Can you share some pictures of your Courtois 367? I would love to take a look as your link does not work anymore since you purchased the instrument. I remember that your 367 to have smaller (shorter) valves than the Courtois 267 so than the Melton 551. But the rest of the budy should be the same as the Melton 551. The only differences between the Courtois 267 and Melton 551 are the valve finger buttons. The Melton used their common buttons and Courtois their classic "Courtois shaped" buttons (wich are prettier to me) and also the trigger. The Courtois trigger is pressed by the left middel finger, as I is in the back side of the instrument as well as on the earlier Meltons. The later Meltons used to have the Besson shaped frontal trigger, like, again, Besson, Yamaha, etc.
There was also a special Melton model, The "
Melton Culbertson - Merkur- 551" supposed to be designed in consultation with Mel Culbertson, an American Tuba player that stabilished in France and who also dessigned a CC Tuba (
Mel Culbertson Neptune) and a couple of F tubas (
Mel Culbertson Apollo and
Mel Culbertson Vulcano wich evolved to the
Melton Culbertson Titan). This special Melton Culbertson had the trigger in the back and an outstanding gold lacquer, yes, like the new Besson, and the Mel Culbertson "Sun" Logo.
A couple of pictures of my 267
A couple of pictures of the
Melton Culbertson Merkur