I was looking at french horns on ebay and found that there are quite a few new horns on there that sell not in the thousands of dollars, but in the hundreds. I have played for 7 years and would like to purchase a horn not to use for a career or to play in a symphony, but just to play as a hobby, probably in my church's orchestra. So, would there be any problem with purchasing one of these $200-$400 new double french horns? Is there something terribly wrong with them? Some don't seem to have any brand name, others say Monique or Selman. Would they play with at least a decent sound? Would my lips fall off?

Here is the link to the listings on ebay. If it doesn't work, go to www.ebay.com and type in "french horn double new".

http://search.ebay.com/search/search.dll?from=R40&_trksid=m37&satitle=french+horn+double+new&category0=

JuliaofHH,

I see what you are trying to do and it is a nice idea. However, I recommend against it.
Some of the horns are NOT the horn they say they are. One example is some are advertised as "double horns" because they have 4 valves. When actually they are a single Bb horn with a stopping valve extension.

The reason they are way less expensive is because of the materials and craftsmanship. Often the metal used is of a lesser quality and as a result the levers bend or break, the braces become unsoldered more easily, and the bracketts and braces holding the valve levers and valve assembly will bend. Also the sound just isn't the sound of a french horn.

I would suggest keeping your eyes open for a used horn of a known maker. My suggestions, especially for a church orchestra Conn 6D's work wonderfully !! You could also consider a Holton model or a Yamaha. Yamaha's have the best "in tune" scale. And you can find decent used ones for $250 - $600. Not a whole lot different than the $400 'new ones'.

Your lips won't fall off - your ears might ( he he ).

You also may want to try a King Eroica or Reynolds Contempera.
Both are sleeper horns. Not the most popular so they don't get the high dollars, but I think they play well and have fantastic tones for the money and for what you want to do with it.

Thank you, your replies are helpful. I didn't think about the horns actually falling apart or not being true double horns. And thanks for the suggestions on lower priced "good" horns so I have an idea of what to keep an eye out for!

The reason they are way less expensive is because of the materials and craftsmanship. Often the metal used is of a lesser quality and as a result the levers bend or break, the braces become unsoldered more easily, and the bracketts and braces holding the valve levers and valve assembly will bend.

I've seen all those problems on "professional" horns. The difference being that they come with a guarantee that doesn't require an expensive return to factory for a brace to be fixed - but then your local repair shop can always do that. The Chinese usually make good copies of instruments but they are rarely better than the instrument they have based their design on.

I would suggest that the real problems with Chinese horns on ebay is that (i) you can't try them in advance and therefore you can't be sure its been made properly and (ii) the resale value is very low while a branded horn keeps more of its value.