ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

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bloke
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ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bloke »

I squeezed this one in "out of order", because I agreed to sell TWO instruments...a jazz trombone (already in their hands - a nice old dark/original Olds "Super") and a four-valve not-expensive euphonium...so I sorta needed to hand this to them, to get (well...) paid.

Weril's build quality was sorta second-rate, but some of their instruments (including these euphoniums) played REMARKABLY well.

DEG - at that time - imported both Weril (from Brazil) and WIllson (from Switzerland). I'm about as sure as I can be that this euphonium is a copy of a Yamaha 321, YET with a large shank receiver and a complete taper-copy of the Willson 2900 bell.

Intonation characteristics are remarkably good (better than several 'fesshunun comp models), and/but (depending on what someone might like) the sound is VERY (surprisingly) mellow.

A nearby private school owned this. FOUR band directors ago, it was brought to me because the connector between the mouthpipe and valve block had cracked in two. I asked them some questions, they NEVER answered, and - shortly thereafter - they resigned and moved away. I asked THREE subsequent band directors if they wanted it fixed and (as they seem to have SEVERAL four-valve euphoniums, and only one or two players), they ALL said "no". The last band director (a tuba player) left to go study with Gene (in Chicago). I explained the situation to the school, told them how long I've been storing it, and suggested that it's time for them to just surrender it as salvage, and (as it REALLY was beat up) they agreed.

It was quite "intensive" (sheesh :eyes: ) getting this thing back into this condition, but the valves and casings are in good shape, which made it (well...I guess...??) worth doing. I realize that I tend to NOT take "before" nor "during" pictures - when fixing stuff (because I just want to "get it over with") - but it formerly looked NOTHING like this. (You should have seen it "before": It looked MUCH better.... :laugh: )

The picture (falsely) represents it as "dazzling". All of my epic repair work is much more apparent up close, but (yeah...) it DOES look VERY good, now...and (hopefully) the jazz trombone entity will like it, and I'll (finally) get paid for the PAIR of instruments.

I'm going under the knife soon (nothing terribly serious...so you could make jokes, rather than praying for me), but I'm scrambling to get as many people taken care of as possible prior to that, because I'll probably be told some stupid "nothing over ten pounds for blah-blah weeks" crap, afterward.

Image

bloke "After I work my butt off to get something like this in nice/saleable condition, there's STILL the friggin case (latches, handle, unglued corners, raggedy Tolex, filth, etc.) that must be dealt with...oh yeah...and then: 'Do we have a decent mouthpiece that we can stick in with this thing...?' "


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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bort2.0 »

Crazy story, glad you finally gave it what it needed. How old is the oldest Weril, anyway?

Hope all goes well when you go in, and they repair YOUR tolex. (Hey, you asked for jokes...)
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bloke (Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:51 pm)
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bloke »

I believe Kurath made some of the earliest DEG marching brass (probably adapted from European marching brass instruments...The F mellophone - as one example - was quite "odd"-looking, and I've seen two versions...The shoulder-mount (GG) tuba was related to the 3050 and 3150 (??) C and B-flat tubas, and (similarly) weighed a ton.
Later, I'm thinking DEG went to a Taiwanese maker, and finally to Weril in Brazil, including a sousaphone, complete line of marching brass (even a B-flat trumpet in that line), a YBB-321 knock-off, a YBB-105 knock-off, a couple of sort-of-like YCB-621 and YBB-621 knock-offs (smaller bore, and different plumbing), these euphoniums, and other stuff.
The marching stuff was all labeled "Dynasty", but the concert stuff was just (actual manufacturer) "Weril".
My life has been a confusing and chaotic blur...I can't supply any dates...
My understanding is that those people were making instruments in Brazil long before DEG bought any of them (beginning around 1909 or so)...and - curiously - they seem to be of Austrian descent: "Weingrill", not German, and not any of those dubious folk who showed up in Venezuela around 1945.
bort2.0 wrote: Fri Jan 07, 2022 8:50 pm Crazy story, glad you finally gave it what it needed. How old is the oldest Weril, anyway?

Hope all goes well when you go in, and they repair YOUR tolex. (Hey, you asked for jokes...)
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bloke »

They came, and I told them all about the Weril euphonium - including what I do NOT particularly like about it, and they seem (??) to like it.
They're taking it with them.
Also - the jazz trombone...It is an Olds "Super", which was/is a very "front-heavy" instrument (with a thick bell (with an added kranz, no less!) and not-delicately-built playing slide...
...so I located a Yamaha balancer (which fits "ok", and which helps a LOT)...

...so we'll see.

(I really am trying to - bit-by-bit - empty out "the barn" of "good stuff" before I croak, and I'm sort-of working from the least of it up to the best of it.)

@bort2.0 ...not really "ancient"...but (as far as your lifespan thus far is concerned) yeah: "ancient"

btw...Is the specific person HERE who asked my about my hundred-year-old (project not completed, but in COMPLETE-ABLE condition - specifically referring to pistons/casings) Boosey & Co. 3+1 comp. euph...(??) I might be ready to talk to them.

NOW...BACK TO my regularly-scheduled repairs !!! :bugeyes:
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by Three Valves »

Finally getting that vasectomy eh??

:smilie2:
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bloke »

Three Valves wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 9:56 am Finally getting that vasectomy eh??

:smilie2:
sorta close but no - uh - "cigar"...(??) :red:

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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by Three Valves »

Circumcision?? :bugeyes:
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by bloke »

LOL...nothing "there".

bloke "long ago, a victim of coicumstance"

I'll be fine, and - if not - (again) I won't have to witness the whimpering cries of the last days of the USA.
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Three Valves (Sun Jan 09, 2022 4:09 pm)
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Re: ancient Weril silver euphonium - back from the dead

Post by York-aholic »

bloke wrote: Sun Jan 09, 2022 1:59 pm I'll be fine, and - if not - (again) I won't have to witness the whimpering cries of the last days of the USA.

In phone conversations with my dad, he frequently says to me, "I'm glad I'm my age and not your age."

I sometimes wish I was his age, or a bit older, rather than my age...
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bloke (Thu Jan 13, 2022 2:06 pm)
Some old Yorks, Martins, and perhaps a King rotary valved CC
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