Name: Wessex Tubas Ltd
Address: 2 Viscount Court, South Way, Walworth Business Park, Andover, Hampshire
Rating: 3.87

“Very corroded for being a brand new instrument. Tuning slides corroded with green oxidation. Will need repaired/cleaned by professional. Does not appear to have been looked over before shipping out. Tuba completely dry, took over an hour to service it with oil in order to attempt to play. The first valve locks randomly. Have had to pay to get it serviced in order to use it for concerts and performances. The metal of the bell is very thin. Appears it would be easy to get bent. Hard case come with very large scratch on side.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 month ago

“Have had the silver/copper model for around 9 months now. Ordering was interesting, the website would say it was out of stock, I put my email down to be notified for when it was back in stock. A few days later I checked again and it was back in stock but I had not gotten an email. A few days later it was out of stock again, so I emailed Wessex to reserve one on the next shipment, which they kindly facilitated. After waiting around a month the delivery date was pushed back two weeks. Having waited these extra weeks, I was then called by the Wessex warehouse only to be informed that my euphonium had been destroyed in shipping. They did not have another silver/copper model available so they offered me a gold lacquered version which I declined, and was told I would have to wait several months until another silver/copper model came on the next shipment. The next day, I got a notification saying my order was out for delivery. A few days later I received exactly what I had ordered - with no damage - so I'm not too sure what happened there but I was glad I didn't have to wait even longer. The euphonium arrived and was left outside my front door, despite me changing the delivery settings with the courier for it to be left with a neighbour, which was slightly frustrating though I realize this is most likely an issue with the courier not Wessex themselves. The euphonium arrived nicely packaged, included was a Wessex pencil, cap, valve oil, cleaning cloth, and replacement springs, corks and valve guided ina handy little pouch. The case included is decent, nicely lined with an extremely soft red fabric, and has shoulder straps which can be detached and zipped away ina separate compartment which is handy. The case also has a pocket on the outer front with a lockable clasp which is neat. However, it is a shame the case is not a full hard case, I would prefer the option to have a hard case with wheels alongside the shoulder straps and carrying handles, especially considering how some of Wessex's cheaper euphoniums come with hard cases. I prefer the clasps from my old euphonium case over the zip on this one, especially considering how it can occasionally get caught on the inner lining of the case. Now, onto the euphonium itself. It's stunning to look at. The silver and copper complement each other beautifully. I am constantly getting comments from people on its appearance. It has a far superior sound to the student euphonium I was previously using, it has a full and bright tone. The included mouthpiece, is decent, but can be quite tiring after a couple hours of playing, will definitely be looking at upgrading from it soon. The valves were a little sluggish to start but with plenty of playing and a bit of oil they are fine now, decently smooth and quick. One minor annoyance is a screw or something somewhere appears to be loose my euphonium as I will occasionally here a slight vibrating sound, as if a screw has not been fully tightened, though I can't seem to find the source, though I'm sure if I took ten minutes to look properly this could easily be fixed. A further issue is that all of the spot valves were fitted with a black rubber cap on the trigger, though these were very loosely fitted, and I have already lost two of the three. Another mildly annoying point is that the palm rest is fairly uncomfortable for me, with my thumb feeling quite squished, though this issue is likely due to my way of holding the euphonium so might not be a problem for others. Moreover, the sinfonico does not have a lyre box, whilst this is not a necessary feature for me, it is definitely something to bear in mind. Now, my biggest problem with this model, the main reason I am giving it three not four stars, is the main spit valve. On my model, the spit valve is positioned with the trigger end of the lever closer to your body. This means that due to how I hold it, whenever I play, it presses against my body and opens. Not only does this constantly drench me in spit, but also momentarily kills the sound quality. This means whenever I am playing I have to take extra care as to how I am positioning the euphonium, instead of focusing on the music. This is made more annoying by the fact that it is a simple fix, just reverse the lever so the trigger end faces away from you! What is even more frustrating is the fact that Wessex appear to have done this on the fortissimo version of the sinfonico, hopefully they have changed it on newer base sinfonico models too. Though, that brings me on to another point of irritation. The sinfonico-fortissimo was released a few months after I had received my base sinfonico, which was slightly annoying given there was no indication of its release (that I had seen) unlike the dolce fortissimo which was teased on Wessex's YouTube channel. Though, the most annoying thing about the sinfonico-fortissimo is that (at the time of writing) is part of Wessex's summer sale, which makes it over £200 cheaper than the base sinfonico!!! I know this has been a fairly negative review, but I do thoroughly enjoy playing the sinfonico. It is by far the best euphonium I have owned to date, and I would definitely recommend that others consider it, though I would advise you to wait for a sale!!”

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Posted 8 months ago

“Looks wonderful. Third valve top thread is hopeless- almost impossible not to cross thread it so can’t risk unscrewing it to oil the valve. Intonation is disappointing. Flat across almost all notes. Clearly the lack of compensating system means that use of the fourth valve in the low register gets sharper and sharper. Normally that’s ok, because you’d extend the tuning slide - absolutely the norm for all non- compensating tubas. But the slide isn’t accessible nor is it very mobile.”

