Question to the long-time Wessex owners

[Sara Hood]

Thank you. I saw the repost. - Sara

[franz]

For all of you playing any Wessex horn for a bit longer...

I have had the Wessex French C tuba for a year and so far no problems encountered. Excellent finish, exceptional smoothness of the valves and, contrary to what I imagined, very good ergonomics. Very happy with the purchase!

[Sara Hood]

For all of you playing any Wessex horn for a bit longer: Do you have some similar experiences or do I have some black magic in my studio?

I own a five year old JinBao baritone (nickle-silver finish). While not a Wessex horn per se, I thought that it might be relevant to your question since JinBao manufactures Wessex horns.

In five years I have had zero problems with soldering failing, pin holes, or other issues with the horn's bracing. The only issue I have had is that in places that get a lot of contact, the finish is no longer shiny. The pretty reflective stuff has rubbed off and gone kind of cloudy grey. But then, maybe my horn is a couple years younger than the ones you are dealing with, and so the experience is not as relevant as we would hope. Your call.

- Sara

[ann reid]

I’m always very cautious about addressing this kind of topic, but I bought what may have been a very early second hand Festivo just before the pandemic, and I would have to say that unfortunately I seem to have a case of “problem with no solution”.

I’ve made every effort I could to get this instrument into playable shape, used two local very good repair people, put a lot of money into it, and the problems continue. Wessex did what it could for a second hand instrument, when the problems first arose, but all things (including the pandemic) considered, I still have an instrument that I can’t count on, and no one seems to be able to figure out why.

On the plus side, it has very nice tone, the finish is fine, and the valves are OK when they’re working, but the first valve, after three separate repairs, continues to be problematic.

I took it for my lesson last week, and it was once again unplayable. I then took it to a local very reliable repair shop and it was set back to functional shape, and yesterday, the first valve again failed to function.

As a beginner, I just can’t deal with this lack of consistent reliability. I’m reading over the group reviews for the ACB Doubler and the Wessex Sinfonico, and I can get pretty enthused about both, but wary of making another mistake.

[comebackplayer]

I'm out of the trumpet world and there are a half dozen repair techs who really know the answer to these types of questions. Are there people like this in the euphonium world? Someone who has seen hundreds of euphoniums come through a shop? Can most repair techs get a replacement valve from jinbao? Are the festivo valves interchangeable with regular valves? What tends to be the problem (excess wear? damaged casing? overly tight? poor lapping initially?)? I have a 2019 Mack Brass and have really liked it, but I also haven't put much time on it. I was also curious if it would be hard to repair in the future.

[Berthos]

I’m not actually a long time Wessex euphonium owner but a new owner who is regretting my purchase already. I have just had a new EP-100 Dulce delivered. The water keys are horrible. My assumption was an error had been made in the assembly of the horn and the wrong keys had been installed. However, after contacting Wessex-Tubas I was informed by Steve Dixon that they had been designed that way. I’m gobsmacked.

The face of the cork on the water keys is way off being parallel with the face of the holes. Consequently, the seal created by the cork is poor.

The second issue is that the spring which closes the water key bears directly on the tube of the instrument rather than on the bracket on which the key is mounted (as is usually the way). The spring moves a small amount as the key is operated resulting in the lacquer gradually being rubbed away (I bought the gold brass bell version).

There are workarounds for both of these issues but I shouldn’t have to do these to overcome this poor design (which according to Wessex is intentional) in a brand new instrument. Very poor.

I have buyer’s remorse, I should have stuck to an established reputable brand. I could return it but that would cost me $1100 in freight costs ($550 each way, UK to Australia).

[iMav]

I could return it but that would cost me $1100 in freight costs ($550 each way, UK to Australia).

Wow. That’s a significant expense (for the shipping). Now I am curious to go look at my Schiller to examine the water keys. (I don’t recall ever having issues with them.)

Aside from the water keys (which it sounds like you have some potential solutions for), how are you liking the horn? Playability, intonation, sound, projection??

[comebackplayer]

...The face of the cork on the water keys is way off being parallel with the face of the holes. Consequently, the seal created by the cork is poor....

