My Horns No. 6 - Weril Regium II Flugelhorn

Weril is not a brand that rings immediate bells with brass players, at least in the West. A Brazilian company, Weril has been making instruments for over 100 years, mostly to support the South American market, and, as I understand it, historically mostly with student-level instruments.

The Regium line was Weril's attempt to both move into higher-end instruments, and to grab a slice of the European and US markets. The Regium II was the next step, and they did get at least one endorsement, from Marcus Printup, who has since moved on to another brand. The Regium II line is no longer made by Weril, and they no longer seem to export instruments to Europe or the US.

Many stories abound around the trumpet interwebs about the poor design and quality of Weril, so you might be thinking why did I buy one? Well, right place, right time and right price sum up my experience with the brand. I happened to be in the market for a Flugelhorn for occasional use just when the Australian distributor for the brand was closing out his stock, and he had his remaining Regium II flugelhorns at more than 50% off RRP.

So I went down and had a blow, and came back with a horn.

So what have we got here? Two-piece copper bell, at a standard flugel 6" bell size, bore size of 0.435" (not measured by me, have also heard they are a 0.460"). Top-sprung valves with "traditional" vertical branches, waterkey on 1st and 3rd valves as well as main, and a tuning trigger on the 3rd valve. Weril uses a "standard" or large morse taper leadpipe, similar to Yamaha, Getzen etc. As you can see from the photos, the horn comes in a fine Bach-style hard case, with wrap-over cloth and space for music etc. The horn also came with some Weril-branded valve oil, and a Weril mouthpiece, which made the horn sound like a trumpet.

It has to be stated that the construction quality of the horn is not quite up to the standard of the big manufacturers. Some of the soldering is a little haphazard, and the valve caps etc. seem a little lightweight and fragile-looking for what is meant to be a professional level instrument. However, everything is where it's meant to be, and works in the way intended, so no complaints there. As I bought this horn unplayed, the valves have taken a little time to bed in, which is natural.

So what's it like to play? In a word, good. With the right mouthpiece, it produces a wonderfully warm and mellow flugelhorn sound. Within limits, it's a very flexible instrument. Intonation is OK, with the usual flugelhorn quirks being evident, but not as bad as on some horns I've played. Like many flugelhorns, it's very reluctant to go higher than A above the staff, but realistically with flugel music, that doesn't happen very often.

In terms of the design, there are a couple of areas where the performance could be better. The valves feel like those on cheap Chinese products - although they have never failed me, they always feel like they might, and that can be disconcerting. The other design issue is the tuning trigger on the third slide - it's just too long, so my fingers get in the way when I try to use it. Many other brands of flugelhorn have a much shorter trigger actuation mechanism, and it would be of benefit to Weril if they had changed to a similar sort of trigger.

For the price I paid, this flugelhorn was a good buy, and is perfect for the trumpet player who occasionally needs to use a flugel for Jazz or Brass Band work (although there is no lyre attachment).

My advice would be if the price is right, don't discount a Weril, but do play it, as it seems quality can be a little hit-and-miss, but a good one is a good horn.

Cheers for now, from

A View Over the Bell