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Thread: FS: Besson Sovereign 955 3-Valve Compensating Baritone Horn

  1. Quote Originally Posted by JakeGuilbo View Post
    I recently played on a newer Schiller and found it was MUCH MUCH better than the Schiller I played on 4 or 5 years ago. Much more open and responsive and with better intonation. So maybe it depends on how old your baritone is. The Wessex 3 valve is pretty cheap and supposed to be super nice. Otherwise I'd save for the Neo.
    I bought a Wessex baritone in 2014 and it was a pretty bad instrument (bad response, stuffy tone, sketchy intonation). I'm not sure if Jonathan has done much to improve it since.
    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)

  2. #12
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Summerfield, Florida Sturgis, SD (summers)
    Posts
    1,867
    Quote Originally Posted by jkircoff View Post
    I bought a Wessex baritone in 2014 and it was a pretty bad instrument (bad response, stuffy tone, sketchy intonation). I'm not sure if Jonathan has done much to improve it since.
    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 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)

  3. Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    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 in 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.
    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)

  4. #14
    Join Date
    Mar 2017
    Location
    Sacramento, CA area
    Posts
    309

    Not the BR140, but close

    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

  5. 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
    -------------------------------
    Adams E1 Custom .5mm
    Hirsbrunner Exclusiv 479
    Besson 2056-2, 955, 982, Imperial Euphonium & Prototype BBb helicon

  6. #16
    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)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

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