The traditionally good brand?
Not quite on the subject, and I don't know if this is usual or unusual, but at the high school I attended in the late fifties / early sixties most of us played Bessons. They were 3-valve non-comps with rotatable bells, and had the "New Standard" style knurled valve caps and truncated cone finger buttons (I remembered them when I got my New Standard a few years ago). I suspect they may have been purchased for their resistance to high school students, as they were built like tanks.
--Frank
Frank Manola
Pan American Eb, Meinl Weston 20, Wessex "Solo" EEb, King 2341 tubas
Besson New Standard, TE 1150 compensating euphs
Park Street Brass
Old South UMC Brass & Organ, Reading MA
Wakefield Retired Men's Club Band
Windjammers Unlimited