Wessex BR144 review

[iiipopes]

Personal opinion: for me there is no need to have the fourth valve on a baritone. A 3 compensated valves is used to carry out all the work that a baritone must do: the 4th valve leaves it to the euphonium.

Agreed.

[iiipopes]

It is normal of the three compensate valves ( due to the limit of being able to put an adequately short compensation tube on the second valve) to be flat on 2/3: this can be a problem to stay i tune with other brass instruments that has 2/3 sharp.

The non-comp players in your section should pull and set the 3rd valve slide to be in tune and not sharp. You can tell them I said so. No less a player than Harry James on his trumpet did the same thing, and in some of his movie shots you can actually see his 3rd valve slide pulled and set so he didn't have to use a 3rd valve ring.

[ametropia]

Some of the soldering is not super tidy and threading on the valves is a bit rough. But, at this price, these are minor points.

I have the same issue with my BR140-S. The soldering is a bit messy, and I can clearly see toolmarks on the instrument. The valve cap threading issue exists on mine and is not a minor issue for me, it is a major inconvenience, especially with how much cleaning and re-oiling the valves require in the beginning. I once spent a solid 10+ minutes trying to re-thread one of my valve caps, which is just way too much time. I tried all the 'tricks' suggested (and my husband works on tools and small engines so he had tips and tricks of his own) and nothing works, he agreed with me: you just have to get 'lucky' to eventually to get it on.

However, in defense of Wessex, they have admitted to the valve cap issue and have apparently solved it. Doesn't do me any good, of course.

Other finish issues that my BR140-S arrived with included a complimentary dent-and-scuff combo -- very small and most would consider it hardly noticeable, it is on the back of the instrument facing in toward me, no one else will ever see it, but I know it's there and it kind of annoys me. To get into Wessex, I recommend people not be nearly as nit-picky as I am

[Barking Iron]

Yes, screwing the valves back in place is annoying, I do not worry too much as I trust that the cleaning and re-oiling will not be a daily necessity after a while.

How long do you have your horn now? Did the valves improve?

[iiipopes]

Yes, screwing the valves back in place is annoying, I do not worry too much as I trust that the cleaning and re-oiling will not be a daily necessity after a while.

Do you also put the slightest bit of heavy slide grease on the valve cap threads to ease the caps and help seat the threads?

[Barking Iron]

Do you also put the slightest bit of heavy slide grease on the valve cap threads to ease the caps and help seat the threads?

Not yet, but I will try this. Thanks for the tip.

[Barking Iron]

A short update on my experiences:

- The valves are a lot better by now, I oil them once a week and they remain fast. I am still thinking about getting heavier springs, there is no real need for it, but that is what I was used to.
- Intonation is good. 5th partial is somewhat flat, as is to be expected, but it is easy to compensate for
- Sound is great, it blends really well in the band, without getting a Euph sound
- It is very easy to play in all registers

So, as you can read, I am super happy with my Wessex. Finish is not perfect and the valves require some attention at first, but other than that it is a fantastic instrument, especially at this price.

Cheers,
Bram