Dealing with vintage besson intonation and response
jnfjsf,
I have a '73 Imperial with the brass valve guides. There's a very good brass repair guy in my area that I asked about replacing the brass valve guides with nylon, but he didn't think it would go well, but maybe whoever you have in your area can do something with them.
Regarding "valve dampeners": Are you talking about replacing the corks/felts at the top of the pistons with those silicon/rubber things? I've never liked the rebound on those -- they tend to bounce quite a bit and throw off the valve action at high speeds (160+). I prefer something that squishes and doesn't bounce when it hits the valve cap, so with the old Bessons I own I use flute pads (the large ones with the hole in the middle) on top of however many thin felts or cork "washers" it takes to level the valve opening with the openings in the valve casing. The top of the flute pad has a slight dome shape and doesn't rebound nearly as much on impact with the valve cap as either the rubbery bumpers or corks/felts on their own.
I've played on a medium euro shank for over 40 years. I won't give it up, even it there are fewer mouthpieces available for it. I'd advise against trying to replace your lead pipe. Besson intonation is interesting enough without introducing another acoustic variable into the mix, though there is always the chance it could help. But it also might change what you like about the character of the instrument. Maybe I'm too conservative in that opinion, though. Hopefully someone who's tried it will chime in.
Enjoy that Besson. It's a classic.
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Dale Long
South Burlington VT
Willson 2900S/Denis Wick SM3M
B.MusEd, SUNY Potsdam, 1979
M.M., Northwestern University, 1980
USAF Band of the West, 1981-1985
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