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Thread: The Jupiter XO 1270... What should I look out for?

  1. #11
    It’s probably worth mentioning that I went through a number of mouthpieces before settling on a SM6. I don’t know if it’s my familiarity with trumpet that makes it easier for me to center a pitch with a smaller mouthpiece, but that is where I am for now. Maybe the compatibility with the horn is what made the difference. My XO arrived with an XO branded 5G, and I experimented with on-hand Shilke 47, Denis Wick 3AL, 4AL, and SM4XU.
    Clayton M.
    Musician for Fun
    • Euphonium Newbie - XO 1270S
    • Trumpet Novice - XO 1602RS

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Richmond, KY
    Posts
    24
    Thanks Clayton!

    I've tried various mouthpieces, and I've personally NEVER been able to get any Denis Wick to produce a good sound. It's either incredibly airy, dry, or simply very out of tune. Not sure why, but those problems don't persist on my usual Schilke 52E2, or even on the Bach 2G I use for bass trombone. Hopefully the instrument agrees with my mouthpiece, and my embouchure! I believe I was playing on a Yamaha mouthpiece when I tried out the XO, as that was the only one I had in my backpack at the time.

  3. #13
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Richmond, KY
    Posts
    24
    My horn came in about 2 months early, so I received it today! So excited to have it so soon.

    Shipping went well. No damage to the horn, case, or box. Speaking of the case, the case the horn came with is very nice. Feels durable, light, and has a nice blue velvet on the inside lining. Not sure how it'd hold up super long-term, but I do plan to get myself a gig bag for easier travel at some point in the near future. That said, I'd have no issue using this case.

    The horn itself is absolutely gorgeous. I went with the lacquered model, and the base lacquer is a very nice gold with a lot of shine. There are silver accents on the valve slides, with some rose gold here and there - it's the best looking lacquered horn I think I've ever seen. I still prefer the silver look, but wow! Anyone got any tips on how to preserve lacquer? I'd like to keep it in nice condition, especially since this probably won't be my "forever horn".

    I only got to play it for like 30 minutes in an 8x8' room before I had to go to work, but the horn seems to play nicely. I warmed up, and found that the tone is very colorful, and is much more pure than what I was getting on the Nirschl. Tuning isn't perfect, but no horn has perfect tuning, and it's a blessing compared to my old horn. The low range (low E down to low B) speaks incredibly well, with an easy dynamic range from p to f without any distortion. The middle range of the instrument seems to be settled nicely, but I didn't have much time to test that. The high range (high concert Bb and up) is much harder to obtain than I'm used to - but I'm also pretty sure this horn has larger tubing than my Nirschl did, so maybe that's got something to do with it. I can usually get a nice C#, but Bb's were iffy today on this horn. Might just be something I have to get used to.

    Overall, so far, I'm impressed with the horn! I'll be spending most of Saturday just playing around with it and seeing what I can learn. I still have to switch in some Mead Springs and a Lefreque Plate, but I'm happy with it.

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,870
    Congrats on the new horn!! Just like Christmas every time someone gets a new one. As for maintaining lacquer, you might consider using a cloth to wrap around the horn as you hold it in your left hand/arm. I do this for mine. Just keeps you from getting the horn all sweaty. I have a Wessex that is lacquered, and I just wipe it off with a damp cloth every so often. It is really pretty easy to care for. As for preserving, basically the less you "touch" it, the longer it will stay looking new. But any lacquered horn will wear over time. Just very normal. My Wessex is three years old now, and the lacquer looks just fine.

    I am not familiar with the Nirschl, but I suspect you are right, and that you might have a horn with a larger bore. I would think your high range will improve as you settle in on the horn. Playing scales starting on perhaps concert F in the clef up and down an octave, then go up chromatically until you are playing up to high Bb and perhaps a little beyond.

    Enjoy your new horn!!
    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)

  5. #15
    I don’t know much about the XO Euphonium but Algirdas Matonis plays one at the moment and there’s several videos of him playing it with the River City brass band.

    Enjoy your new toy and I’m sure it will significantly out perform the Nirschl.

  6. #16
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Richmond, KY
    Posts
    24
    Thanks John!

    I had planned on using the very nice (and very large) cloth that the instrument came with for my left arm/hand, and maybe wrapping the right hand section in moleskin or something similar.

    As for the range issue, my range has improved a bit in the few days I've had the instrument. Not a ton, but where a G or Ab was strained before, an Ab with comfortable, with A and Bb being achievable now. Even comparing the two instruments with my bare eye, I can see that the XO is not only larger in size, but is also quite a bit wider.

    I've seen Matonis! I like how he presents his videos. I do wish he did a few more videos where it's just him playing, but that's personal preference.

  7. #17
    It’s interesting to read that Algirdas Matonis is currently using the XO. His review of it seemed luke-warm - he appeared to like the action and intonation, but had strong words against the way it projected. I think Lance Laduke, his instructor/colleague, is an XO artist though, which might explain the accessibility to an XO horn. I poked around on the Internet after reading this, and sure enough, I found a video clip with him using the XO.
    Clayton M.
    Musician for Fun
    • Euphonium Newbie - XO 1270S
    • Trumpet Novice - XO 1602RS

  8. #18
    Join Date
    Aug 2018
    Location
    Richmond, KY
    Posts
    24
    I saw that review as well, and do find it a bit odd to see him using it when he seems to have access to other horns he enjoys more.

    That said, so far, I haven't had issues with projection. My school's auditorium is a pretty decent size (not near a commercial size, but very large for a school auditorium), and the horn will fill up the auditorium even at mezzo-forte. I haven't noticed any distortion, either, even at fortissimo - although I'm sure there is some distortion as you push past that dynamic, but I doubt you'd need to use anything much bigger than that super often. Might just be the fact that I've been using a sub-par instrument for so long, that I don't notice the issue.

  9. #19
    Join Date
    Dec 2014
    Location
    Netherlands
    Posts
    338
    I do remember that that comparison vid (against his Sterling and a Besson Sovereign, iirc?) was made 2 years ago roughly. So maybe he got a newer iteration of the horn that actually fixed the projection issues? I do have to say I'm interested in the change as well.

  10. #20
    I sent Algirdis a message on Facebook and asked him about this - he said that right now he owns both the Sterling and the XO and will elaborate more in the future why his most recent projects have been filmed on the XO. He also mentioned that the XO had some "cool qualities" to it and works well for what he's been playing recently, which is not "traditional" - popular music I would guess based on his recordings.
    Adams E3 0.6 with SS Bell
    K&G 3.5D
    ---------------------------------
    Founder and Solo Euphonium
    San Francisco Brass Band

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