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I find myself looking at the same group of horns, a year and a half later. Accounting for shipping and all in silver finish, the Mack Brass EU1150 is $1450, the Wessex Dolce is $1900, the Austin Doubler is $1975, and the Packer JP274 is $2400. I'm inclined towards the Yamaha so my main focus is on the Wessex and Mack Brass.

Discussions from last year described the price premium for the Wessex as minor, maybe $200. What are the design differences that distinguish it from the Mack Brass horn? $450 is a healthy fraction of the total cost. People referenced improvements made by Wessex to the design, but I could not find any specifics. Do they still justify a 1/3 premium to the price?

Dont go by online prices for the Packer, I can bet that a dealer like bloke can beat that price by a mile and it's a much better instrument than the other ones you listed

Since the pre-2021 tariff and post 2020 stagflation, I've had to uptick a hundred or so over my previous pricing, but that's all I will say about this, here.

If you ask me for a quote - and don't like it - I don't bite, and we're still friends.

What does the Packer do better than the others? I don't know much about the differences other than that the Yamaha derived horns have a more focused sound and the Besson style horns are warmer or fuller.

Better built, fantastic intonation, amazing tone . It doesn't feel like an inexpensive instrument in the least.

There are youtube videos out there that do a head to head with the Packer 274 and other budget brands

I don't think the Wessex is worth the premium over the Mack. I've played both (as well as the Festivo) and didn't notice an appreciable difference.

They all play very well, though. If I had to, I would have no problem using a Mack professionally.

All that said, for the sort of money that the Mack (and especially the Packer) costs, I would rather wait for a good deal on a nice used Besson. They are magic to play in a way that Yamaha-based euphs just aren't IMO, even if the intonation may be a bit more challenging.

In the past month, I bought a used 2021 Schiller compensating euphonium. I bought it because it was cheap enough that I wouldn't lose money if I needed to sell it because I hated it, but I really like it. I briefly had a Yamaha compensating euph before and really liked it and I think I like this one for the same reasons- I think this is a Yamaha copy and is the same as the Wessex/Mack Brass besides the finish (Mack), case (does Mack still sell theirs in a nylon covered styrofoam, finger buttons (Wessex), name on bell, and 2nd valve slide water key (Wessex).

I liked it more than my vintage Besson and Wessex Festivo, so I sold them. I've never played a Mack Brass or JP. People I trust on the internet say the JP is really nice, so I would trust them. The only build quality issues I had were slides pinging when I bent them in/out to the correct spot so they line up really nice. If I push in the 1st valve slide without holding down the slide, the 1st valve compensating loop slide pops out. Valves are not tight needing "light" oil like I need on my English Made Besson Eb tuba, but the horn doesn't strike me as "leaky" at all. The valve cap threads are great unlike the Big Mouth Brass tuba I owned very briefly.

Now my big question... do I tell my band students that Schiller is a fine brand to go buy? I'd want to try and enjoy more of their stuff first.

tubaing wrote: ↑Wed Aug 31, 2022 7:41 pmNow my big question... do I tell my band students that Schiller is a fine brand to go buy? I'd want to try and enjoy more of their stuff first.

As far as I know, the Schillers are not quality controlled like the Wessex and Mack are. This means it's a roll of the dice whether or not you get a good one, so I would personally avoid recommending it to students. That said, while some of the models Schiller sells are...concerning...I've never read or heard of someone being dissatisfied with their Schiller euph.