rare: genuine Yamaha accessory...dependent 5th rotor for YEP-321 euphonium
Posted: Thu May 07, 2026 8:28 pm
The pictures of are of a fairly "rare bird".
This is an accessory (a dependent 5th rotor) made by Yamaha (a genuine Yamaha accessory) specifically manufactured (prior to Yamaha offering any compensating models of euphoniums) in order to allow the venerable model YEP-321 euphonium to be fully chromatic with an in-tune low E-flat (low D already available: 2-3-4) along with a reasonably well-in-tune low D-flat, low C, and low B-natural (as well as DOUBLE-low - octave lower - of each of those pitches).
Rich Matteson used one of these and claimed (??) that Yamaha built and sold these at his suggestion. (I heard him claim this in a clinic/masterclass, but who knows...)
For those of you who are pretty serious about playing jazz euphonium and use model 321 euphoniums for that purpose (arguably, the best jazz euphonium, likely being probably the smallest on the market), this device (remove the 4th slide and simply insert this) opens up tremendous additional possibilities.
I'm offering it for $1000 (which likely sounds like quite a bit of money), yet (adjusted for inflation from when these were first offered for sale for $300) I'm asking roughly half (in monetary VALUE, based on original cost (as seen in the picture).
This is operated by the left-hand thumb, and is very comfortable to reach and use.
Were money still worth what it was when Yamaha was making this (for a very limited time) back in the 70's, I'd be asking much less for this, but alas, that isn't the way things are.
Trust that this device is in mint condition, and (for those who've never seen one of these before) these are quite rare. A couple of decades ago, replicas were being made and sold for a pretty high price out of a store in California, but - whoever was making the replicas - obviously quit making them.
Yamaha nickel plated these, so they would look good with either than lacquered or silver-plated versions.
These days, about the only 9-foot B-flat jazz playing I'm doing is with my valve trombone, and (additionally) I find that I'm suddenly being hired to play electric bass again (as I had hidden my bass under the bed since c. 1990) and there are a few bass-related items I'd like to purchase (without taking money out of the bank)...thus, I'm offering this for sale.
If no takers, I'll shove it back onto the horn and close the case.
I'll ship via FedExGround or Priority Mail insured, whichever seems to be the cheapest, and I'll ask the buyer to cover that.
Thanks so very much for looking !
This is an accessory (a dependent 5th rotor) made by Yamaha (a genuine Yamaha accessory) specifically manufactured (prior to Yamaha offering any compensating models of euphoniums) in order to allow the venerable model YEP-321 euphonium to be fully chromatic with an in-tune low E-flat (low D already available: 2-3-4) along with a reasonably well-in-tune low D-flat, low C, and low B-natural (as well as DOUBLE-low - octave lower - of each of those pitches).
Rich Matteson used one of these and claimed (??) that Yamaha built and sold these at his suggestion. (I heard him claim this in a clinic/masterclass, but who knows...)
For those of you who are pretty serious about playing jazz euphonium and use model 321 euphoniums for that purpose (arguably, the best jazz euphonium, likely being probably the smallest on the market), this device (remove the 4th slide and simply insert this) opens up tremendous additional possibilities.
I'm offering it for $1000 (which likely sounds like quite a bit of money), yet (adjusted for inflation from when these were first offered for sale for $300) I'm asking roughly half (in monetary VALUE, based on original cost (as seen in the picture).
This is operated by the left-hand thumb, and is very comfortable to reach and use.
Were money still worth what it was when Yamaha was making this (for a very limited time) back in the 70's, I'd be asking much less for this, but alas, that isn't the way things are.
Trust that this device is in mint condition, and (for those who've never seen one of these before) these are quite rare. A couple of decades ago, replicas were being made and sold for a pretty high price out of a store in California, but - whoever was making the replicas - obviously quit making them.
Yamaha nickel plated these, so they would look good with either than lacquered or silver-plated versions.
These days, about the only 9-foot B-flat jazz playing I'm doing is with my valve trombone, and (additionally) I find that I'm suddenly being hired to play electric bass again (as I had hidden my bass under the bed since c. 1990) and there are a few bass-related items I'd like to purchase (without taking money out of the bank)...thus, I'm offering this for sale.
If no takers, I'll shove it back onto the horn and close the case.
I'll ship via FedExGround or Priority Mail insured, whichever seems to be the cheapest, and I'll ask the buyer to cover that.
Thanks so very much for looking !