Posted by Alan Herold on June 04, 2003 at 12:24:39:
In Reply to: Re: Re: Meinl Weston 451 Euphonium Question posted by Brandon Jones on June 03, 2003 at 15:52:08:
I too had some craftsmanship problems with my 967. I have heard that they've shored up these problems, but I can't say for sure. The ones that I've seen at conferences seem to be in top shape.
Anyway, Besson has a 6 or 12 month warranty on craftsmanship. I played my horn for about 5 months, learned the quirks of the horn, and sent it off to be worked on with a short list of problems. One thing was that the slides were not properly aligned. They fixed them. Another was there were some spots in the silver finish that were bad. They fixed them. One other thing... I told them that the valves were slow. They weren't, but I wanted to see what they would do. They came back in GREAT shape. I was very pleased with my horn.
If I had to buy another today, I'd try out both the 967 and the 451. If the 451 is in tune, it might be a tough choice. Try these horns out over a long period of time. Go to conferences and stores and keep trying them. You'll be happy with your purchase if you do. Also, I wouldn't count out the Willson, new Yamaha, and (I can't believe I'm saying this) Hirsbrunner. I think the Miraphone is still a step down from all of these, and the Yamaha is one or two improvements away from being a great horn. Bob Powers might still pimp the Sterling! You might try that... you have to read one of the ads first (his description is GREAT) then play the horn. My oh my.