The second issue is that the spring which closes the water key bears directly on the tube of the instrument rather than on the bracket on which the key is mounted (as is usually the way). The spring moves a small amount as the key is operated resulting in the lacquer gradually being rubbed away (I bought the gold brass bell version).

I think that's probably an inexpensive fix. It looks like they're the same on Mack Brass (I am looking at pictures and don't really remember). In Wessex photos they've often added little black rubber caps to the back of the water keys, probably to stop scratching. Does yours have that? I think the keys could probably be realigned, either on your own or asking a repair tech to remove and straighten then. There probably is some variety of springs available. In the trumpet world, people also sometimes sub in saturn keys.

The shipping is really tough for Australia. Australia's a case where it might be cheaper to ship directly from China. I think that's part of the background for these discussions is that Wessex or Mack Brass are useful if they can help you troubleshoot problems, but for many of us living in other countries it's probably better to just find a good repair tech.

[Berthos]

I’m not really qualified to give a view on other aspects of the euphonium, sorry. Firstly, it only arrived today. Secondly, this is my first foray into brass, I’m a woodwind player usually, alto and tenor sax and previously flute and bassoon. All I can say is that other than the issues mentioned nothing else is obviously wrong with it, but time will tell.

Even though I haven’t played brass before I’ve played in a lot of bands and orchestras and I know what a well designed water key looks like and how springs should work on instruments. Some of my best friends play brass.

Yes, that shipping is scary.

[Berthos]

Thank you for the suggestion re alternate springs, I’ll look into that. I thought I might put clear plastic film under the spring but your suggestion is better.

There are plastic covers over the ends of the keys.

I think thicker corks might improve the alignment issue. I have ordered some on eBay.

[iMav]

Does air leak from the water keys currently? Or is it more a matter of the alignment not being optimal?

can you take some pics? (I’d like to compare to my stencil horn.)

[ann reid]

In my case the euphonium has been seen by three highly reputable and well thought of repair techs, two with years of experience and one younger and very well trained.

Their attempts cost me over $700 dollars, because I liked the horn and wanted to give it a “fair” shot.

Having had the first valve “fixed” three times, I do have a sense of what may be happening that makes it difficult to fix it, and I think I really have been fair about doing all I could do to have a playable dependable instrument. If I’m right about what I “think” may be happening, it would possibly be impossible to permanently repair it.

I can’t put any more money into it, and if I donated it, I’d have to explain to a recipient about its history.

Also a “reformed” woodwind specialist, I have no issues with troubleshooting and fixing, but I figure if the experts haven’t been able to fix it, I’m not going to be able to either.

I think it’s wonderful that so many people have excellent luck with entry level horns by the way.

[iMav]

In my case the euphonium has been seen by three highly reputable and well thought of repair techs, two with years of experience and one younger and very well trained.

Their attempts cost me over $700 dollars, because I liked the horn and wanted to give it a “fair” shot.

For my (and others') edification, can you elaborate on what you believe the issue is with the 1st valve?

[franz]

The face of the cork on the water keys is way off being parallel with the face of the holes. Consequently, the seal created by the cork is poor.

I have a Wessex French C tuba and actually the water keys on slides 1 and 3 are badly designed (the one on the main slide is OK). To remedy the problem it is sufficient to shape the cork stopper (from the part inserted in the key in order to restore the parallelism). There are rubber grommets on the keys, but the one on the third slide was lost, probably after I stretched it to get a two step lower instead of the conventional one and a half.

[Aychelby]

I've owned a Dolce just over a year now, and haven't really had any problems with it other than I bought the silver plated with gold trim version, and it seems the gold trim is an extremely thin layer of gold with gold lacquer over it, because the lacquer recently began flaking off the finger buttons and valve caps revealing a lighter gold surface that polished off
to silver after I polished my horn a few times. Admittedly I didn't really notice the lacquer peeling until I noticed that I had polished the gold off in a few spots. The valve caps are also somewhat difficult to get the threads started but that's just a minor nuisance. I haven't noticed any issues with the water keys, but the corks are well-crushed into the ports, so they make a good seal.