First off, welcome to the forum and welcome back to playing euph!
Here's some info on a few of your questions, and I'm certain others here will chime in with additional information!
1. From what I've been able to gather, the JP Sterling horns are manufactured in China (though not in the same factory as Jinbao I believe?) with design input by Paul Riggett of the Sterling company, and QC done by John Packer in the UK.
The Sterling Virtuoso models are built in the UK, and are higher end instruments than the JP Sterling euphs, on-par with Besson, Yamaha, etc.
2. Schiller, Wessex, Mack all come out of the Jinbao factory, although each company has their own branding and level of QC they do on their respective instruments either at the factory in China (as is the case with Wessex) or once the instruments have been shipped to their company warehouses in the US. Wessex has more involvement with the design and manufacturing of their particular instruments at the factory, not sure about Schiller, Allora and Mack. I believe Mack Brass does their QC checks on the instruments once they arrive from the factory.
Another brand that falls into this category is the ACB Doubler's euph. They are built in China, with QC, playtesting and modifications done by the folks at Austin Custom Brass before shipping to the customer. There are several recent reviews of this instrument by forum members, including Dave that you can find here.
Eastman I believe has a different factory in China that manufactures their line of instruments, separate from Jinbao & John Packer.
Shires Q Series are a bit different than the others, particularly in regards to price (being the most expensive of these brands you listed at around $5k). Like the Q Series trombones and trumpets, Shires produces most of the parts for these instruments at their factory in Holliston, Massachusetts. The assembly is done at the Eastman factory in China, with the completed horns then shipped back to the US for final QC.
3. In addition to the Willson 2900, a few models are currently made with medium shank as an option:
- The Wessex Sinfonico (their higher-end euph, in the $3k range compared to the Dolce model that's around $1.5k) has 3 interchangeable mouthpiece receivers in small, medium, and large shank sizes. Hirsbrunner euphs had a very similar feature on their euphonium models.
- Shires Q series have the option of ordering either model with a medium shank receiver or a large shank.
- The soon-to-be-released Shires Custom series euphoniums will have options for medium shank as well.
4. Meinl Weston used to produce at least 2 models of compensating euphoniums, the 551 and 751 "Phoenix". However I don't believe they produce these anymore, and their website only lists the oval baritones/tenor horns now.
Miraphone still produces a number of oval baritones as well as a line of euphoniums.
Last edited by Fujiifilm; 01-09-2022 at 03:28 PM.
Reason: clarification and links
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)