lefreQue Times 4

[davewerden]

And the preliminary award for the most lefreQue plates on one euphonium goes to... Jan Schulze:



(Got this from Instagram) - Anyone else want to enter the competition?

[ChristianeSparkle]

Sir, make that five. There's one more on the mouthpiece leadpipe.

Wonder if there's any at the main tuning slide or further down the 3rd valve slide

[davewerden]

Sir, make that five. There's one more on the mouthpiece leadpipe.

Right you are! Not sure how I missed that one. BTW, the video doesn't show other areas of the horn where more plates might be hidden.

[ChristianeSparkle]

Wonder how many we can put on a horn & how many folds of improvement we can see with each additional plate

[jkircoff]

Ahhhh lefreQues.....they are always good for a bit of a debate.

I've tried lefreQues and found them to be a placibo effect. When you first put them on, your brain is expecting there to be a difference, meaning there's a good chance you're inherently biased to think the plates are enhancing the sound of your instrument. After using them for several weeks then taking them off, I found no difference in sound, slotting, etc. Steven Mead was promoting them for a while, but he has since removed them from his Besson.

Now....there are some who swear by lefreQues....and to those who believe it makes a difference, more power to them. They are INSANELY expensive though (the set of four in the picture above is probably a $700 investment)...and I highly recommend anyone considering them to borrow them for an extended period of time if possible first.

[TheJH]

Yeah just the costs of the things alone is an initial big nope for me.

For the rest... When I tried them (yeeeeaaaars ago) I found the changes to be for the worse, actually. Goes to show that you can't just slap on anything and expect it to be fine.

[highpitch]

They remind me of those 'save gasoline' mileage improver doodads.

If you bought them all, and installed them, your tank would overflow every time you drove your car...

DG

[JakeGuilbo]

Steven Mead claims that his new gold Prestige was mfg in such a way that he doesn't need the lefreque plates

[RickF]

Well, I confess that I still use one over my mpc connection to its receiver. The effects are subtle... like the 'b' in subtle I guess. I didn't hear a big difference myself but my wife said she could. It sounded a little louder with the lefreque plate on.

[franz]

I have been using them for some years and I was convinced that some benefits gave it: last week I washed my Prestige and I have not repositioned the plates: I don't feel the difference. I found some photos of someone who turned their euphonium into an indecent thing with plates: how can anyone believe that such a thing could somehow improve the sound? Mah....

[davewerden]

...I found some photos of someone who turned their euphonium into an indecent thing with plates: how can anyone believe that such a thing could somehow improve the sound?

Those pictures cry out with a message: that person should have bought a different horn! I have to think that all those plates would "stiffen" the horn, lessen its overall vibration, but perhaps give it a denser, more focused sound. Whatever qualities the owner enjoyed with the added plates are probably available in a different brand without all the attachments.

[ChristianeSparkle]

Steven Mead claims that his new gold Prestige was mfg in such a way that he doesn't need the lefreque plates

Misa Mead seem to stop using it too, did she change her instrument?

[jkircoff]

Steven Mead claims that his new gold Prestige was mfg in such a way that he doesn't need the lefreque plates

I suspect Besson wasn't terribly keen on Mead putting lefreque plates on their premiere euphoniums in the first place. Mead is a Besson artist, and the use of lefreques suggests their 2052s don't produce the best possible sound out of the factory -- not necessarily the best look for business.

[ghmerrill]

I suspect Besson wasn't terribly keen on Mead putting lefreque plates on their premiere euphoniums in the first place. Mead is a Besson artist, and the use of lefreques suggests their 2052s don't produce the best possible sound out of the factory -- not necessarily the best look for business.

But surely a real artist wouldn't be influenced by that.

I wonder if, instead of getting a euphonium first and then attaching plates to it, anyone has tried buying a set of plates first and then attaching a euphonium to them. Sometimes a difference in perspective can make all the difference. I'm thinking that ideally once you have your maximal set of plates, then you should be able to attach any junk euphonium to them, and voila!

[franz]

Update:
I put the plates back because with them, even if they don't seem to give significant improvements in sound, they make the ugly beast of the high C# be hit more easily.