Basement Treasure or Trash?


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Posted by Steve K on April 27, 2002 at 09:48:50:

A friend of mine found an old Besson tuba in his basement and he asked me to take a look at it. I flushed it out, snaked all the tubing, freed up the slides, cleaned it up, oiled the valves, and it plays great.

Now he wants some information on it. (I think he's trying to sell it.) Here are some details:
- It's a BBb 3-valve piston upright with detachable front-facing bell
- The bell is 18-1/4 inches in diameter
- It has a serial number of 383350
- It says "Besson" on the back of the bell and "Made in England"
- The front of the bell has a little bit of scroll-type etching but no logo
- It plays like a large-bore horn, but I don't know the bore. (Actually, it plays very easily.)
- The mouthpiece receiver seems a little small (my Bach 18 and 24AW go in just a little, but no leaks when playing, as far as I can tell)
- It has a brass-colored laquer finish with silver-colored tubing at the valves and braces. Most of the laquer is worn off in the usual places, there are quite a few dings in the tubing but the horn has very few dents. The bell has some dents but can be fixed.
- He says his brother bought it in Toronto in 1981 for $800 (don't know if that's US or CDN)

Can someone direct me to a place where I may find out more about this horn? I may actually try to buy it off of him to use for my outdoor gigs where my sousaphone or my "indoor concert" tuba (my baby) would not be appropriate if the horn is decent.

Any help is welcome. Thank-you.


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