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)
Which one did you get? They have a student model BR12 and a 3-valve compensating model BR140 (and a 4-valve compensating model BR144 which I have not heard much about). I sit next to a lady who bought a BR12, and she "plays" it in the baritone/euphonium section of our New Horizons band. The BR12 is grossly sharp, I know this from playing it and trying to get it somewhat in tune. When she and I play together, it is not music made in heaven. It is painful. I tried may things to get her horn close to in tune. That particular horn I did not like whatsoever. That horn sounds like the description given above by jkircoff. My section mate got the BR12 about a year or so ago. I don't know if that was a bad sample or not. I have not played the BR140, but hear really good things about it (some saying it is the next best baritone compared to the Yamaha Neo).
If jkircoff got a BR140 in 2014 (I don't know when this horn came out), perhaps things have improved since then, but from what I have heard, I think people should at least tryout this horn to see if it works for them. There is a 14 day window to do this and you can send it back for a complete refund if not happy with it, less shipping. That is a pretty good deal.
Last edited by John Morgan; 07-16-2019 at 10:44 PM.
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 BaritoneAdams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
Year Round Except Summer:
Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)Summer Only:
KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)
It is a BR140, and I believe it's one of Wessex's earliest attempts at emulating a British baritone. It's a backup instrument that I lend out to other brass banders in my neck of the woods who need a baritone.
I was an "early adopter" of Wessex instruments when they first came to the U.S., and my experience with their instruments is that of a beta tester to a degree. Their initial location was in Spring Lake, Michigan out of a salespersons house, and it opened in 2013. I purchased their German Rhein BBb 4-valve rotary tuba, and it's been a solid instrument outside of a valve that tends to stick on occasion. I still use it today when a tuba gig comes up. I also purchased a Wessex Dolce trigger model in 2014 that had several problems (Wessex discontinued the variation shortly after I purchased it), and I ended it selling it to a student for a bargain price.
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)
I have the Baritone that JinBao made and Wessex improved, to make the BR140. If anyone is in the Sacramento, CA area and wants to look me up, I will gladly let them have a blow on it. Not quite the same as test playing the Wessex BR140, but since the two are clones/stencils, it should be close.
- Sara
Baritone - 3 Valve, Compensating, JinBao JBBR1240
I have an early-80's Globe Sovereign 155 and it has very good intonation, as good as my Adams E1 euphonium. I recently played the Schiller baritone that Jake mentioned, and it was a very good match to the Boosey & Hawkes horn, both in intonation and tone. I would like to find a 4-valve baritone that plays as nicely as the 155, because after 50 years of playing with a 3+1 horn, I'm finding the need to go back and retrain muscle memory to use the third valve (which is the least used valve on a 3+1 euph, used mostly for Db and Gb).
-Dave
San Jose Wind Symphony (on leave 2020)
San Francisco Brass Band
Mission Peak Brass Band
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Adams E1 Custom .5mm
Hirsbrunner Exclusiv 479
Besson 2056-2, 955, 982, Imperial Euphonium & Prototype BBb helicon
Horn is still available. This looks like a very good buy, folks.
Dave Werden (ASCAP)
Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
Adams Artist (Adams E3)
Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
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