I got some help here last year when my son was thinking of starting to learn a brass instrument. To update..

He has been playing euphonium for about a year now and making steady, if slow, progress. In truth,he is not one of the world's most enthusiastic or talented musicians. Nevertheless, he has persisted with euphonium, where he gave up at learning other instruments before. He is fifteen, and it seems likely that he will continue with lessons (at school) until he leaves school. By then, I hope, he will be playing in our local training brass band. I also hope he will continue playing as an enjoyable hobby after that. I think it extremely unlikely that he is ever going to be (or, indeed, going to want to be) a euphonium virtuoso, so that I don't think there will come a time when he/we must invest in a really top end euphonium! On the other hand, it might be nice for him to have, now, a euphonium that will last him for a good few years/decades/life as a hobby player.

For most of the last year he has been playing a rented Jupiter 3 valve instrument from our local brass/woodwind shop. He is perfectly happy with it. The arrangement is that any rental paid gets put towards buying a euphonium from the shop, and it can be either the actual instrument rented or you can return that and buy a new euphonium. The euphonium we rented was already second hand, with minor dings, and quite a few scratches. Consequently, the shop did not place a high valuation on it, and we have almost paid for it. We should shortly decide whether to keep it, or whether to spend quite a lot more on a new instrument.

Does anyone have any thoughts as to whether this Jupiter will serve the purpose I want it to - ie will suffice for a good few years of not too serious playing? If not, what would be a good instrument to upgrade to and/or what should we look for in a new instrument?

Thanks!