Re: Besson 983


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Posted by B. Guerrero on May 25, 2003 at 15:50:47:

In Reply to: Besson 983 posted by Doug on May 25, 2003 at 15:11:48:

Having played both horns, the Willson is clearly the bigger of the two. However, neither horn makes for a good surrogate, big CC or BBb tuba, IMHO. Think of the Willson as being a 3/4 CC with complicated fingerings in the low end. I used the 983 at a big Oktoberfest this last year, and I actually had little trouble keeping up with the big BBb tubas in that band (used a big m.p.). Then again, we were using contact mikes, and we're pretty heavily amped. In that context, I'd rather use the 983 than the Willson because the low end fingerings are so much easier. In addition, I simply put my left hand through the horn to operate the 4th valve, so that it was like having a 3 + 1 set-up. That made for a very easy day at the oom-pah fest, and nobody complained about my using a visually smaller horn either. Anyway, without mikes, the 983 is more of a chamber and solo horn, while the Willson is more like a 3/4 CC - think of them that way, and you won't be far off. Personally, I didn't care for the Willson, as it simply did not fit my body correctly at all. The leadpipe pointed straight into my forehead, and I seriously could not operate all five valves at the same time. For another thousand bucks, maybe less, I could have had modifications made that might have made turned me into a happy camper. I simply didn't have the extra dough. I think that the 983 is a great, "out of the box" tuba, but mine doesn't seem to have any of the big problems with workmanship that I've seen other people complain about. Maybe I got lucky. The EEb tuba that I'm curious about is the PT.

Barry Guerrero







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