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Posted 10 months ago

“Plays very flat. With all the tuning slide in fully, it still plays 20-30 cents flat.”

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Posted 1 year ago

“The workmanship is ok, but the design is not. The thumb ring is place 90 degrees out of the position which would allow me to put my thumb in the ring when my fingers are on the valve buttons.”

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Posted 1 year ago

“I wish I could be more positive about this instrument, but there are a number of problems with it. First of all it's extremely front heavy, so much so that I had to get a special counter-weight made by a friend of mine. It's also very wide so a hand grip had to be bought to help hold on to the thing. The worst thing was the slide - not all that free-moving, at least not what I was expecting. It's at a repairer as we speak getting the slide re-built, and I've hardly played it. I have Buyer's Remorse.”

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Posted 1 year ago

“Shipping went good and it looks nice - but the valves on my intrument are disappointing. The second valve gets stuck every time since unpacking, the third always hits the body of the instrument, so it won't fully close. Playing like that is no fun and almost impossible. In the beginning a I was pretty excited to get this instrument... but with the risk of stuck valves out of the factory I'm afraid I probably won't buy another Wessex instrument.”

Helpful Report

Posted 1 year ago

Sorry, you have had these problems. That should not happen, and I have never heard of such problem with the Wagner Tuba before. Please email coda@wessex-tubas.com to arrange for the instrument to be replaced. Do mention that Jonathan has authorised replacement

Posted 1 year ago

“Had all 3 valves rotated and the valve caps were loose with the first valve coming off after taking the instrument out. After some work trumpet works fine but the valve caps are still loose.”

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Posted 1 year ago

“This is a decent instrument, the only treal issues are with the intonation. It's only just in tune with the main tuning slide all the way in, so maybe the slide could just be shorter & then you could pull it out if necessary. But the most problematic area is the 4th partial, particularly the D (concert C) which is very flat, around 30 cents, unless you use a small mouthpiece such a 12C, not the one supplied which is much larger. Even with a small mouthpiece the D tends to be slightly flat but can be lipped up more easily. I would have liked to give the instrument 4 stars, but I do find this intonation issue a bit limiting, hence the 3 stars”

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Posted 1 year ago

“This is not a tuba stand. The brackets that actually hold the instrument are not big enough. They are hard plastic with no padding so I wouldn’t be comfortable putting a euphonium in it either. One of the plastic brackets broke the first time I tried to put my tuba in it, so I had to rebuild the thing.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Got the compensating euphonium with the four vavles in line. Nice horn but: the valave are far apart and the thumb ring is far from the valves. I would need huge hands to keep my thumb in the ring and play all four valves. I suggest you move the thumb ring and maybe make the fourth valve with the valve stem off center, like some old Conn tubas. They had a disk with a key on the edge to fit in the valve key slot and the threaded valve cap was just a ring that hel that disk down. It was a really nice arrangement.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Product is very good quality, exactly as advertised. When I reached out to customer service with a question they responded very quickly. Will very likely do business with them again.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“I recently purchased the euphonium stand for my Dolce and I must say that I'm quite pleasantly surprised at how fast the shipping was (it actually arrived 2 days earlier than anticipated) and the quality of the stand itself far exceeds expectations. I'd seen a review that said that the stand was too big to hold a euphonium, but realistically, you're going to need room to remove the instrument from the brackets holding it, so... In a nutshell, my euph sits quite comfortably on the stand when it's placed and I don't have to worry about it tipping over or slipping out of the arms. Wessex Tubas, AGAIN, you've convinced me to stay with you all and to keep promoting the brand. Well done and please keep up the good work!”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Great service. Great company. Very happy with my purchase and how everything was handled.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Wessex Tubas Ltd service was good, although I had to wait several months for the tuba gig bag I ordered, due to lack of stock in the US. When the bag arrived, it was in perfect condition. It is advertised to be the correct size for the BBb Viverna horn, however, it is a very tight fit, length-wise. It will serve the purpose. It may loosen up a bit with use (I hope) because new, out of the box, it is barely long enough, making it somewhat difficult to insert or remove the horn. The bag appears well-made, with several pockets for additional gear and equipment, music, etc., as well as having shoulder straps available to carry the horn like a backpack. It is many pounds lighter than the hard-case and less bulky, which are my reasons for purchasing. I am very happy with my Viverna BBb 5-valve tuba, and this gig bag makes transporting the horn much easier.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“We decided our daughter deserved to play on an instrument worth her talent. ‘Shiny’ is the name now of her new tuba from Wessex. Here’s to looking forward to many more years hearing the beat rattle the house! The tuba shipped when we were promised and once it was on its way it only took 2 days to get to Wisconsin from England!”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Simply the best soft tuba cases available”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Just got my Tenor Horns. Things look good. Getting ready to check them out to make sure they play well. Thanks to Leanne for her help with this.”

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Posted 2 years ago

“Still waiting for it. It was supposed to be delivered on the 14th of July by the end of day and today is the 17th of July. With no explanation why it wasn't delivered and when, or if it will be delivered, I'm sitting here frustrated.”

Wessex Tubas Ltd Reviews

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