History of the Besson Trumpet

[topo3man]

I have read many threads that identified the pre war Besson trumpets as the father of all modern trumpets and yet there do not seem to be many detailed discussions of this horn on TH. I have kind of gathered information through piecing together many comments in multiple threads here on TH. I thought it might be a good time to start a thread on Besson history, the models that were made pre and post war, what was special about them, and other details of their particular history. Please feel free to comment.

[richardwy]

I'll read with interest Topo. I've looked at a website or two, but not really walked away with a clear understanding. Either my poor reading skills are to blame, or the web design made the experience arduous.

Regards,

Richard Oliver
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1972 Selmer Radial

[Robert Rowe]

Hi, Russ --

How 'Ya doin' ? (recognize that expression?)

Things are "OK" here in Easton ... we're even getting a Starbucks! (Unfortunately, there is to be a "Target"-store as a centerpiece in a new shopping plaza along the West side of the "by-pass", with Marlboro Ave being extended. That pristine piece of land with the old barn and silos is gone.)

Back to your post-topic --

I wonder about the lack of information, regarding the Besson horns, especially with occasional mention of them.

They are marvelous instruments -- I have an early (date?) F. Besson (Paris) Fluegelhorn, serial-number 4130. I have tried dozens and dozens of Fluegelhorns, some costing thousands of dollars, and made by the foremost horn-builders of the world, and the only horn that sounded as good was another vintage F. Besson (Paris) Fluegelhorn.

I, too, would welcome a fine source of information.

Hopefully, someone here at TH, will assist ....

Robt
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~ Love animals ... don't eat them. ~

I miss Genghis Khan ....

[Blackbird]

I'm all ears for Besson information too. I'd like to know more about where my Benge came from...

It sounds like a "Where Did I Come From" educational video...for trumpets.

Now, we just need an animator...

[DCB1]

This is all the info I have collected.

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DCB <><
John 14:6
Member since 2001
Curry
Bach
Selmer Radial
Kanstul
Holton
Amati
Conn

[petere]

If you have not joined forces, yet, you might like to contact the fellow who put together the Besson Loyalist website. He focuses more on the Kanstul Besson era but it all goes together! He has some links to websites with earlier Besson trumpet info.

[marcX]

Here's a post by Larry Gianni from the old TM website. Enjoy!

