Celebrating A Milestone 15 Years of Brass Instrument Excellence
2026 marks an incredible 15 years of Wessex and, to celebrate, we’re looking back at everything that has helped make Wessex the world renowned brand it is today; a business created by a musician for musicians, to bring high quality, affordable brass instruments to the market.
One Man and a Vision
Founded by tuba enthusiast and former business consultant Jonathan Hodgetts in 2011, and very much inspired by his lovely wife Mei, Jonathan saw an opportunity to combine 2 worlds he knows and loves into 1; business and tubas - starting out with just 4 tubas and selling them from the back room in his house.
From there, the rest is history! Right off the bat, Jonathan’s tubas were selling internationally and, within 1 very short year, Jonathan was devoting all of his time to Wessex; manufacturing tubas in a factory in China and selling them across the globe and, in 2012, a distribution centre was opened in the USA; responding to increasing demand in the United States.
Initially using standard designs, Wessex soon started branching out; customising and designing their own instruments, whilst using professional artists’ expertise to refine the sound quality of each new product.
And this is just one of the many things that makes Wessex so special.
Prioritising Quality
A genuine musician to musician brand, Wessex has prioritised quality from the start; involving professional musicians in the design and manufacturing process from the earliest days of the business to ensure every instrument that makes its way out of the factory not only looks good, but sounds fantastic and plays well.
With Wessex, our customers know that one of our team members has personally played and inspected the instrument(s) they receive; it’s part of our quality assurance process, and something we all take incredibly seriously. If we’re not happy with how an instrument sounds coming out of the factory, it’s not going anywhere!
Resurrecting Lost Voices
The same attention to detail and focus on quality runs through all other areas of our business, including our brass revival section - resurrecting historical or lost brass instruments and bringing them back to market, with modern upgrades - a key part of the Wessex product catalogue that we officially launched around 8 years ago.
This is something that lives at the core of Wessex; perhaps a little whimsical and romantic, there’s something incredibly special about bringing a voice from the distant past back to life, whilst making it accessible to modern musicians.
Especially popular examples of this are:
-
BBb Travel Tuba (tornister tuba) ‘Mighty Midget’ – TB160,
-
and Travel (Tornister) Euphonium ‘Maly’ – ER154
Introducing Wessex Artists and Ambassadors
Of course, resurrecting these voices and crafting elite, affordable brass instruments is only half of the equation.
The true magic happens when these horns get into the hands of the global brass community and over the last 15 years, our growth has been driven by the raw enthusiasm, firstly of our Founder Jonathan, and secondly of the musicians who play our instruments on stage every single day.
This passion is embodied by our incredible network of Wessex Ambassadors and Artists.
From elite symphonic orchestral players and military band virtuosos to boundary-pushing jazz soloists and dedicated educators, our artists represent the full spectrum of the brass musical world.
These aren't just names on a webpage; our ambassadors and artists are an active extension of the Wessex family; they put our instruments through their paces in high-pressure performance environments across the globe, proving that an affordable brass instrument can stand shoulder-to-shoulder with boutique heritage brands.
But, more importantly, their real-world feedback flows directly back into our design room.
When an ambassador tells us how a horn slots in a cold rehearsal hall or how a valve feels after a long tour, we listen.
Celebrating 15 Years, and Many More To Come!
As we look forward to the next 15 years, our mission remains anchored by this exact musician-to-musician synergy.
We are incredibly proud to support the artists who trust us with their performance, and we are honored to keep building the tools that allow the next generation of brass players to find their unique voice.
Here’s to an exceptional 15 years of Wessex, and to many more!