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F.Besson Kanstul Meha Flugelhorn Help



 
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callum1345
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Joined: 21 Jul 2019
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 12:48 am    Post subject: F.Besson Kanstul Meha Flugelhorn Help Reply with quote

Hi everyone,

I'm hoping that someone might be able to help me with some info about my Flugelhorn. I purchased it from one of my university lecturers in Canberra, Australia around 8 years ago. I used it a couple of times when I got it, and that's about it! It’s been sitting in the cupboard for quite some time, and I think it’s time I actually find out some info about it!

I've tried to do some research online, however I’m not having much luck. Would anyone be able to tell me the model by the pictures? Further to that, any idea on approximate value?

Thanks in advance

Callum.

https://imgur.com/AuqfLET
https://imgur.com/kzJyqs7
https://imgur.com/FtyZPWs

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robbrand
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:10 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's a beauty! You'll find some information on the Kanstul-made French Besson trumpets here (though not on flugels specifically). The prices cited there are obviously well out of date now.
http://users.actrix.co.nz/mcamilleri/TheBessonLoyalist.htm#_Toc130023209
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mrhappy
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah looks nice!!
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Tony Scodwell
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Joined: 17 Oct 2005
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 7:51 am    Post subject: Kanstul made Besson flugelhorn Reply with quote

Kanstul had the contract to make the line of Besson trumpets and flugelhorns some years ago and were distributed worldwide. The were very accurate versions of the originals and your flugel is the result of Kanstul's toolmaker spending two years getting the tooling correct to make the valve section. The bell is a copy of the Besson Brevette flugel and the horn was well accepted by top players. After the Besson affiliation ended Kanstul continued making the flugel as the "Chicago" model. My own Scodwell USA flugelhorn utilized these valve sections along with my own bell which was copied from the Selmer that Clark Terry performed on for many years. As Kanstul has now closed it's doors and most tooling and parts were sold, my hope is production might continue by the new owners in Kansas City, B.A.C. Your flugel is a gem and parting with it would be a mistake in my opinion.

Tony Scodwell
www.scodwellusa.com
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Liberty Lips
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 9:08 am    Post subject: Re: Kanstul made Besson flugelhorn Reply with quote

Tony Scodwell wrote:
...After the Besson affiliation ended Kanstul continued making the flugel as the "Chicago" model...

Tony, I hope you will accept this as a clarification rather than a contradiction. The first flugelhorn that Kanstul manufactured for Besson and is pictured in the O.P.’s post was more of a descendant of the Benge flugelhorn that Zig designed, and shared some DNA with Zig’s masterpiece 1525 flugelhorn. It featured top-sprung valves, a french-taper mouthpipe, straight-through knuckles on the valve section, a .415 bore and a somewhat open wrap. The serial number in the photo indicated that the horn was made in the late 1980's. After the Kanstul-Besson affiliation ended, Kanstul sold it as their Model 925 model flugelhorn to continued acclaim. In the 1990’s, Kanstul released a new flugelhorn that was a close copy of the F. Besson Breveté flugelhorn which was actually manufactured by Couesnon in the 1950’s. It had bottom-sprung valves, staggered knuckles in the valve section, and also had a .415 bore. It was released along with the "New Generation Meha" trumpet and the Marvin Stamm model, and after the affiliation ended it was continued as the "Chicago" model 1025 flugelhorn. An easy way to tell the two Kanstul-Besson model flugelhorns apart is that the top-sprung design had the classic F. Besson bell stamp that was nearly identical to the early F. Bessons (as pictured above), and the bottom-sprung model had a simpler "Besson" bell stamp with "FB" scribed above it.

Both flugelhorns are fantastic in my opinion, with the later bottom-sprung model being very similar to the Besson-Couesnon flugelhorn but was manufactured to a much higher standard and played far better in-tune than any Couesnon flugel ever did. The horn pictured in the photos appears to be in excellent shape, and should bring at least $1500 should the O.P. choose to sell it, although as Tony says parting with it would be a mistake. I also hope that B.A.C. will facilitate the continued manufacture of both of these excellent flugelhorns, along with Zig’s magnificent 1525.
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Ozzbo
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 10:24 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I played my Kanstul Besson Flug in every setting imaginable for 30 years until it was stolen 3 yrs ago. It was very nimble in all registers and had a nice dark, rich sound for having a brass bell and being silverplated. With an appropriate deep French taper mouthpiece, I even played entire recordings using it on the trombone parts...and got paid as a trombone player !!!!


Ozzy
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SirBuzzALot
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

A previous thread on this instrumnet may help you...

https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=115777&highlight=

lots of info there....
al
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Liberty Lips
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 22, 2019 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

SirBuzzALot wrote:
A previous thread on this instrumnet may help you...

https://www.trumpetherald.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=115777&highlight=

lots of info there....
al


Thank you for referring to that thread. The Kantul-Besson Meha flugelhorn, which the O.P. inquired about, was very similar to the Breveté, except for the rather large bore of .460, which is significantly different from what became the Kanstul 925. The smaller bore Breveté was the model that was re-labeled 925, and the Meha apparently was not re-invented as a Kanstul flugelhorn. I have the Kanstul-Besson Breveté in the smaller bore size, and it’s an amazing horn. I haven’t played the larger bore Meha flugelhorn, but I would be very surprised if it wasn’t equally spectacular.
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