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Thread: First impressions of my new silver Wessex Dolce

  1. #21
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    I have the gold brass bell on my Wessex. Can't compare it with the not gold brass bell (yellow brass) because I have not played one, but I like it fine. My Wessex is also lacquered instead of silver plated, which is a switch for me, as most of my horns over the years have been silver plated. I think the only other lacquered horns I have had (except the Adams) were my student model baritones in junior and senior high school.

    I have been playing the Wessex exclusively for the past two plus months since my Adams is at the doctor. I am playing a barn burner solo with the New Horizons Band (Blue Bells of Scotland), and the Wessex is doing just fine. The high B natural is a little wonky on this horn, but sort of playable. I need it at the end of the solo, but can also substitute a G for the B natural if I am in the mood. And I play some pedal stuff, I modified the cadenza at the front, and play down to a pedal D which is just a couple notes away from the lowest note possible on the horn, and the Wessex plays that fine.

    So, to PastorAtrain - consider the lacquered version of the Wessex Dolce. It is I think a hundred, maybe a bit more, less than silver plated. Also, easier to take care of, you can wipe the horn with a damp cloth instead of polishing silver. And the sound is nice.
    John Morgan
    The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
    Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
    1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 Baritone
    Adams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
    Year Round Except Summer:
    Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)
    KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
    Summer Only:
    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  2. #22
    Thank you all for the replies!
    “The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” -Robert Hughes

  3. Quote Originally Posted by PastorAtrain View Post
    Very nice review! I haven’t ordered mine yet, but will do so shortly; and now I have an idea of what to expect!
    Question: did you get the straight silver one or the silver/gold one?
    Thank you!
    I got the plain silver. The kid next to me at community band has a Jupiter, and I often think how much nicer his finish looks. It's mostly personal taste I think, but his silver is much darker and almost blue-gray, whereas the Wessex is a lighter white-gray. It seems like the finish isn't very thick; I dunno whether that's good, bad, or neutral.
    Wessex Dolce

    "Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things -- trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones." - Puddleglum in "The Silver Chair"

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by lzajmom View Post
    Thank you!
    I got the plain silver. The kid next to me at community band has a Jupiter, and I often think how much nicer his finish looks. It's mostly personal taste I think, but his silver is much darker and almost blue-gray, whereas the Wessex is a lighter white-gray. It seems like the finish isn't very thick; I dunno whether that's good, bad, or neutral.
    From your description I'm guessing the kid's horn is nickel plated, which is cheaper and generally not as good as a silver finish.
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  5. Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    From your description I'm guessing the kid's horn is nickel plated, which is cheaper and generally not as good as a silver finish.
    I agree. The internet is populated with a lot of "cool" looking euphoniums, and the general rule in my book is the more "out of the box" an instrument looks, the less likely it will be made from optimal materials and by someone who is a master of their craft.
    James Kircoff
    Genesee Wind Symphony - principal euphonium (Adams E3 Custom .60mm yellow brass bell w/ K&G 3.5)
    Capital City Brass Band (2019 NABBA 2nd section champions) - 1st baritone (Besson BE956 w/ Denis Wick 6BY)

  6. Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    From your description I'm guessing the kid's horn is nickel plated, which is cheaper and generally not as good as a silver finish.
    Thank you for this detail! I believe you are right. His finish really is very pretty, but now that I think about it, it doesn't actually look like silver.
    Wessex Dolce

    "Suppose we have only dreamed, or made up, all those things -- trees and grass and sun and moon and stars and Aslan himself. Suppose we have. Then all I can say is that, in that case, the made-up things seem a good deal more important than the real ones." - Puddleglum in "The Silver Chair"

  7. #27
    I've never heard of Jupiter using nickel plating, but I suppose it's possible. Nickel plating should be more durable than silver plate, but it tends to get cloudy looking with use and it doesn't feel as nice under your hands as silver. I've only seen cheap ebay instruments in nickel-plate (other than the black nickel finish that you see on some blinged-out instruments), and Jupiter is really at least a cut above that. Is it possible the euphonium in question is silver-plated but just tarnished to some extent?
    --
    Barry

  8. #28
    scratch that... there are some nickel-plated jupiter euphoniums on this page

    http://jupitermusic.com/internationa...ums/jep1000mn/

    and it looks like they've used the "black nickel" plating on some fancy trumpets before.

    So that's very plausible.
    --
    Barry

  9. #29
    Ok, it is official.
    I just purchased the gold brass Wessex Dolce. Wick 4AL mpc, two bottles of blue juice, hetmans #7 slide gel, and a HW brass saver brush kit.
    I was going to get the silver and gold, but found that you had mentioned that someone had mentioned that the gold wears off...no bueno.
    But I’ve mostly ever played on silver euph’s before...so I figured I’d give the lacquered one a try.
    Besides, this is just my first one anyway...
    “The greater the artist, the greater the doubt. Perfect confidence is granted to the less talented as a consolation prize.” -Robert Hughes

  10. #30
    Congratulations!
    Besides, this is just my first one anyway...
    I told myself that too when I got my JP274 Hoping to upgrade one day down the road, a Yamaha Neo or Geneva or Adams
    "Never over complicate things. Accept "bad" days. Always enjoy yourself when playing, love the sound we can make on our instruments (because that's why we all started playing the Euph)"

    Euph: Yamaha 642II Neo - 千歌音
    Mouthpiece: K&G 4D, Denis Wick 5AL

    https://soundcloud.com/ashsparkle_chika
    https://www.youtube.com/user/AshTSparkle/

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