Posted by Dennis Morris on March 29, 1999 at 20:27:15:
In Reply to: 3 or 4 valve 3/4 BBb for an 11 yr. old daughter? posted by Oscar on March 26, 1999 at 10:30:48:
My $.02 . . . One possibility is a Yamaha YBB103. Although I got mine for a beater -- just had to stop abusing my good equipment at baseball games (Chicago Cubs) and such -- the horn's been a pleasant surprise.
I'm suggesting a 103 because in my expeience it's easy to get a nice sound, intonation is OK for a 3-valve instrument, and the horn is light and easy to handle. I think these are important considerations for a young player.
I don't think Yamaha makes the 103 any more but you should be able to find one. I don't know what the price range would be but I'd expect to save some dollars vs. the price of a new horn. You may also want to check out the models Yamaha brought out to replace the 103; unfortunately I have no experience with them so I can't comment on them.
All of the above is the good news. The downside is that the YBB103 is a 3-valve horn. So you'd have to decide if playability, ease of handling and cost savings would offset the lack of 4th valve.
Hope this helps. Good luck in your quest.