WHICH ONE???

OldKid · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Sep 2003 Posts: 135

I've been looking for a short Cornet. These are the ones I'm considering. What do you all know about them?
YAMAHA ycr-6335
GETZEN 3850
BESSON BE928
B&S 3141/2
KANSTUL 1530
Thanks

_________________
Bach 181 Strad Cornet B1.5B
YAMAHA Xeno B1.5C
King (early 50's) Super 20 B1.5C
Pocket Max B1.5C
Arban's

[ This Message was edited by: OldKid on 2003-10-20 11:28 ]

sparxII · Veteran Member Joined: 09 Oct 2002 Posts: 216

[ This Message was edited by: sparxII on 2003-10-20 14:57 ]

horndevil · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 7:52 am Post subject:

I haven't played the Getzen, so can't comment, but I have played the other 3 against each other and took the B&S. It had better intonation and would take more air than either the Besson or Yamaha, whilst maintaining a rich cornet sound.

The valves are very good and the finish is excellent. It comes in a decent case. The others probably match these criteria, but overall, the B&S has a bit more for just a bit less £££ ($$$)
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Haagston US3 Bb Trumpet
Conn V1 Flugel
Willson Celebration Cornet

Ian Barnes

_Old_mod_account · TH Moderator Group Joined: 13 Sep 2003 Posts: 887

OldKid · Veteran Member Joined: 04 Sep 2003 Posts: 135

trumpetmike · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 2:52 pm Post subject:

The B&S is readily available from Phil Parkers in London.

I have played all of these cornets (and a heck of a lot more). They all have their own characteristics and I am sure that there are people out there who will swear by each of them.

I used to play on a Besson Sovereign, but only due to the band I was playing with having a set of them for their cornet section (quite a common occurrence in the top level brass bands in the UK). I enjoyed playing that cornet a lot and it blended beautifully with the rest of the band.
When I left that band (due to university work taking priority) I purchased the Yamaha Maestro that I have used in every band and for many solos.
If I was buying a new cornet now I would definitely be looking at a Besson Prestige (the new top end from Besson). But I am not in the financial position to think about another cornet (I keep buying trumpets!!) so I will stick to my Yamaha.

The B&S is definitely the best value for money I have played, but I preferred the sound I got from my Yamaha.

If you can, try as many of these out as possible. What works for me may well not work for you (wouldn't it be dull if we all played the same!). If you go in with a few options and an open mind you never know what you will end up with.

Tootsall · Heavyweight Member Joined: 05 May 2002 Posts: 2952

Mike, a couple of questions you. When Boosey & Hawkes first came out with the Prestige, there were apparently difficulties getting them "out of the factory" and into the retailers. I know that I was buying some stuff from Top Music in Switzerland at the time and they seemed to start up with a bang-up advertising campaign on the Prestige that suddenly went very quiet for a while. Any idea what those problems were? And if so...are they now resolved?

Second question. I recall that it was "sometimes" reported that there were some really quirky intonation issues with the Besson cornets, implying that this is why they had to go to a triggered tuning slide. Is this true? or did B & H simply decide that they needed something that would allow the player to adjust tuning "during" a piece as the horns warmed up? (or some other reason?)

Please note: I'm not knocking the Besson cornets, just seeking some clarification from someone who might be able to shed some "first hand light" on a couple of things that have been rotting away in the recesses of my mind. Thanks.

trumpetmike · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 3:42 pm Post subject:

I don't know the details of why the first valve trigger was removed and adjusted to now move the whole tuning slide, but it was first seen on the Prestige euphoniums.
It was noticed that on the Sovereign euphoniums that as the players went into the upper register, the instruments tended to go sharp. Some players had attached custom pitch finders onto their tuning slides and found that this helped.
When Besson (as they now are) started work on the new Sovereign euphonium, from what I can tell, they sought out advice from many of the leading players and added the trigger on to the instrument, along with a few other subtle changes.
This led to cornet players enquiring whether the same option would be available on the Sovereign cornets, which also have this slight tendency.
When they came to update the Sovereign they put the trigger on a new instrument, the Prestige. There are other differences (which slip my mind) which can probably be found on the Besson website (which also slips my mind!).
I will see if I can find out more information.

As for the supply problems at the beginning, all I can say is that the instruments are very popular. Supply had trouble keeping up demand in the beginning. It seems to be getting better now, I have even seen a Prestige in a shop, unsold!

Now, off to find out more Prestige facts for you...

Nonsense Eliminator · Posted: Mon Oct 20, 2003 6:21 pm Post subject:

FWIW...

The Getzen is a very good value for the money. (Oops, accidentally promoted a product or service...) I found the sound a little too diffuse for my purposes, which include using it in an orchestra. If I were going to use it exclusively as a solo or band instrument I might have made a different decision. (Or if I had my current, more focussed-souding mouthpiece which, I will not name in order to avoid the wrath of the Top Secret Thought Police, but it rhymes with "larks"...) As for the Bessons, I haven't tried the Prestige but I did find the Sovereigns I played to have extremely squirrelly intonation. A lot of hard-core brass banders will turn up their noses at anything but a Besson, but many of the doublers I know agree with my assessment of their pitch problems.

Capt. Z · Posted: Wed Oct 22, 2003 4:58 am Post subject:

Out of these 3 Makes I have played a low end Yamaha, a Getzen Eterna and a B & H Sovereign.

Can't compare the Low end Yamaha to the other two, since it is more of a beginners instrument. Though it response very nicely.

The Getzen has more the "typically" american brass band sound, a little more trumpet sound to me.

The Sovereign has your typical British Brass Band Sound. Nice, full Sound.

Out of those 3 the Sovereign is my favorite by far.

However, the choice of instrument will depend on what kind of sound you want to have.
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'83 B&H Sovereign Cornet, MB w/Sparx 4; 4B
'78 Bach Strad. 65* w/GR 65S;MS;M;MX
'87 Getzen Eterna 900 LB in C w/GR 65S;MS;M;MX
'02 Benge Piccolo Trumpet Blackburn pipe w/Haefner 7H*P
I mainly play British Brass and Classical Music