Category

French Horns

French horns, descant horns, Wagner tubas, horn makers, and orchestral horn model families.

Models

  • Gebr. Alexander 103

    French horn · Germany

    The Gebr. Alexander Model 103 is a professional double horn made in Mainz, Germany, playable in either F or B-flat using a thumb-operated change lever. One of the most widely used orchestral horns in the world, it is prized for its tone and intonation and is offered with a detachable-bell option.

  • Holton H179 Farkas

    French horn · United States

    The Holton H179 is the flagship professional Farkas-model full double horn in F/B-flat (reversible to B-flat/F). It has all nickel-silver construction, a 0.468-inch bore, a large-throat 12.25-inch hand-hammered nickel-silver bell, tapered rotors, and string linkage. Designed for the 'big horn' artist, it produces a rich, dark sound and is one of the most popular professional double horns in the United States.

  • Engelbert Schmid Vienna Horn

    Germany

    The Engelbert Schmid Vienna Horn is a handmade single F Vienna horn with the traditional Viennese pumpenvalve mechanism and a detachable crook. It can be converted to a B-flat Vienna horn within minutes by removing intermediate valve-slide pieces and fitting the B-flat crook.

  • Yamaha YHR-871

    French horn · Japan

    The Yamaha YHR-871 is a Custom-series full double horn in F/B-flat built on a traditional Geyer-style wrap. It has a 0.476-inch (12.1 mm) bore, a solid yellow brass body, nickel-silver valve casings, four rotary valves, and a hand-hammered bell. A detachable-bell version is offered as the YHR-871D. It is valued for clear, deep, resonant tone in professional and orchestral playing.

  • Hans Hoyer 801 Geyer Style

    French horn · Germany

    The Hans Hoyer 801 is a German-made professional full double horn in F/B-flat built on a Geyer-style wrap. It has a 0.468-inch (11.9 mm) bore, a medium-large hand-hammered 310 mm (12.2-inch) bell, a gold-brass leadpipe, four conical rotary valves, and a string linkage. It is offered with a brass or optional gold-brass body and a fixed or detachable bell.

  • Engelbert Schmid Double Horn

    Germany

    The Engelbert Schmid Double Horn is a handmade full double horn in F and B-flat, the core of Engelbert Schmid's range. It is offered with an A-stopping valve and in several metal alloys, bell sizes, and screw- or fixed-bell configurations. Schmid double horns are noted for their even response and are used by orchestral players worldwide.

  • Engelbert Schmid Triple Horn

    Germany

    The Engelbert Schmid Triple Horn combines B-flat, F, and a high-F or high-E-flat side in one handmade instrument. Schmid is noted as the only maker to offer an F/B-flat/high-E-flat triple, and the horns are built as compensating or full triples, optionally with a stopping valve.

  • Technical line drawing of Yamaha YHR-567

    Yamaha YHR-567

    French horn · Japan

    A Yamaha full double horn in F/B-flat with yellow brass body and four valves.

  • Engelbert Schmid Descant Horn

    Germany

    The Engelbert Schmid Descant Horn is a handmade descant horn, usually built as a double with a B-flat side and an E-flat alto side pitched an octave above the F side of a standard double horn. It is intended for high, exposed repertoire such as Baroque and Classical works.

  • Paxman Model 25

    French horn · United Kingdom

    The Paxman Model 25 is a British-made professional full double horn built on the Model 20 with Paxman's dual-bore system, which widens the F side so it resists like the B-flat side. It is highly configurable in bore, bell throat, material, and bell attachment, and is valued for even response across both sides of the horn.

  • Paxman Model 20

    French horn · United Kingdom

    The Paxman Model 20 is a British-made professional full double horn in F/B-flat built around Paxman's Merewether system, which routes air through the valve section in the same direction on both the F and B-flat sides for smooth slurring and legato. It has a 12.2-inch bell and four rotary valves, and is highly configurable, offered in medium, medium-large, or large bore; yellow brass, gold brass, or nickel silver; and fixed or detachable bell.

  • Ricco Kühn W 283

    Germany

    A double French horn by Ricco Kühn of Germany, part of the W-series of handmade professional horns and recommended with the workshop's universal ML2 bell flare for even response across the range.

Sources

Makers

  • C.G. Conn

    C.G. Conn is an American maker of band and orchestral brass and wind instruments, founded by Charles Gerard Conn in Elkhart, Indiana, in 1875.

  • Engelbert Schmid Horns

    Engelbert Schmid Horns is a German horn maker associated with handmade single, double, triple, descant, and Wagner tuba instruments.

  • Hans Hoyer

    Hans Hoyer is a German French horn brand associated with professional double horns, descant horns, and orchestral horn models.

  • Paxman

    Paxman is a British maker and specialist shop focused on French horns, descant horns, triple horns, and horn servicing.

  • Frank Holton & Co.

    Frank Holton & Co. (Holton) is an American brass instrument maker founded by trombonist Frank Holton in Chicago in 1898 and based in Elkhorn, Wisconsin from 1918. One of the world's largest makers of French horns, it developed its Farkas horn line in the late 1950s in partnership with Chicago Symphony principal horn Philip Farkas. Holton is now a brand of Conn-Selmer.

  • Gebr. Alexander

    Gebr. Alexander is a Mainz brass maker especially associated with professional French horns, Wagner tubas, trumpets, and low brass.

  • Ricco Kühn

    Ricco Kühn is a German brass and horn maker associated with professional French horns, Wagner tubas, and handmade orchestral brass instruments.

Part of

  • Brass Instruments

    Lip-vibrated wind instruments made primarily from brass or related metals.