New Intonation Chart for Eastman 526

[davewerden]

I was at Schmitt today and took the time to get a chart for the 526.

http://www.dwerden.com/Intonation/index.cfm

I needed to pull the main slide over an inch, and I pulled 4th by 3/8". You will see that the high F is 17 cents sharp. Just for fun I tried 4th valve, but that did not hep much. 1-4 produced a good pitch, but with a good bit of extra stuffiness. The Eb in that partial was 17 cents sharp with 1, and using my old standby of 1-3 fixed it.

It was a bit tough to test this one because the pitch center was very wide. That could make it hard for an inexperienced player to play with consistent pitch. Also, I found the response fairly uneven. I played a bit of the verse from Facilita and had trouble getting some notes to speak at the volumes I prefer. To check my self I grabbed a Shires Q41 off the shelf and tried the same passage. It felt just as it should have. I then tried it on the less expensive Lake City euphonium (I believe it is a Schmitt brand) and it was much like the Shires in this regard.

The 526 might not be a good choice for someone who is not confident with air flow and pitch.

[iMav]

Definitely need to get a JP274 on this list! (considering how widely popular it is.)

Interesting notes on the 526. I'll have to keep in mind your notes the next time I play mine (had community band rehearsal on it last night...will probably spend some time with it tomorrow).

Algirdas (Matonis) told me that the EEP526 was the affordable-option horn he used to recommend to everybody before his relationship with JP. (He states he still likes the EEP526 over the JP374 by quite a bit.)

[iMav]

So Dave. Did the EEP526 “feel” big to you? Like needing more air than other euphoniums?

It has the exact same bell size (12”) and bore size (.610” / .630”) as the M5050.

[davewerden]

So Dave. Did the EEP526 “feel” big to you? Like needing more air than other euphoniums?

It has the exact same bell size (12”) and bore size (.610” / .630”) as the M5050.

To a certain extent, but not enough to cause trouble. When I played a 5050 a few times I did not feel that as a difficulty. I had sufficient air for what I was playing and the smoothness of note-to-note playing was excellent.

[iMav]

Interesting how closely their intonation charts match each other as well!

[davewerden]

Interesting how closely their intonation charts match each other as well!

Very much so!

[iMav]

I’d also be curious to see the 822 and 826 (specifically in comparison with the Q40 and Q41).

[ Actually, you do have the 826 and Q41…and they track very closely. Wonder if that would hold true with the 822 and the Q40 as well? ]

[iMav]

When I was chatting with Algirdas last about the 526, he had these things to say…

”I really like the 526. Great centering in the upper register. The EEP526 will feel more centered [compared to the JP274], especially in loudest dynamics…much more secure and pleasant sensation when upping the volume. Slightly better intonation in middle register as well.”

Now I really want to see an intonation graph for the JP274.

[notaverygoodname]

I know it wouldn't work for the sake of consistency in this specific testing regimen, but it'd be cool to see how this horn is effected by changes in mouthpiece cup-throat ratio (however you want to call that), and maybe even gap. 17 cent sharp 6th partial seems quite extreme for a modern Euphonium. Surely, there's a mouthpiece it "likes" better that will rip that down a bit. Even 8th partial is sharp. Probably a dumb question that I should research myself, but how does your mouthpiece compare to something like a Schilke 51D (specifically throat and cup depth)?

I wanted to actually do this sort of testing with my Euphoniums, but it turned out that an amateur testing the intonation of poorly maintained instruments in a noisy environment isn't very valuable.

[Shawn]

Woof that's poor.