Hey y'all!
I want to make my Willson a little more "me". Is there any way to buy more and different ones to use / get custom ones?
Thanks,
Amaan D.
Hey y'all!
I want to make my Willson a little more "me". Is there any way to buy more and different ones to use / get custom ones?
Thanks,
Amaan D.
Kennesaw State - Music Performance
Yamaha YSL-200AD/Marcinkiewicz Jiggs Whigham
Wilson 2900/Wick SM3MU
MW 2250/ Icon 18 (School Horn)
MW 5450/PT 50 (School horn)
Well, gold (colored) trim pieces is one thing you could do. You can have them gold plated of course. I would think a shop could strip the plating, polish them, and lacquer them so they keep the yellow/gold color.
Something I've thought about before (but can't do now with a solid sterling silver bell) would be to have a shop strip the silver from inside the bell and lacquer it, giving you a nice contrast (yellow/gold).
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
I know that Mouthpiece Express sells custom finger buttons BUT not sure they have them for Willson. See this link which mentions Bach, Yamaha and more:
https://mouthpieceexpress.com/catalo....php?cPath=779
Rick Floyd
Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
YEP-641S (recently sold)
Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank
"Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
Chorale and Shaker Dance (John Zdechlik)
Kennesaw State - Music Performance
Yamaha YSL-200AD/Marcinkiewicz Jiggs Whigham
Wilson 2900/Wick SM3MU
MW 2250/ Icon 18 (School Horn)
MW 5450/PT 50 (School horn)
Adams has a lot of custom button options, iirc. No clue if they fit Willson valve stems or not.
One thing to keep in mind is that if you buy new buttons, the vertical "thickness" of them might differ enough from your stock buttons two throw the pistons even ever so slightly out of alignment. Depending where you live, there may be a good tech somewhere near you who could either fashion or at least order you some custom buttons. If you can find one, then the sky's the limit on how cool/personal you can make them.
Does your Willson have mother-of-pearl inserts? If so, a tech might be able to replace just the insert???
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
I'm also interested in getting new buttons for my Willson, especially after seeing Gail Robertson's Willson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtCDCM6jdik
You could certainly email Dr. Robertson about the buttons on her euph, I'm sure she'd be happy to help!
For other custom options, I've heard/seen that Keith Polito does some excellent work creating custom inlays and buttons. Some examples can be seen on his Facebook page.
Another option is to contact Willson directly, either through Dave Surber at Getzen, their US distributor, or Willi Kurath at their main office in Switzerland. You could order a set of buttons and then have the inserts replaced, if you wanted to keep the "stock" buttons in addition to any custom ones.
Willson 2900 TA-1 Euphonium - Denis Wick 4AM
Yamaha YSL-643 Trombone - Bob Reeves BrassArk 5G "Gladstone"
Yamaha YSL-8440 Trombone - Denis Wick 5BS
VMI 3301S BBb Tuba - Schilke Helleberg
Past:
York Preference 3067 Euphonium - Denis Wick 4AL
Benge 165F Trombone - Benge Marcellus
Wessex BR140 Baritone - Denis Wick 6BS
F.E. Olds Special Trombone (ca. 1941)
Those look EXTREMELY similar to the custom buttons that Martin Wilk offers. (Here's his website)
Sean Kissane
Low Brass Specialist, Paige's Music
Principal Euphonium, Indianapolis Brass Choir
Principal Euphonium, Crossroads Brass Band