Overwhelmed by choices! Little help?

[iiipopes]

If the horn is more than a couple years old, also be careful to have the valve block and guides checked if you do get a Yamaha. Some horns have thin valve casings that can deform a little easier than most, and the guides are nylon and tend to wear a little more quickly than traditional brass, in order to quiet the valve action marginally. I have heard these two issues have been remedied in the past couple of years, but my tech tells me most of his work on school horns is re-rounding brass valve casings of everything from trumpets to tubas.

[Yarnivore]

Regarding the valve noise, have you had the guides and pads replaced? That has always cured similar problems for me. Guides wear and pads compress over time.

It's been clunky ever since I got it. I've had for a little over a year, so it's not that old. It's when the valve comes back up, so I don't think it's the pads. Could be the guides though, I didn't consider that. It's honestly not a good horn really, so it may just be how it's made. It's not bad for a beginner student horn. I've seen worse. But I think I need to move up to the next level of horn to be able to improve though. And it sounds like I need a different mouthpiece, from the advice given here.

I have a niece who just started learning euphonium. I may pass my Mendini down to her. It would be fine for a home practice horn. I might go ahead and buy new guides for it and see if that helps. They don't look expensive, so why not? Are guides horn-specific? I've never replaced guides (always had a school horn before). Are there different sizes? I don't think Mendini makes replacement parts, a least not that I can find.

[RickF]

Michael Schott offers good advise. It still could be guides or pads (or felts). You wrote;

"It's been clunky ever since I got it. I've had for a little over a year, so it's not that old. It's when the valve comes back up"

There are two sets of felts and/or pads on euphonium valves. The felt or pad under the valve button controls how far the valve can travel downward to align with the ports of the valve casing. It also quiets the down stroke. The felt or pad on top the valve (under the valve cap) controls how far the valve travels upward (or at rest) to match the valve ports to casing ports. This felt or pad can also affect the noise of the 'upstroke'. Over time these felts can get hard and noisy AND thinner so can affect port alignment. See this image below for more info:

[daviste]

It still could be guides or pads (or felts).

There are two sets of felts and/or pads on euphonium valves.

I am getting the impression that valve felts and pads are the exact same thing. Is this true?

[RickF]

Sometimes they'll use just felts, but if the felt is not quite thick enough there will be a thin layer of something else like cork or fibre.

[ghmerrill]

Also, one function of the "pad" can be to distribute the pressure more evenly over the (softer) felt. But as Rick suggests, the pads may generally serve as "shims" (i.e., providing some additional "padding" or thickness to achieve exactly the correct alignment). My Mack Brass euph currently has only "felts" (though these are of synthetic material), and no pads/shims. My 1924 tuba has felts and thin shims (since it has more wear and needs the shims to get the alignment correct). Finally, cork is often used in lieu of felt since it is not so water absorbent, though it is also harder. So there are a number of options that a tech (or you) might use.

When I got my Mack Brass euph about 5 years ago, it was just great -- wonderful instrument. But the valve felts and corks were absolute CRAP. They got replaced immediately.

Yes, guides are "horn specific" -- at least generally brand specific. In general, my experience is that all these Jin Bao (or similar) instruments intended to be Yamaha clones are in fact Yamaha clones to the degree that they can use Yamaha springs, felts, etc. My Wessex Eb tuba is a Besson clone, and it -- surprise! -- uses those Besson parts.

[BDeisinger]

I would go with the Yamaha. Really don't need compensating. The only time I've used the lower register is in some of the English suites including Holst. I have three nice compensators. The newer euphoniums really have a good sound.

[Yarnivore]

*** UPDATE***

I'm not seeing a way to edit my original post, is that not doable here? (No biggie, I just don't know if I'm missing it or if it's just not a thing.)

Since the huge majority voted on the Yamaha 321, I went with that one. I ordered it last week and it came in today. I am in love! It's so much crisper and cleaner sounding that the Mendini. It's even a tad bigger and feels more sturdy. The valves are much better, they're super quiet and they're smooth as butter! I'm already having an easier time hitting high notes. I thought I'd lost a lot of my range just from not playing for so long, but it seems like some of that was the horn I was using. I'm actually even a little sick right now and my lungs are kind of wheezy. I can't wait to see what I can do when I'm better and can put more air behind it.

Thank you all so much for your help! We have a winner!

[Yarnivore]

Thank you so much for your help! I ordered a basic small-shank mouthpiece when I ordered my horn. Nothing fancy, it's a Faxx 6.5. But I can already tell a huge difference in how I'm playing. I'm amazed at how such a little difference in mouthpiece size can make such an improvement! I had no idea. I'm hitting higher notes with much less work and my sound is much clearer. I'm even over-shooting now because I'm so used to having to push harder to get there. There's quite a bit of difference between the Mendini mouthpiece and the new one. The Mendini mouthpiece doesn't even fit the Yamaha, it's too big around.

I would like to try out these nicer small-shank mouthpieces on this website you mentioned. But since I just dropped so much on a horn, I need to wait for my bank account to recover. My birthday isn't too far off, I may just have to put that on my list.

You guys rule. You helped so much and I'm extremely pleased with my purchase! Y'all were spot-on with the Yamaha/smaller shank combo. It's just what I needed! You have my deepest gratitude!

Here is Doug Elliott's page with small-shank mouthpieces:

http://www.dougelliottmouthpieces.com/tenortrb.html

He's good at working with individuals to find just the right mouthpiece.