Oh wow! Just gorgeous! Congrats!
Oh wow! Just gorgeous! Congrats!
Rick Floyd
Miraphone 5050 - Warburton BJ / RF mpc
YEP-641S (recently sold)
Doug Elliott - 102 rim; I-cup; I-9 shank
"Always play with a good tone, never louder than lovely, never softer than supported." - author unknown.
Symphonic Band of the Palm Beaches
El Cumbanchero (Raphael Hernandez, arr. Naohiro Iwai)
Chorale and Shaker Dance (John Zdechlik)
First impressions after about an hour of playing: this horn sounds great, easy, full, free with an almost perfect intonation with the exception of the famous tremendously acute sixth partial, which can be easily remedied with the alternative positions: F 1-3, F# 1-2-3, G 1-2. If I want to find a fault, the pistons are a bit noisy due to the metal guides and the buttons, which having a conical shape, have a small surface for the fingers and after a little play they hurt ( their mark remains imprinted on the fingers). It came with a new mouthpiece 6 1/2 AL B Arnolds & Sons ( probably a facsimile of the Bach) which I don't like. I then proceeded to modified one of my K&G 3D large shank mouthpieces into medium shank ( 10 minutes of work) and I replaced the conical original buttons with those of the Prestige I had mounted on the baritone. The original aesthetic has changed, but I prefer functionality. Tell me what do you think, if you prefer the original look or the modified one.
Last edited by franz; 08-27-2021 at 08:53 AM.
2007 Besson Prestige 2052, 3D+ K&G mouthpiece; JP373 baritone, 4B modified K&G mouthpiece; Bach 42GO trombone, T4C K&G mouthpiece; 1973 Besson New Standard 3 compensated valves, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece; Wessex French C tuba, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece.
I like either choice visually, although my tendency is to prefer the original buttons because they match the valve caps. (I always hated those valve caps because they would cut the knuckles of my right hand after I carried the horn using the hand brace!)
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
I like either as well, although I feel like I'm one of the few people that doesn't mind the conical buttons and kind of prefers them, since it feels like they prevent my fingers from pressing the valves from the side, so to speak.
Or because the baritone I started on also was a New Standard with those valve caps xD
I agree with you Franz, those Prestige caps look much more comfortable to play, although I have no first hand experience playing on those old style Besson caps. The old caps are so characteristic of the old Besson and they do look cool, but I think I prefer the look of the new caps. My personal taste would prefer if they were silver instead of gold, but the thing I like the most about it is just the individual touch of a musician making their instrument work best for them, you know what I'm trying to say?
The lure of vintage New Standards is real...
DDG
RE: Look - original or customized?
Your Horn Your Rules!
But keep the original buttons in the rare event you ever offer it up for sale!
Last edited by Shinn; 08-27-2021 at 06:38 PM.
David Shinn
Peninsula Concert Band
Yorktown, Virginia
1971 Besson 181 ‘New Standard’ Euphonium (3+1 compensating) ~ Alliance DC3M
1971 Besson 176 ‘New Standard’ Euphonium (3 compensating) ~ Alliance DC3M
1979 Besson 755 'New Standard' Baritone (3 compensating) ~ Alliance DC5S
1894 Besson ‘Doublophone’ Euphonium (3 + 1 changeover) & Original Leather Case
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidshinn....ibextid=LQQJ4d
Peninsula Concert Band: https://www.peninsulaconcertband.org/
Yes, I think either look swell, although I would probably opt for silver unless there were more gold touches on the horn. Gorgeous horn and great find, Franz! Don't set it down, someone will take it!!
Last edited by John Morgan; 08-27-2021 at 10:48 AM.
John Morgan
The U.S. Army Band (Pershing's Own) 1971-1976
Adams E3 Custom Series Euphonium, 1956 B&H Imperial Euphonium,
1973 F. E. Olds & Son Studio Model T-31 BaritoneAdams TB1 Tenor Trombone, Yamaha YBL-822G Bass Trombone
Year Round Except Summer:
Kingdom of the Sun (KOS) Concert Band, Ocala, FL (Euphonium)Summer Only:
KOS Brass Quintet (Trombone, Euphonium)
Rapid City Municipal Band, Rapid City, SD (Euphonium)
Rapid City New Horizons Band (Euphonium)
Thanks to everyone for the compliments and advice: I will certainly also keep the original buttons: the ones I put on are more comfortable and functional and, fortunately, they fit perfectly ( the piston stroke is the same, with precision to the tenth of a millimeter). Yes, I have to admit: this was a lucky and unexpected hit.
2007 Besson Prestige 2052, 3D+ K&G mouthpiece; JP373 baritone, 4B modified K&G mouthpiece; Bach 42GO trombone, T4C K&G mouthpiece; 1973 Besson New Standard 3 compensated valves, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece; Wessex French C tuba, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece.
Some information about the horn: the guy who sold it to me is a collector who buys, repairs and sometimes resells brass instruments. He told me that the horn in question was manufactured in 1973 and has a double serial number because it belonged to a series built specifically for the German market. In fact he remembers that he had bought it years ago near Stuttgart in a shop that dealt with used musical instruments. Nothing is known about the previous owner, except that he was a person who took particular care of his instrument, given the conditions in which occurs after 48 years. I really like the voice it gives off so much that I prefer it, even if only slightly, to that of my Prestige ( they have Germany in common, one for the destination and the other for the origin). the new standard has a darker and more and decisive sound, the Prestige more clear and delicate. I will use them both, depending on the context and the music to be played. Obviously the new standard is unsuitable for playing solo pieces where the performance of notes below the staff is required, but for band music it can be safely used in 99.9 percent of cases. Good music to me and all you. Thank you.
2007 Besson Prestige 2052, 3D+ K&G mouthpiece; JP373 baritone, 4B modified K&G mouthpiece; Bach 42GO trombone, T4C K&G mouthpiece; 1973 Besson New Standard 3 compensated valves, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece; Wessex French C tuba, 3D+ K&G modified mouthpiece.