Hi everyone,
I'm hoping to get some advice as a first time purchaser. I'm looking to get back to playing after about 10 years (since I graduated and lost access to a horn) in a very casual manner, at most playing with a local community band. I've considered purchasing a few times over the years and now the social distancing forecast has helped push me to that decision. I've scrolled through some of the threads here so I know that ebay and these brand options are not the best choices but they are also far more accessible in terms of my price range. With that said, I'm trying to do as much due diligence as I can, so I hope that you all could give me your opinions on these options:
Maestro Brand 3 valve Euphonium
Barrington/Maestro Brand, 4 valve, large bore Euphonium The pictures show "Barrington" but it is listed as a Maestro (misspelled) brand in the description
Jupiter JEP 468 3 valve Euphonium
Olds Ambassador 3 valve Euphonium I've seen that some folks have had issues with this seller in the past... This one is also at the top of my price range at the moment.
There are a ton of unbranded options from India and China that I don't trust, but please let me know if you've had a good experience with those. I don't care so much about aesthetics and am more concerned about any potential unexpected repairs that would be required. (I know that by looking on ebay, I'm pretty much wishing on stars on that front but I don't know of where else to look).
*I do have own a large shank mouthpiece and have much more history of playing on large shank instruments but I'm not opposed to getting a small shank horn and/or purchasing a small shank mouthpiece if needed. After 10 years, I don't know that it will make too much of a difference. Ideally, I would like to find a horn with a case.