AustinStarsPAA Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We're trying to purchase new/newer horns and have seen some great deals on Ebay for brand new horns at very affordable prices. These horns are made (and distributed?) by a company in China, but they are "no name" brands. Does anyone have any experience with purchasing these types of items? The seller has 100% approval but I've read some pretty ambivalent reviews of these types of horns-- some love them, some hate them. Here's an example of one: Silver Marching Euphonium/Tuba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brassomaniac Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) I've not purchased one myself, but have seen plenty of warnings, from those who have. General jist of those messages, was that these "no-name" Chinese and Pakistani horns are, at best, poorly made and often, barely playable. I wouldn't normally jump in with a second-hand account on something like this. But, I hate to see someone from corpsdom get taken. Hopefully there are people out there with first-hand accounts of these horns, who can chime in. Edited July 7, 2009 by brassomaniac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
camel lips Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We're trying to purchase new/newer horns and have seen some great deals on Ebay for brand new horns at very affordable prices.These horns are made (and distributed?) by a company in China, but they are "no name" brands. Does anyone have any experience with purchasing these types of items? The seller has 100% approval but I've read some pretty ambivalent reviews of these types of horns-- some love them, some hate them. Here's an example of one: Silver Marching Euphonium/Tuba I don't have any experience with this particular seller or the brand but... Ive had a chance to try a couple of these cheap china horns.First one was a Bb trumpet.Played really stuffy and the kid started having trouble with the valves and the plating withing 3 months. One of the guys in community band had a flugle horn.Sucker played almost as good as my $1500 Kanstul.He paid $89 bucks for it with shipping.As little as I play a flugle it would have served my purpose well. Same man brought in a Picc Trumpet.It played pretty well too. So I ordered one of the .01 pocket trumpets with $99 shipping. Could barley squeeze out a note with it.Wound up selling it for about half of what I had in it. Soooooooo Seems to be spotty with these horns.At $700 bucks,,I would think for a little more you could probably get a Dynasty.Call chuck Levins and see if they are discounting any of their horns.You might just find that $700 bucks goes a long way to buy a horn. Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AustinStarsPAA Posted July 7, 2009 Author Share Posted July 7, 2009 Seems to be spotty with these horns.At $700 bucks,,I would think for a little more you could probably get a Dynasty.Call chuck Levins and see if they are discounting any of their horns.You might just find that $700 bucks goes a long way to buy a horn.Good luck How can I contact Chuck Levins? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bracknbras Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I say NO I have heard many things (bad) about these horns. Stuffy, tight, pitch on those horns is just awful!! Are you going to be a competing corps? If so, then DEFINITELY NO! bracknbras We're trying to purchase new/newer horns and have seen some great deals on Ebay for brand new horns at very affordable prices.These horns are made (and distributed?) by a company in China, but they are "no name" brands. Does anyone have any experience with purchasing these types of items? The seller has 100% approval but I've read some pretty ambivalent reviews of these types of horns-- some love them, some hate them. Here's an example of one: Silver Marching Euphonium/Tuba Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Penn State Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 (edited) Bellow I compiled a list of the 'most affordable' marching brass lines available, including the seller you originally posted about. No name (same seller) Trumpet: $232 (lacquer) Mellophone: $327 (nickel) Baritone: $489 (nickel) Euphonium: $699 (nickel) Tuba: not available Blessing Trumpet: $465 (silver, intermediate) Mellophone: $1,109 (silver) Baritone: $1,549 (silver) Euphonium: not available Tuba: not available not available Jupiter (not Quantum) Trumpet: $859 (silver, intermediate) Mellophone: $1,139 (silver) Baritone: $1,379 (silver) Euphonium: not available Tuba: $3,469 (silver, convertible) Dynasty Trumpet: $799.99 (silver, ‘marching’) Mellophone: $975.99 (silver) Baritone: $1,429.99 (silver) Euphonium: $1,629.99 (silver) Tuba: $4,289.99 (silver) Schiller (suspect same company as ‘no name’) Trumpet: $287 (silver, intermediate) Mellophone: $597 (silver) Baritone: $685 (silver) Euphonium: $697 (silver) Tuba: $1,097 (silver, 4/4) $1,139 (silver 5/4) sources: http://ebay.com, http://wwbw.com, http://jimlaabsmusic.com Some thoughts: Although I can not personally recommnend a no-name ebay instrument, I would be very hesistant to purchase one. Even with very low prices, you might be better off purchasing a new Dynasty horn after the usually incredibly high shipping fees are applied. However, if you were to take a leap of faith and purchase a line of low cost instruments, I would go with Schiller since they are being sold by a US dealer and have a full brass choir/line available. If you can, try to get demo horns before purchasing. No matter what brand you look at, its a large financial investment, and an educated purchase is the best (and only?) way to go. Best of luck to you. Please keep us updated with news, questions, comments, etc... as you are able. Best wishes! Edited July 7, 2009 by Penn State Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-horns Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 Under no circumstance would I even consider a "no name" horn and country of origin has nothing to do with it. Aside from the myriad of playing issues listed by other posters, what do you do when you need parts?? Of course, at those prices maybe you'd be better off throwing the thing under a bus wheel and selling it for scrap rather than trying to repair it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 If you can't go back to the person you bought it from or the manufacturer if it doesn't work, then you're getting a bad deal. Those horns are questionable at best and one step shy of First Act. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
melligene Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 I've not purchased one myself, but have seen plenty of warnings, from those who have.General jist of those messages, was that these "no-name" Chinese and Pakistani horns are, at best, poorly made and often, barely playable. I wouldn't normally jump in with a second-hand account on something like this. But, I hate to see someone from corpsdom get taken. Hopefully there are people out there with first-hand accounts of these horns, who can chime in. If they double as an RPG Launch platform it's probably not that bad a deal. Just sayin....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeff danchik Posted July 7, 2009 Share Posted July 7, 2009 We're trying to purchase new/newer horns and have seen some great deals on Ebay for brand new horns at very affordable prices.These horns are made (and distributed?) by a company in China, but they are "no name" brands. Does anyone have any experience with purchasing these types of items? The seller has 100% approval but I've read some pretty ambivalent reviews of these types of horns-- some love them, some hate them. Here's an example of one: Silver Marching Euphonium/Tuba No, don't buy them! I've had parents think they were saving money and the instruments were awful.Trumpets that couldn't be tuned, a mellophone that just fell apart and the repair shops wouldn't touch.Schiller is about probably the lowest quality I'd go.Avoid the Indian and Chinese no name stuff.Buy Dyansty, Olds, Blessing, and Jupiter.But horns like King and Yamaha can be worth the additional cost.Case is important too, a junk case will not protect the horn on the inside. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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