Sorry I have a question about the Adam’s E1 how do you think it performs as a euphonium and what are some good aspects of it and what are some bad ones as well I’m a current high school student who’s also a euphonium player and I’m looking into buying my own personal euphonium so far I’ve been looking at Adam’s , besson , and Geneva but im at a stuck hold right now so I just really would appreciate if I could have your feedback back on the Adam’s E1
No need to apologize, I'm happy you asked. It's a great Euphonium! The intonation on my instrument is absolutely rock-solid. In fact, I would say that is the greatest strength it has. The tone quality is nice and consistent when paired with a mouthpiece it and I respond well with. You can very much hear that I don't do well with some of the mouthpieces in this video. I'll make you a list: Pros- +Intonation is solid; doesn't need much work. +Timbre and partial distances are somewhat customizable; I can make my horn darker and increase the distance between notes with the adjustable gap receiver. +Free-Blowing; open sound created by the relative lack of resistance to air in comparison to other euphoniums. +Easy to maintain; comes with a microfiber cloth, a solid Marcus Bonna gig bag, and a protective sleeve. I have never had to polish any parts of this instrument, and have only had to work on the valve slides and pistons. +Great Staff at the Adam's Company; I got my horn at the Midwest Convention in 2019 and they replaced my valve caps and have offered to do other work for free. Also gave me a great discount when I bought in-person. Cons- -The lack of resistance can sometimes make it harder to achieve the edges of the range and affect lengths of musical passages. I've had to tackle that as an issue in comparison to my old Besson Sovereign. SOLUTION: Work extra on air control and range stability. -The valves have needed so much work; I have changed the springs to Mead Springs and have both changed AND shaved down guides in order to get the valves ride better. I've also experimented heavily with many different oils. SOLUTION: Time with the instrument will wear it in and use a lighter valve oil if buying new (always properly get rid of old oil before putting on new). -I've noticed some mild acid bleed spots on the lacquer. Representatives have offered to replace those parts entirely for free. I just don't want to lose my horn for a while for that to get taken care of. In-betweens- ~The horn can too easily have an almost tromboney timbre. Sometimes too bright in my opinion. I'd like a darker timbre, but this specific E1 that year was just the best horn available at Midwest that year. It narrowly edged out an E2 and Willson 2900S after rigorous play-testing. At least it's customizable, but I also need the focus that having the gap receiver more in allows me. If you like a brighter sound, you'll enjoy an E1 (although it's not as bright as an Eastman and is much more akin to a Besson Prestige) ~The valves are very spread out for my hands. Mine are long but not very wide, and so the valves require I hold my hand slightly farther away from the grip. Still comfortable overall! But this might fit your hand perfect if you have wider palms than I do. The Besson fits mine perfectly and I LOVE the valve action on them. I switched from my old Besson because of range and intonation issues, and think I definitely got a step up in the E1
Sorry I have a question about the Adam’s E1 how do you think it performs as a euphonium and what are some good aspects of it and what are some bad ones as well I’m a current high school student who’s also a euphonium player and I’m looking into buying my own personal euphonium so far I’ve been looking at Adam’s , besson , and Geneva but im at a stuck hold right now so I just really would appreciate if I could have your feedback back on the Adam’s E1
No need to apologize, I'm happy you asked. It's a great Euphonium! The intonation on my instrument is absolutely rock-solid. In fact, I would say that is the greatest strength it has. The tone quality is nice and consistent when paired with a mouthpiece it and I respond well with. You can very much hear that I don't do well with some of the mouthpieces in this video. I'll make you a list:
Pros-
+Intonation is solid; doesn't need much work.
+Timbre and partial distances are somewhat customizable; I can make my horn darker and increase the distance between notes with the adjustable gap receiver.
+Free-Blowing; open sound created by the relative lack of resistance to air in comparison to other euphoniums.
+Easy to maintain; comes with a microfiber cloth, a solid Marcus Bonna gig bag, and a protective sleeve. I have never had to polish any parts of this instrument, and have only had to work on the valve slides and pistons.
+Great Staff at the Adam's Company; I got my horn at the Midwest Convention in 2019 and they replaced my valve caps and have offered to do other work for free. Also gave me a great discount when I bought in-person.
Cons-
-The lack of resistance can sometimes make it harder to achieve the edges of the range and affect lengths of musical passages. I've had to tackle that as an issue in comparison to my old Besson Sovereign. SOLUTION: Work extra on air control and range stability.
-The valves have needed so much work; I have changed the springs to Mead Springs and have both changed AND shaved down guides in order to get the valves ride better. I've also experimented heavily with many different oils. SOLUTION: Time with the instrument will wear it in and use a lighter valve oil if buying new (always properly get rid of old oil before putting on new).
-I've noticed some mild acid bleed spots on the lacquer. Representatives have offered to replace those parts entirely for free. I just don't want to lose my horn for a while for that to get taken care of.
In-betweens-
~The horn can too easily have an almost tromboney timbre. Sometimes too bright in my opinion. I'd like a darker timbre, but this specific E1 that year was just the best horn available at Midwest that year. It narrowly edged out an E2 and Willson 2900S after rigorous play-testing. At least it's customizable, but I also need the focus that having the gap receiver more in allows me. If you like a brighter sound, you'll enjoy an E1 (although it's not as bright as an Eastman and is much more akin to a Besson Prestige)
~The valves are very spread out for my hands. Mine are long but not very wide, and so the valves require I hold my hand slightly farther away from the grip. Still comfortable overall! But this might fit your hand perfect if you have wider palms than I do. The Besson fits mine perfectly and I LOVE the valve action on them. I switched from my old Besson because of range and intonation issues, and think I definitely got a step up in the E1