the instrument. Craftmanship, fit and finish of the baritone were fine. It was close to the Yamaha Baritone (831S) we got from our local dealer. The BR140 is really worth the money. The Yamaha is not cheap but it showed small advantages in intonation, response, sound and built quality. So it won the competition. For me the huge difference in price does not count too much when I think of a new Baritone as an investment for the rest of my life and probably several thousand hours of playing. Am i biased towards the Yamaha? Yes, because I really love to play my 642neo. In the eighties I played a C-Tuba from Yamaha and heard of the guy who bought it that every bit of spare part like felts and springs or leadpipe still is easily accessible.
If you have more restricted budgets or are not willing to pay the price of the Yamaha then in my opinion the Wessex is the next best deal.
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Sterling Virtuoso / Giddings Kadja
Yamaha 642 II / Giddings Kadja
Yamaha YBH 831S / Giddings Kadja S
Yamaha Flügelhorn 631GS / DW2FL