Luis Jimenez

“This is a great instrument for the price. Great sound and solid construction. I am very happy with this purchase, as I am able to achieve same results with this one.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Ronald Geese

Verified Reviewer

“This is a wonderful instrument! I love it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“I purchased my Dolce and have been playing it for two weeks now. I play in Brass bands but wanted an instrument of my own without spending too much. I was a professional musician in the past playing in a military band so contemplated a 2nd hand pro instrument of similar price but having read reviews decided on a new Dolce. It was definitely the right decision from a playing point of view. The instrument plays superbly. A lovely sound, great intonation and so smooth playing legato. The Dolce has vented valves but this isn’t mentioned on the specifications on the Wessex website. The valves are getting smoother with use and regular cleaning and oiling. I use a Wick SM3 Ultra mouthpiece but did give the supplied mouthpiece a play and it is very good overall. I have had a couple of minor issues that I contacted Wessex about and the customer service has been second to none. If you buy a Dolce you won’t regret it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

“This is a very nice playing horn. The finish is very even. The horn blows very freely. My only complaints are that my second valve stem is the slightest bit bent and the mouthpiece that came new with the horn already had some very present marks of wear. Overall a great horn for the price. Just watch the little bits of quality.”

Helpful Report

Posted 4 years ago

Ewald D. G. Siviter

Verified Reviewer

“I have played a number of euphoniums over the years from different makes and models and I honestly have to say that the Wessex 'Dolce 100' is as good, if not better, than all of them. Build quality is excellent. I can see the original starting point for the design, but there have been some very well thought out and executed modifications that work really well. This is a lighter weight instrument but the 'Dolce 100' is none the worse for that. Sound quality is beautiful. Response is lightening quick, thanks to a very well designed floating lead pipe. Extra water keys, including an 'Amado' water key on the 2nd valve tuning slide, are all very welcome. A nice little touch are the plastic covers on the end of the water keys. The Monel valves are excellent, although the 2nd and 3rd valves are still a little sluggish. That is perhaps partly due to the mineral oil based valve oil I am using. I will switch shortly to a light synthetic oil specifically designed for new instruments. I purchased a silver plated model primarily because the laquered model was out of stock. The finish is of a high quality. My instrument had no blemishes or problems areas anywhere on the instrument. Aesthetically, the 'Wessex Tubas' logo on the bell looks fantastic, so too do the finger buttons. I find the engraving on the top of the finger buttons actually helps with feel and they are certainly a refreshing change from the mother of pearl/plastic inset type finger buttons. The instrument is shipped with a mouthpiece that is, surprisingly very, very good with a comfortable rim. The mass in the mouthpiece helps a great deal with sound production. I am, at the moment sticking with my normal mouthpiece, which gives me a powerful bottom end from 'F' (1st space below the stave, Bass clef) all the way through to pedal 'Bb.' I also have a practical range right down to double pedal 'B.' At the top end, the instrument/mouthpiece combination remains powerful with a singing (but not thin) tone quality. I have a normal playing range up to 'Eb' concert 6 spaces above the stave. I can comfortably achieve 'A' above that with a decent sound quality. The instrument ships with a hard case that is both practical and robust. Personally, I'm a fan of hard cases v's Gig Bags. The case has a tray inside, at the front opening large enough to hold two mouthpieces, in their cases, plus a cleaning cloth and valve oil. There is a slot for a mouthpiece at the rear right corner (hinge side). Overall, I am very, very pleased with my 'Wessex Tubas Dolce 100' Euphonium. I would highly recommend this instrument be put onto the shopping list for anyone in the market for a new euphonium.”

1 Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“I’m finishing up my DMA and needed a new horn but didn’t want to break the bank during these uncertain times. After a month or so, all I can say is wow! This horn is fantastic! Very very easy to play, and a clear in tune sound in all registers. Not to mention it’s beautiful aesthetic. I’ll be using it on my final recital, and I will recommend this to all of my students’ families who don’t want to drop a fortune on a high priced horn in a heart beat!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

“Ok, I've had my reservations about this instrument, I am currently in grade 11 and I needed an instrument that fit my level, since all of our School ones weren't good enough. I was originally playing on a 1974 Imperial, an extremely vintage, but well made Euphonium. When I got this euphonium I legitimately thought I made a mistake, however, I was extremely surprised how well it played just after a week. Let me tell you, this horn blows that Imperial out of the water, my tone is darker and fuller and resonates way nicer now. This instrument is very solidly built, and there is really only a few spots you can notice that lower price tag. One of them being the very short connections in between valves, they have very obvious ripples on them, if I'm going to be completely honest, this makes 0 difference at all, it really is barely noticeable from more than a foot away and it doesn't compromise tone nor look at all. The second place is the threads on the valve caps, they are quite shallow, however, this too got better after a week of fiddling them on and off, when you get this horn, I'd say really pay attention to the way you are screwing them in, don't force anything. Other than that, the finish is like the slightest bit off, really barely anything, and in general after a good cleaning and a light polishing, it looks incredible. When you get this instrument, here are a few things I'd recommend, most of it being basic knowledge about new instruments. Wash it. Seriously, wash it. This instrument can come quite dirty from the factory and after your initial toots, I'd wash it. This helps in so many ways, one, the valves have a special oil on them for transit, this makes them less likely to stick in shipping. This oil is literally the slowest thing that can go on your valves next to dirt, scrub the valves well with a non abrasive sponge or cloth and warm soapy water, make sure to take them apart slightly and DO NOT WASH THE FELTS. In this case, I'm 90% certain these felts are synthetic, so it wouldn't be the end of the world, but its just really good practice. Also don't use the valve oil they give you, please go buy some Yamaha Synthetic Light or some other light oil, it will save you pain. This cleaning also obviously gets rid of the grime that is on it from the factory (I am slightly exaggerating how dirty it is, but my tub had a solid black ring after cleaning.) If when you first play this instrument, it sounds bad, believe me, 95% of the time I'll bet you its you. Let me explain, if you are coming from an extremely old instrument like I did, or coming from a British style instrument, this will feel weird, at first it feels almost too perfect, and for my my embouchure was god awful for this instrument, you may need an embouchure change like I am currently going through, but don't give up! I've already seen massive progress in only 3 days of embouchure shift. This really only applies if you aren't don't have much experience playing different instruments for a long time, like myself. Please spend time doing long tones and playing around with your embouchure. In conclusion, If you are reading the reviews of this instrument, buy it, seriously, buy it. If you really hate it after 14 days, you have a free return, unfortunately you still pay shipping, but if you live in the US, I'm fairly sure there shouldn't have been any import fees like in Canada. And this also is around the same price as an instrument trial, so you are safe. This euphonium will suit 99% of players, and if I'm going to be completely honest, you won't find a better deal on a new euphonium, so I really say go for it, giant chance you will not regret it.”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Glacier High School

Verified Reviewer

“We love the Dolce Euphoniums. This is our second purchase as we replace 1970's baritones. I really like the hard shell cases and good thing as the boxes were not treated well in shipment. Luckily Wessex packed the instruments very solidly. Even though the outer boxes were shredded and DHL tape added with, "repacked by DHL" written on the boxes, the instruments were unharmed and the hard cases didn't even show scratches. Thanks Wessex!!”

Helpful Report

Posted 5 years ago

Bb Compensated Euphonium ‘Dolce’ - EP100 Silver plate with additional gold valve caps and buttons (For DELIVERY late June) Reviews