"Here’s a quick French Besson History lesson. Most of this was learned from Zig Kanstul, Hal Oringer, Dave Rodgers and Robb Stewart, all names everyone should know and all very respected people and un-official historians of the French Besson saga.
The Bessons you are thinking of are the replicas made by Zig Kanstul for the Boosey and Hawks Company starting in 1983/84 using original mandrills, saved from the Nazi’s in WW II by French Besson employees. This happened after the purchase of the Besson name by the English company following a fire that put the French company out of business. The Kanstul copies (they say Kanstul on the bottom of the second valve casing and use 4 digit serial numbers) were named the Breveté (.460 bore) and the Meha (.470 bore). The Meha was originally named for the grand-daughter of Madame Besson.
OK, here we go … most players refer to original Bessons as either pre-war or post war French Bessons (of course we are speaking of WW II and the occupation of France by Nazi forces that severely limited production of the French Bessons for approx. 5 years). There is a gap of SN#’s between approx. 88,000 and 92,000. French Besson Mehas ( .470 bore) start at the 92,000 mark (circa 1945).
Form here on out, we’ll refer to only original French Bessons, not copies.
Besson Breveté’s were the trumpet of choice for most of the top trumpet players in the US since the 1920’s. Both classical and commercial players used Bessons. The Besson Breveté ( .460 ) was the only model, for all intents and purposes, at the time offered by Besson. When WWII started, Carl Fischer Musical Instruments lobbied Congress to actually ban the French product from importation because of the Nazi occupation. This conveniently gave the trumpets made by Carl Fischer little foreign competition. Because of the vast use of Bessons though, the importation of trumpet parts was allowed for repairing purposes only, tariff or boycott free. The only condition put on Besson was that each piece/part had to be stamped with the make, model and “Besson” stamped into the brass. The bells would be stamped with “Fabrication” on them to signify they were for repair purposes only.
During the war a man named “Rapuana” who lived in NY got the great idea to fill the Besson trumpet void the idea by importing parts that were to be used for repair and building Bessons with these parts in the US. With the help of a NY repairman by the name of Marchione (sp?) that’s exactly what he did. At this point, the .470 bore Mehas were introduced in Europe and with the help of Rapuana, so did the states (Besson did not know or would not have approved of this arrangement). During this time, if someone happened to need a new bell, all that was available was a Meha bell. Thus, a Meha bell was eventually installed on a Breveté body, so came about the rare .460 bore Besson Meha.
Again, by serial numbers the authenticate Besson Mehas start at 92,000. The most valued Meha’s are number from 92,000 to 100,000. After 100,000, the Besson Mehas were being built in London, with the infamous London valve casing (something like the Yamaha/Schilke valves of the 1980 that gave player so much trouble) and the different brass that the London Bessson factory used.
It is said that the French Bessons, post-war, used left over mortar shell casing from the War that littered the landscape (there was a great shortage of brass and other metals in post war France). With the heat of the explosion of the shell, plus the annealing used to forge bells and leadpipe, it’s said, this brass gave the Besson’s made in France their distinctive sound and feel.
Breveté means “Patented” in French and the parts sent during the war time, the second valve casing had “decote” stamped on it which means “tax (tariff) free”. This signified to US Customs that it was exempt from the “French Product Legislation”.
A .470 bore trumpet was a breath of fresh air for commercial players (also classical player used them) who needed much more room than the “peashooter” sound and feel that seemed to be losing it's luster, plus parts were getting higher and louder with the Big Bands of Herman, Barnet, etc., and eventually Kenton, so the days of the Conn 22B (and the like) were ending.
Here’s the irony to the Besson story:
The war situation with the large company Besson and the quality problems of the giant US instrument manufacture such as Conn and Frank Holton gave an opportunity to small trumpet makers, who started copying the Bessons closely because of their popularity, to grab a small part of the trumpet market.
These small companies, whose owners usually did a lot of the work themselves, had names like Vincent Bach, Eldon Benge, Domenick Calicchio, Rudy Muck and F.E.Olds.
Today, Bach would be considered the industry leader like Besson was in its heyday, and small trumpet companies are coming up to fill a void left by certain aspects of Bach's line and quality. Think about it."

[Bob Stevenson]

"........infamous London valve casing (something like the Yamaha/Schilke valves of the 1980 that gave player so much trouble)...."

....Funny we never got these over here then,.....Besson (real Besson) valves of that era are/were some of the best and most reliable ever made by any maker.....

[Auggy62]

I had a Besson Cresendo 606 during my school days.....I think I got it around 1975...really nice horn..was great for Concert band and Jazz band ... never had a problem with it at all:)

[jaysville]

I have both a post war Besson brevette cornet and trumpet. Both have valves made in England and both are still in excellent condition. Some of the best i've played on, especially the cornet which is an exceptional instrument

[Blancolate]

The gentleman I study with was good friends with Hal Oringer. Hal used to collect these Besson trumpets. When you walked into his apartment he had many Bessons trumpets all over his home. Once a month he greased and oiled them all to keep them in great condition. I am not sure what happened to his collection after he passed away recently.

My understanding is that the men who put these horns together were given all their parts in a shoe box and they built the horns from there. They also used to etch their initials somewhere where it would not be noticeable on the horn.

My understanding is that the metal for these horns actually came from "cheaper quality" metal from The Bridgeport Brass Company of Connecticut(as told to my teacher by Vincent Bach ).

How about that?

[plp]

[Maarten van Weverwijk]

Mine is an English Besson from the late fifties; Eb-D trumpet with tiny 10mm bore and 103mm bell (I don't know what that is in inches, but ML bore is around 11.65mm). Great valves & fantastic sound. But the pitch is very problematic.
It is my favourite Eb Hummel/Haydn/Nerduda trumpet, because of it's very compact, sweet and warm sound (not small!). I have to use a lot af alternate fingering though (on longer notes middle C with 2&3, A with 3 for instance...) to make it work, but I find that it is worth the trouble.
I used it for many solo concerts.

All the best,
Maarten.

[BlackVoid]

Does anyone know exactly when Kanstul stopped making the French Besson trumpets?
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Steven Bailey
M.M. from UMass Amherst 2013
B.M. from Towson Univ. 2010

Assistant Principal Trumpet, Hunt Valley Symphony Orchestra
Trumpet Player, Slow Lights

[michael manthey]