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Thread: Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

  1. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    Does any body have backround info on besson 967 euphoniums made in the early 90's?? Ex. quality control, pros and cons, good or bad year for bessons, ect...


  2. #2

    Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    Some of our members have a better memory than I, so I hope they'll chime in too. But Bessons in this era were made in England. I believe it was during the early 1990's that Besson introduced the GS models, which had a leadpipe that was not soldered to the bell. It made the horns more responsive with better slotting, but sometimes I found the notes were hard to lip into tune on the GS. Quality control was iffy during that time, so when buying a used horn you need to make sure you can give it a good testing before finalizing the deal.

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  3. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    Thank you Dave. The leadpipe is soldered to the bell. It plays well and is in exellent shape. The 6th partial is very sharp. High F more so than E and Eb. Maybe some alternate valve combos can fix?


  4. #4

    Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    When I played a Sovereign I used the following most times (on sustained notes) for the 6th partial:

    F - 4

    E - 24

    Eb - 13

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  5. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    thanks again! 4th valve pulled my F down pretty close and 4th+2nd on E, 1st and 3rd on Eb are just right. The 4th valve feels odd in that range (maybe the increase in bore size and length of tubing?) and my attacks are a bit fracky(if that's a word) but I'm guessing I just need to get used to it. Hopefully a couple of weeks of whole tone exercises will cure it.


  6. #6

    Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    Originally posted by: majorchubbs The 4th valve feels odd in that range ... Hopefully a couple of weeks of whole tone exercises will cure it.
    That's the general idea, but it may take longer to get really comfortable. Just use a bit more relaxed air stream. You are blowing through more resistance because of adding more tubing and more bends - if you blow harder to make up for it, the results are actually the reverse of what you want, sound-wise. As far as the feel goes, you will have to be more careful to aim for the center of the note because the notes on any given fingering are closer together when you add valves. For example, from open F the next note up is Ab and the next note down is D. But with 4th valve, the upper neighbor is G and the lower neighbor is Eb.

    Over the years I got very comfortable with the fingerings. Now and then I would still crack a note that I probably would not have cracked with normal fingerings, but my odds got to be pretty good.

    Dave Werden (ASCAP)
    Euphonium Soloist, U.S. Coast Guard Band, retired
    Adams Artist (Adams E3)
    Alliance Mouthpiece (DC3)
    YouTube: dwerden
    Facebook: davewerden
    Twitter: davewerden
    Instagram: davewerdeneuphonium

  7. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    So the F, E, and Eb are being played in the lower 7th partial, that beats trying to have main tuning slide trigger installed. I have heard of major problems with some of trigger installs.

    Thank you for helping me sort this out!


  8. #8

    Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    Originally posted by: davewerden Some of our members have a better memory than I, so I hope they'll chime in too. But Bessons in this era were made in England. I believe it was during the early 1990's that Besson introduced the GS models, which had a leadpipe that was not soldered to the bell.
    GS series came out mid '94. They were a major step up in quality from the ones that preceded them, at least at first...

    --
    Barry

  9. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    I have been the sole owner of this horn. My father bought me this horn new in Sept. 1990 when Iwas in high school. I just never knew how it stacked up to other euphoniums. So it is not a GS, but it is all I have got. After a 10 year break from playing, alot has changed. I still love the core sound of this horn aside from the 6th partial tuning problems (Dave really help me with ways around it). I would like to know if anybody else has or had one, and what they tell me about it. thank for all the input so far.


  10. Help w/info on 1990 besson 967

    This is a great horn. Keep it! I wish I still had my 1980 vintage Sovereign. While the new horns might be just a bit niocer, if you like this one, don't mess around. Spend your time playing it!

    Doug
    Adams E3 0.60 Sterling bell - Prototype top sprung valves
    Concord Band
    Winchendon Winds
    Townsend Military Band

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