Couesnon trumpet

JamesEarleStewartJr · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:17 pm Post subject:

I just picked up a Couesnon Lafayette trumpet at an antique store and have been searching the web for any information regarding the horn. I've found a couple of things, but not much. There doesn't seem to be anyone out there with a fan site like Olds Central or the Shilke Loyalist that I can turn to for insite. I understand that serial number lists are pretty much non-existent, but I was hoping someone might know something about these horns. This one is slightly unusual in that the main tuning slide curves down at an angle and goes into the 3rd valve casing on the left side of the horn while the 3rd valve tuning slide in mounted on the right side. Does anyone know anything about these horns?

oneeyedhobbit · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:18 pm Post subject:

I know that Queenies are famous for their flugels, but I couldn't tell you much about their trumpets.

david johnson · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:26 pm Post subject:

i played on a couesnon, 3 valve pic once during the previous century.

dj

trumpetmike · Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 2:33 pm Post subject:

I own a 3 valve Couesnon piccolo - it's lovely.

If you ever have to play the picc part in Penny Lane, it just sings on one of these, or at least - it does on mine.

Don't use it for the baroque stuff (my F Besson is my weapon of choice for that), but if it had a 4th valve it would be a close run thing.

Martin · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 1:29 am Post subject:

bachstrad72 · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 4:06 am Post subject:

I was fairly certain it was an old 3 valve Selmer that he used.

trumpetmike · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:30 pm Post subject:

It was a Couesnon Monopole 3 valve long model piccolo in B flat that was used, by David Mason for the original Penny Lane.
When he recorded the now famous piccolo part he got the standard recording fee at the time of £27.50 (approximately $45). If he had taken a cut of the profits he would have made a fortune!
He sold the instrument at Sotheby's in 1987, where it reached £6380.

Mine is a short model, still plays fantastically.

JamesEarleStewartJr · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:39 pm Post subject:

Thanks guys, you've been a great help, but I digress...

trumpetmike · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:42 pm Post subject:

Not half as much as we have

- if only we actually knew something about what you wanted!!

JamesEarleStewartJr · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 3:56 pm Post subject:

Thanks anyway, though. The Forum is, if nothing else, highly entertaining.

_PhilPicc · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 5:29 pm Post subject:

He wants a reply with information on the horn he bought.
_________________
Philip Satterthwaite

We cannot expect you to be with us all the time, but perhaps you could be good enough to keep in touch now and again."
- Sir Thomas Beecham to a musician during a rehearsal

plp · Posted: Fri Nov 14, 2003 8:17 pm Post subject:

I have bought 4 Lafayettes on ebay over the past year, as they seem to go pretty cheap. There seems to be a pretty wide variety as far as bore size and the way the tuning slide goes into the 3rd valve. Two of them are as you describe, one being either a .459 or .460 bore at the 2nd valve slide, and the other being a .453. The .453 is in mint condition, and is the worst playing trumpet I have ever picked up, sounds like either a ruptured duck or a Bach, although I guess I am being redundant. (Just kidding, all you Bach fans) The pick of the litter looks just like an old Besson, and is the biggest bore trumpet I own, weighing in at .472, use it with my Silent Brass system as an on the road horn.
I too have searched for info on the Couesnons, and all I can tell you is I read somewhere that the Besson factory and the Couesnon factory were across the street from one another, and given the French attitude, I'm sure there were technicians that worked for both companies. The Couesnon plant burned down sometime in the late 50's and all the old mandrills were lost.