Looking for a Euph

[euphplayer115]

I'm a high school student looking for a Euph on very tight budget. I thinking about getting either Marching Euph or just a concert Euph. I'm looking at quite a few instruments both marching and concert Euphs around the $1600 range. The reason why it is so "low" is because I also have to pay my phone bill and my job isn't making that much to get a professional concert Euph anytime soon. The nearest music store that I have these instruments available to me is Dillon Music which is a 40 minute drive away. The list of the instruments are down below, silver is preferable and for concert Euphs i prefer the 4th valve to be side action. I do realize that I am asking a bit much for such a low price range. Also, sorry if this is the wrong forum section.

Marching Euphs

• Used Yamaha YEP-202M (online only)
• Jupiter 5070s

Concert Euphs

• Jupiter 570S
• Besson BE1065
• W. Nirschl I-700

[JGuy1288]

I obviously don't know much about your situation, so I'm going to recommend that you buy a concert euphonium. It is much easier to produce a characteristic tone on a concert horn, in my opinion, and most advanced music for the instrument is designed to be played with a 4th valve, which no marching euphs include.

As far as brands and prices, I have two recommendations. First is the Yamaha 642. It is a compensating horn with a side action 4th valve, and Dillon may have a used one there. It plays very well in tune, and can be used from the student level all the way up to college and the professional level.

My other recommendation is a brand of horn called Mack. Their website is http://www.mackbrass.com, and there you will find that they sell a compensating euphonium for only $795 new (lacquer) or $975 (silver finish). A friend in my euphonium studio bought the silver version at the recommendation of our professor, and he is pleased with how the horn works in band, studio, small ensembles, and solo work. So in this case, the cheap option actually can pay off!

[Ch1k3n]

Are you looking for this horn for marching use?

Are you looking for a euph because you play trombone, etc?

If the answer is yes to both of the questions above, then you're in the same boat I was in.

I found myself a King 1129SP on eBay for around $550 + s&h, so VERY good deal there. I spent about $75 later fixing a joint that popped off and smoothening out the bell which had a crinkle in it, but that just means I spent about $675 for basically a brand new horn that normally costs somewhere in the upper $2500s.

I was looking for a horn to do marching practice on because I play trombone normally, and well.. DCI doesn't march trombones. (for very good reason ), and I was patient and waited for just the right auction to come up, and my patience paid off.

And when you're done with the horn, you can just sell it again! There will almost certainly be a demand for it, but if you aren't able to sell it, well at least you've got something that'll be dear to your heart forever. I know mine will be.

If your answer to the first question was no, then don't listen to what I just said!

If your answer to the first was no but the second one was yes, then I would suggest looking for the make and models that others post in this topic on eBay, there will no doubt be a good deal on there, as I found with my marching euph.

But be careful when shopping online, you actually never know what you're going to get. You just need to have faith that the person you're working with is telling the truth.

Hope I could help!

[euphplayer115]

Sorry I didn't go further into detail, but Euph is my primary instrument and Bass Trombone is my secondary instrument. So far I want to get a Euph for concert use but I also want to get a Euph for marching use. The problem is that I only have one choice and I've always been "meh" on convertibles. I guess each choice has a fault, because as for a Marching Euph, seeing unintentional road rash on my school's marching bari, I don't want to get myself into that situation where I have to send it out for repairs. (Rolls, dents etc.) However, I want to use the marching Euph for marching purposes since I want to try out for a Corps possibly this upcoming school year, and I'm looking into either Jersey Surf or Bluecoats. I'm currently unsure if I want to sell the marching Euph. As for the concert Euph, I do like the fact that I can use the 4th valve as JGuy mentioned before. I'm quite unsure about shopping online since Dillon Music is not very far away.

[JGuy1288]

Shopping at Dillon Music is a great idea. They may even have a few marching horns in their used section. I think you should go there and try out as many as you can!

As for shopping online, I actually got my euphonium on Ebay, just like Ch1k3n with the marching euphonium. And the Mack website even says that if you're unsatisfied, they will refund your money 100%, so I think it could be worth trying out. Also, if you do things just right, you may even be able to get both a marching and concert euph for the amount of money you have.

[euphplayer115]

Now that I checked, Dillon Music does have a Kanstul marching Bari (didn't specify, it just said "default Kanstul marching baritone variant) for approximately 600 so since I might be able to go to Dillon music I can try it out. To be honest, I'm also not too fond of online shopping because I don't want to deal with any shipping hassles or anything in that particular. Sort of off topic, but the money used to buy a Euph is what I am currently saving from my part time job with no financial assistance from family or anything. Back to the topic, I can also try out the Dillon Euphs because one of my friends owned one (he sold it) but he bought a besson 2052 for Eastman. He said that he really liked the Dillon Euph. I after doing research, I added it as an option. Dillon happens to have two of them used for approx. 700. There is a lacquer model with the side action valve that I prefer, there is also a silver plate model but with the four in line valves. New models run around 1100. I might be able to try them out if I go to Dillon Music at the end of this week.

Edited July 17, 2012 by euphplayer115

[euphplayer115]

*Bump* I've tried out a few horns, the Dillon Euph felt really free blowing with a Denis Wick SM4 Gold Mouthpiece. With the same mouthpiece on the Jupiter 570S, it felt a little less free blowing than the Dillon. However, I did not try the Besson nor the W. Nirschl. The Dillon website just listed a Jupiter 5070S for about $1500, so I guess when I go there next week I'll try it out and see what happens. I'll have to make a decision then and there because there is NOT going to be another time when I'll be there to try out more instruments. Anyone have any experience with the Jupiter 5070s (weight balance, sound, etc)? I've listened to Phantom 2011 and before (I believe they started using Jupiter marching baris for 2012) but I believe it doesn't justify to consider or not. Honestly, I don't care about the weight for Marching Euphs mostly because I could just man up and get used to it. The real problem is that I can only get one because I'm paying it with my own money, and knowing that I want to start audition for Drum Corps for the 2013 season, I need to save for the tour fees because I'm paying for it myself. I might audition for Cadets2 or Jersey Surf.

Edited August 5, 2012 by euphplayer115

[Ch1k3n]

So what did you end up getting?

[euphplayer115]

So what did you end up getting?

I'm going to go to Dillon Music on Monday.

[drumcorpsaddiction]

I believe Dillon Music has a euphonium that they make in house that fits your budget.

Ask for Gavin. He is very helpful.

Jim Combs is not helpful. Last time I was there he didn't have time for me or my students. We ended spending close to 7k. I'm glad Gavin got the commission.

Morgan