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Thread: FS: Lovely Conn Double-Bell Euphonium - Restored - ACT FAST

  1. #21
    Quote Originally Posted by davewerden View Post
    Out of curiosity, in which category would you put my 1935-ish Holton DB?

    And for clarity, are you saying the item listed here is a "Baritone Saxhorn"?
    Conn only used the terms Baritone or Euphonium to distinguish, and those terms were only really meaningful in the Artist era. I use the term Baritone Saxhorn to specifically indicate an instrument having some cylindrical tubing (~25%), as opposed to the minimum, and a size profile which is visibly above the average (Tenor Saxhorn / British Baritone). Being any more specific than that is basically impossible.

    Your Holton does appear to have the proper bore profile of an American Euphonium.

    Again, this distinction is most important in mouthpiece requirements. I was really disappointed in the performance of 1924 model 64-I. The Precision era version is probably leaps and bounds superior. For an idea of mouthpiece size difference, a JK P12F is barely small enough for the Besson 2-20 front action Baritone. That's 24mm cup diameter, cup depth around 6.75C, and 5.8mm throat. I could maybe improve performance with a larger throat, but I'm not willing to invest further in it. I already had to custom order that mouthpiece. I don't know what the stock mouthpiece would have been, but it wasn't the Besson 10.
    Hobbyist. Collector. Oval rotary guy. Unpaid shill for Josef Klier mouthpieces.

  2. As someone who plays a 1935 Conn 64I, I am scratching my head. I bought it because I had a friend with one and thought it sounded great. I also have many period mouthpieces for it as well as modern ones. I remember one time I put in an old Conn baritone mouthpiece, and my band director at the time said I was getting that British sound. Not sure what he meant. But the horn does sound better than a few modern horns I've tried.
    Richard


    King 1130 Flugabone
    King 2280 Euphonium
    King 10J Tuba
    Conn 22B Trumpet

  3. #23
    I'm a little confused myself, but I admit to having limited experience with old horns. However, I have one more memory that influences me.

    After owning my Holton for 20-25 years I was familiar with its good and bad points. One of the latter is the flat 2nd partial I mentioned above. At a local event ("Tubonium") they had new and used horns for sale, and I tried a King that had the tuning slide on its leadpipe. I'd always thought that to be a clear disadvantage in design (the whole conical thing), but that horn played better than mine. FWIW, I used the same mouthpiece I used in my own DB, a Wick 4AY because I had my DB there for my recital. Not only did it feel about the same as my horn but the 2nd partial was in tune.

    As I said, I have limited experience...but not zero experience.
    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

  4. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by Richard III View Post
    As someone who plays a 1935 Conn 64I, I am scratching my head. I bought it because I had a friend with one and thought it sounded great. I also have many period mouthpieces for it as well as modern ones. I remember one time I put in an old Conn baritone mouthpiece, and my band director at the time said I was getting that British sound. Not sure what he meant. But the horn does sound better than a few modern horns I've tried.
    That's the Precision era 64-I which is pretty much a small bore Euphonium. I'm sure it completely destroys the Artist era Saxhorn derivative, and if I had $1000 burning a hole in my pocket, I'd have already bought the restored one that's on ebay.

    *edit*
    Screw it. Trying to explain this is way harder than just showing you. lol, Youtube video

    I know it might not come through on video, but the Conn 20-I is so much easier to play than either of the Baritones, it's not even a contest.
    Last edited by notaverygoodname; 05-02-2021 at 02:36 AM.
    Hobbyist. Collector. Oval rotary guy. Unpaid shill for Josef Klier mouthpieces.

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