Mystery Vintage Besson trumpet

[Deanna]

Hello,

I came across an old Besson trumpet and am wondering if anyone knows anything about it or where I could find out about it. It has interesting slide triggers that I can't find in images of any other older Bessons. I've searched on the Internet but I think it may have been made in a time that records were lost for due to a fire in the plant. But... I'm not sure. Anyway, I'm hoping someone may know something. The slides are seized (except the 1st) and the valves are seized (plus one is in wrong so no air will go through). The mouthpiece is a Denis Wick 4.

I'm wondering if I should go back and see about buying it if it's still there. They're asking $299.

I read that we can't insert images right here so I hope it's okay to link to my website: https://deannaford.ca/vintage-besson-trumpet/

Thanks!
Deanna
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Bach Bb Stradivarius
Bach C Stradivarius
Benge Bb
Conn Bb (early 1920s)
Yamaha Piccolo
Jupiter Pocket trumpet

[Halflip]

[yourbrass]

If the slides are seized (a much more elegant word than "stuck") I'd offer them $100 and then get it repaired. You've got Mr. Divitt there in Toronto who can do an excellent job.
_________________
"Strive for tone." -John Coppola
Edwards X-13
ACB MV3C /ACB A1/26 backbore
https://yourbrass.com/

[Deanna]

[Deanna]

[Halflip]

[jeirvine]

it's an English Besson International model. A few of those popped up on eBay recently. They were I think similar to their mid-range 8-10 models. So a real English Besson, for what that's worth.
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1932 King Silvertone Artist Bore
1945 Buescher 400
1946 Olds Super
1947 Olds Super Cornet
1948 Couesnon flugelhorn
1951 Olds Special
1956 Martin Committee
1964 Olds Recording
1968 Bach 329 C
1996 Bach 37

[Deanna]

[Halflip]

[Mike Prestage]

'Made by Besson' was just how English Besson instruments were labelled for a time - it definitely wasn't used to seperate the low end stuff from 'real' Bessons. I'm not sure exactly where this trumpet would have fitted in the model lineup when new, but the International name was used on some top of the range instruments, and certainly never on anything less than mid-range.

It's worth bearing in mind that pretty much none of the English Besson trumpets are highly regarded though, and I couldn't recommend buying this trumpet unless you can negotatiate the price way down. Any instrument in an unplayable condition is a gamble, and especially one many decades old. (If you dig around a bit online it should be possible to date it from the serial number but as a rough guess I'd say it's from the 1950s.)

Mike
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[Halflip]

[Mike Prestage]

It's such a bizarre bit of branding - I have a feeling it only showed up after Boosey & Hawkes had bought Besson so perhaps the idea was to emphasise that Bessons were still meanigfully distinct from the instruments the parent company sold under their own name.

More speculaton... if at any point cheaper Besson-branded instruments were made by outside contractors, or merely assumed to be by potential customers, it could have been to emphasise that you were buying a real Besson - the inverse of what you suspected!

Mike
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[Halflip]

[yourbrass]

[jeirvine]

[Halflip]

[yourbrass]

Not necessarily, and that's why it must be cheap, or leave it alone.
When a horn hasn't been played for a long time, corrosion will build up, because they are typically put away dirty, and it just gets worse from there.

The basic appearance of the instrument wasn't bad, but there can be hidden problems, and you want it cheap, just in case.
_________________
"Strive for tone." -John Coppola
Edwards X-13
ACB MV3C /ACB A1/26 backbore
https://yourbrass.com/

[Halflip]

[Mike Prestage]

[krax]

Quote from Jocelyn Howell in Boosey & Hawkes:
The Rise and Fall of a Wind Instrument
Manufacturing Empire pages 202-204:

"During 1965 the The British Bandsman featured full page advertisements for Conn instruments stating that the change to low pitch enabled players to use them. No doubt, the launch of the Besson ‘International’ range was an attempt by B&H to appeal to the same market. Three full pages announced ‘Besson makes Big News’; they featured famous bands that played Besson instruments, presenting ‘The Revolutionary Besson International’ – a model that ‘puts every other Cornet out of date, the B♭ tenor trombone – ‘a completely new model, incorporating every possible refinement, and the large-bore B♭ and F trombone. However, whilst the first two were new, the other instruments in the range were made up of rebranded B&H models."

and

"Affluent bands generally chose the best instruments available, upgrading as
new models were introduced. At the beginning of the 1960s ‘Imperial’ and ‘New Standard’ models were top of the range, but these were superseded by the ‘International’ and then the ‘Sovereign’. In 1975 the B&H, Besson and ‘Sovereign’ model numbers were unified, with top quality models given a 900 number, midrange 700, and student Regent-type instruments 600. Thus, a model sold under different brand names carried the same number. ‘Sovereign’, ‘International’ and a few ‘Imperial’ models comprised the first category. At this time most of the instruments supplied under the ‘International’ name were actually ‘Sovereign’ models and not ‘Imperial’ as before. In 1976 some of the duplicated models were discontinued including the entire ‘International’ range."