questions for a good luthier - if there's one on this site

[bloke]

LOL...
I sing about as well as I double on euphonium:
"adequate, but that's certainly would NOT be the main reason for you showing up to hear the band"

speaking of which...
I acquired another new-to-me (possibly as old as I am, but not worse for the wear) "9-footer" fun-horn, today, thanks to LeMark doing the legwork !!!


It's a COPY of a Wesson - made in England, by Besson (the company that copies Wesson).

' no British brass bands around here, but it's a great polka band yet-another-double (with only four guys in the band, the more things that two of us play, the "bigger" the band SEEMS to be), as well as an (4th parts) Ewald-o-phone.

I don't really have much spare dough, right now, but this was one of those "can't afford not to" deals.

[iiipopes]

Ah, yes: the 3-valve comp true brass band baritone horn. I would like one to go with my 3-valve comp euph. These horns work great with the small (tenor trombone size) shank Wick Ultra 6 baritone mouthpiece. the Wick Ultra 6 is essentially a 6 1/2 AL with a slightly deeper cup to keep the low range from getting grainy, but doesn't sacrifice the mid range flexibility or upper range security. Hmmm. It may say Besson, but it appears to have the reeded B&H valve hardware instead of the fluted Besson hardware. The only bad thing I know about these horns is because the comp loop can only be made so short that occasionally the 2+3 combination for Gb's and Db's can be a little flat, even if 3 is pushed in and tuned "dead" for G's & D's. (The little known advantage to a 3-valve comp: G's & D's can be tuned "dead" and use 3rd valve alone, so that 1st and 2nd valves can each be tuned "dead" for A & E nats (2nd) and Ab's and Eb's (1st).

These horns are also good, if the part is not too low, to play instead of a euph when you have a concert band arrangement of something like a re-arranged big-band chart where the euph is scored to play what is essentially the 4th bone part (not bass bone) in section.

Or if you are truly a transposed treble clef brass bander, that would be 2+3 Ab's and Eb's can be a little flat, and A's & E's (3rd), B nats and F#'s (2nd), and Bb's and F's (1st) are dead in tune. But I digress.

[bloke]

It's stupid to enhance those instruments, but a quint valve might be slightly amusing.