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Thread: Eastman 826S Euphonium

  1. #1

    Eastman 826S Euphonium

    Hi Dave......wondering if you have any comment about this instrument, the last review I can find by you is a while ago and involved the 526 model, so I`m assuming that the 826 is the latest incarnation.

    A professional teacher here in Australia speaks highly of the brand & this model but was wondering what your thoughts are as my budget is limited and will not stretch to Besson Prestige/Sovereign/Willson etc...……..have tried Wessex and not happy with the continual valve issues.

  2. #2
    Join Date
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    No experience on an Eastman of that model.

    I'm curious about the Wessex 'valve issues'; How does that manifest? They have an unconditional warranty on their horns, so I'm not sure what is the problem, unless it wasn't your horn and therefore not your issue to have it fixed/replaced.

    Dennis

  3. #3
    I have no experience with the Eastman, but Matt van Emmerik surely like his!

    Valve issues: what was your previous instrument? If the Wessex was your first compensating horn, it may not be a horn problem. Compensating horns in general have tighter valves, and the valves are more complex (more ports). It is unusual to find valve troubles that are not related in some way to cleaning. I'm currently going nuts trying to keep my valves working. They look clean, but I know there is something polluting them. It's probably some kind of greasy deposit, possibly slide grease that sneaked in. When I switched on one valve to Blue Juice instead of Hetmann, it started working much better for a couple days. The Blue Juice probably cut through the grease a bit better.

    I'm waiting for a warm day so I can take it outside and give it a good flushing. That will fix it, I'm confident. Perhaps there was something like that with your Wessex???
    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
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  4. #4

    Eastman 826S Euphonium

    Quote Originally Posted by highpitch View Post
    No experience on an Eastman of that model.

    I'm curious about the Wessex 'valve issues'; How does that manifest? They have an unconditional warranty on their horns, so I'm not sure what is the problem, unless it wasn't your horn and therefore not your issue to have it fixed/replaced.

    Dennis
    Hi Dennis,

    the valve issues in general terms were that once you warmed up the instrument, say 10 - 15 minutes of playing the valves slowed down to a crawl, Wessex attempted to fix this by lapping the valves with a professional service technician, still no solution.

    That instrument was replaced at their cost with another, it played beautifully but eventually the same problems arose, more lapping & servicing ensued...…...in short I lost patience and decided to sell, the local agent did a terrific job and managed to sell it for me.

    The last model was areal eye catcher and when cool/cold was a delight to use but we reached the point where I had no confidence that the valves would return to their upright position even when playing hymns or slow melodies, that was the last straw.

    Despite lapping the valves numerous times, changing springs, valve guides & many different oils, all failed. A friend with an engineering background decided to check tolerances and he found no two valves where the same size. We thought the solution was an easy fix for the factory but they considered our proposal and tossed in the too hard basket, so I did the same and would never buy another of their products...……...hope that answers your question.

    Cheers

    Frank

  5. #5
    Hi Dave....there was a degree of gunk so we had both instruments chemi cleaned and that certainly helped.

    We moved from Al Cass, to 3 different Hetman oils, finally using La Tromba which we found to be an excellent product.

    I had access to the Wessex Group in UK and a contact makes regular visits to the factory in China to check on quality (prior to Corona). He put my issues squarely on the table but their attitude was that It wasn`t worth their while to make a permanent fix as I fell into just 3% of their world wide sale problems....so in short go away.

    I knew from other Wessex users on this forum that I wasn`t the lone ranger, it`s been subsequently admitted that here in Australia there is a serious problem with the product from "overheating" which is put down to our "hot" climate.

    As said previously it was time to cut my losses and move on, which I have done and now on the look out for another horn...….Matt speaks highly of Eastman even though he currently used a Squires but they are outside my budget & skill level.

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    ....I'm currently going nuts trying to keep my valves working....
    Dave - Being a former U.S. Coast Guard bandsman, you probably know that there are some current trumpet members of the USCG band making a valve oil called Monster Oil. I have the "Doc's Juice" version and really like it. Have you tried that oil?
    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)
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    Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
    Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)

  7. #7
    Quote Originally Posted by John Morgan View Post
    Dave - Being a former U.S. Coast Guard bandsman, you probably know that there are some current trumpet members of the USCG band making a valve oil called Monster Oil. I have the "Doc's Juice" version and really like it. Have you tried that oil?
    Yes, I tried it and liked it. Liked the slide grease even more. But I also like Hetmann. I've done enough experimenting to believe that any valve problems I'm having with Monster/Hetmann/BlueJuice are not caused or fixed by the product. They are all good.
    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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