Hello everyone,

I’m new on the forums (1st post!), but have been reading them for the past few months. Hopefully this is in an appropriate spot, seemed to be the best match based on other posts. I have a few questions I’m hoping you can help me out with, as it has been awhile since I last played regularly. Sorry for all the text, I'll try to break it out.

Recently, I purchased a euphonium on Ebay, had it professionally repaired/cleaned, and am experiencing some major tuning issues with it. The horn, a Buescher 1924 True Tone Euphonium, Silver 3 Valve Euro Shank; is extremely flat on nearly every note (most are 30-40 cents flat), however the standard Low Bb is registering closer to an A natural most of the time (edging sharp) with every slide pushed in completely. Essentially, I have the mouthpiece (Wick SM4MX Ultra) near the bridge of my nose to force it in tune, which is fairly uncomfortable.)) I have played on a colleagues 1960s Besson baritone and a B&S euphonium with the same mouthpiece and had no problem hitting/pitching nearly every note within a few cents of the target. He tried to play my horn a bit and said it was very odd and really unnatural to get everything in tune. I also have a King 1128 Marching Baritone (large shank) that I’m working with for outdoor polka performances/parades, and it performs/sounds good for what it is, but it is not as ideal for indoor events.

As much as I would like to try and adapt to the Buescher (it’s somewhat ornate and it is kind of cool to play on a 95 year old horn), I’m afraid that the unnatural mouthpiece positioning/playing might have some negative consequences if I get a newer horn. (I normally just play like that for higher notes)

QUESTIONS:
1) Is this a valid concern (playing constantly at the bridge of my nose to force it in tune) or would it just help develop my “chops” after being away for so long?

2) If going for a newer/different horn, would it make sense to go towards an intermediate (new Besson 163 -165 or a King 2280) or just jump into an affordable compensating for the long haul? (Like a Wessex Dolce or John Packer 274, which I’ve read many positive things on this site about)

3) Are there any other horns you would recommend within the $1k-2k range? I know Wessex, Mack, Schiller and John Packer are praised quite a bit for affordable compensating horns for being (Yamaha / Besson) clones. Could potentially justify up to 3k range if it's worth it on a newer horn.

Though I’m just getting started again, I do plan on playing pretty actively throughout the year with a few different groups. The music will mostly be local concert, polka and maybe some jazz, orchestra or solo fun with the euphonium. I will not be a professional/college player, but do want to be able to learn and push myself to play beyond the best of my ability.

I look forward to your responses, thanks in advance!



A bit of history about me: I recently started playing again back in May of this year (small shank trombone to start due to lack of euphonium, then to euphonium in July) after not playing at all for close to 12 years. Originally, I started out in middle school on a Yamaha 201 and mostly played in high school on a Jupiter 4 valve (JEP1000?). Played in quite a few honor bands, orchestra, concert, event bands, marching band, jazz and some solos for most of high school before being transitioned onto tuba. Picking up the euphonium again was a fairly quick transition in terms of playability and remembering the fingering combinations/alternatives, but rebuilding the range/durability feels like my biggest area of improvement atm.