My Besson Sovereign

[GMEuphonium]

Hello everyone,

It is certainly been a while since I've posted anything.... but I am in need of some help.

By Besson Sovereign Euphonium is a little interesting as the bell inscription says "

Besson
London
Sovereign
Boosey and Hawkes
England

So I guess it was made back in the day quite a bit as it bears the "Boosey and Hawkes" label. It is in great shape and I considered selling it to get the Yamaha 842S euph that everyone seems to love but I jsut can't sell this horn. Anyway, I've asked many people and I can't ever get a date on how old it might be. I've even left messages at the Besson (Buffet CO) rep. for the U.S.

Anyway, the serial number on the horn is 967-773060. If anyone knows or can find out or can even take a guess, that would be great! Thanks....

[gaeupher]

My Besson Sovereign

Keep your Besson. Its made in the mid 80s.

[daruby]

My Besson Sovereign

Go to this site: http://saxworx.com/boozy2.htm

It has the best references available for Besson serial numbers now that the old Besson site is no longer operational. Your horn was made sometime (not long) after 1986.

I found through this site that my old 967 Sovereign (a "Round Stamp" horn) was made in 1980. It was one of the "good-un's". Of course, I just sold it to one of Dave Werden's students.

Doug

[GregEuphonium]

My Besson Sovereign

As far as whether you should keep your Besson or buy a new Yammy 842S Custom.... there is noone on this forum who can decide what horn is best for you... only you can figure that out. The Besson Sovereign and Yamaha Custom are both outstanding horns.

[tom10i]

My Besson Sovereign

Hello,

I recently purchased a Sovereign with a serial number in the 760000 series, definitely a 1986 manufacture date and had several of my fellow euphonium playing friends in our several local semi-pro groups also test out the horn. It has a 12" bell as opposed to the 11 3/4" that many of the current horns now sport and has a far better intonation above the staff than many of the new horns with which I experimented which I gather was always the "knock" on some of the poorer made Sovereigns.

At any rate, I was easily able to look past a bit of age and find that I could easily save somewhere between two and three or more thousand dollars and have a top notch horn that should last for many more years. I concur with the writer who suggests that you simply keep your horn, with the proviso that yours is one without the intonation problems that affect not a few of the B&H Besson Sovereign Euphoniums.

I hope this is also some help to you.

PS. I have played for about 43 years and many years ago played professionally in the New York and New Jersey areas. Music gigs financed my education in college and beyond, and I abandoned serious interest in music for my real career and now teach a Florida A&M University, but not music. I play for relaxation and manage to play just well enough to be in the outstanding Tallahassee Winds and in the newly formed Tallahassee Brass and work an occasional paid gig when it suits me which is not unless I really like the music, generally small brass groups, and often with choir.

[GMEuphonium]

My Besson Sovereign

Thanks everybody for the info! I really appreciate. I am going to keep my Besson. You're right, the intonation is great and I have no upper register problems.... I plan on restoring (the lacquer isn't in great shape) as a Christmas present to myself (haha) and I'll post some pics afterwards...

Thanks again!

[davewerden]

My Besson Sovereign

Originally posted by: GMEuphonium

I plan on restoring (the lacquer isn't in great shape) as a Christmas present to myself (haha) and I'll post some pics afterwards...

That's great - we'd love to see photos. If you don't mind sharing, I think the readers would also like to know how the process went and what the cost was. Other folks are considering that type of work.

[mclaugh]

My Besson Sovereign

Tuba Exchange quoted me $1500 for having my Besson 767 stripped and relacquered, which is high compared to the prices I've found trolling the 'net.

[ydave]

My Besson Sovereign

In the UK £684 will get BSP or laquering & "overhaul" (without repairs!) done for a 4 valve Euph at FHLamberts.
http://www.fhlambert.com/mi/prices.htm

I am sure you can get it done cheaper but will it last??
I think I would preffer to pay slightly more & have a recomended well known company do the job. I recently had a replating job done and straight away there was silver coming off on my hands. And no I don't have 'acidy hands' my 1980 sov. still has its original silver plate, the only wear is on the main tuning slide where it can touch my belt buckle.

No use to you I know, but I thought it may be interesting......

Dave

[GMEuphonium]

My Besson Sovereign

Hey, there is a guy in Tallahassee who does a lot of repairs for the FSU music folks and he gave me a quotes. For a complete overhual and restoration it was like $850. He sent me some pics of his work and I was very impressed. The only problem is a lost his number and am having trouble tracking it down. Anyway, I plan on having him do my work and I'll let everyone know how it went...

Thanks again for all the help w/dating my horn

[davewerden]

My Besson Sovereign

Originally posted by: GMEuphonium
Hey, there is a guy in Tallahassee who does a lot of repairs for the FSU music folks and he gave me a quotes.

When you find his name/number, could you please post it in this topic:

Repair Shops

Thanks!

[mclaugh]

My Besson Sovereign

ydave,

That's a very good point about being willing to pay more to have a reputable company do the work.

The repair tech at Tuba Exchange (Mike Morse) is very good, and is highly recommended by the brass and woodwind faculty at Univ. NC, Duke, and NCCU.

When I spoke with him about getting my horn relacquered, though, he said they'd have to send it out to have it done because they don't do lacquer work or plating in-house, so I presume that the price quote includes a fee for TE to broker the transaction. (Don't get me wrong: it's fair for TE to charge a fee to handle the details of the transaction; I'd just rather save the $150-180 (guesstimate) and handle them myself.)

[mclaugh]

My Besson Sovereign

Originally posted by: GMEuphonium

Hey, there is a guy in Tallahassee who does a lot of repairs for the FSU music folks and he gave me a quotes. For a complete overhual and restoration it was like $850. He sent me some pics of his work and I was very impressed. The only problem is a lost his number and am having trouble tracking it down. Anyway, I plan on having him do my work and I'll let everyone know how it went...

Would it be David Williams, who lists on ebay as Brass Master?

[brassy]

My Besson Sovereign

Someone is offering this for sale on ebay in the UK with the same serial number 967-773060. On ebay, it is silver plated. Is this correct?