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Besson missing note!?
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 7:28 pm
by bububassboner
My Besson Sovereign's high D above high Bb is not there. You go up chromatically from high Bb and the D isnt there but the Eb E and F above are fine. It is just this D and yes I have had other people try it and they all had that problem. Using a wick 4AL has made it better but I want to know if there is something I can do to the horn to help this out. Thanks.
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:44 pm
by bububassboner
It works better but is WAY sharp. Has anyone seen this on another horn and if so how did you deal with it?
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:58 pm
by JWRECU
Check this out!
When I had a besson 967 I would play that note with 23 and with the valves almost all the way down. Worked on long notes but sucked for fast stuff. It was stupid weird how I figured it out but it worked. I know this doesn't help but oh well. Good luck!
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:02 pm
by tubatooter1940
Somebody sold you a Besson with the high D missing?
March that horn right back to the dealer and insist that high D be installed immediately.

Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:14 pm
by bububassboner
So other than weird fingerings there is nothing I can do to fix that note?
Posted: Tue Jan 16, 2007 9:49 pm
by jameseuph642
So other than weird fingerings there is nothing I can do to fix that note?
Practice!
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:33 am
by Highams
Had that on 2 Yamaha 842's I was asked to try a few months ago, and it included the F as well.
B & H euphs were notorious for this, going back as far as the 70's, particularly with the Besson New Standard euphs., notes that would not speak properly.
A local band has an early Prestige and the middle few notes (tc E on on the bottom line of the stave, up to A) just won't blow true, yet the rest of the range, top & bottom, is fine.
On a recent visit to LA, I tried (very briefly) the new small bell euph at Kanstul in Fullerton and the tc high C on that really did not want to slot in.
http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k309/ ... t=ba55.jpg
CB
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 1:11 pm
by bububassboner
At my lesson this morning I asked my teacher (Dr. John Richards) if there was something I could do for the horn. He put alittle bit of paper around the shank of my mouthpeice and had me play it with that. It made the note way better, changed the rest of the horn alittle but it worked. He said to have some one make an adapter like what they did for cornets but for my euph. Has anyone ever done this? And where can I go to get this done?
Missing Note on Besson
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 2:36 pm
by pwhitaker
Years ago (nearly 25) I had a Besson compensated BBb that had the same problem with the Eb above the staff. The only way I could get near that note was to push all 4 valves and lip it in by ear. It was stuffy as hell. The other notes above that to the next C were all there. That was one one reason I switched to a Besson Eb for a few years. - The other was the Eb was a hell of lot easier, and more fun, to play.
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 9:58 pm
by iiipopes
The other way is to one by one unsolder, try the note, then resolder each and every brace on the horn until you find the one that is on the compression node, killing the note, then move it about 1/4 inch. Let's see, other fingerings to try besides open (forgive me if you've already tried some of these, I'm just going to go down the list for all the harmonic series that fit): open [10th partial of Bb series], 2 should be sharp, 12 or 3 [12th partial of G series], 13 or 4 might be sharp, 123 or 24 might be flat [14th partial of E nat series], 14 [15th partial of Eb series] 124 or 34 [16th partial of low D series, possibly sharp].
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 10:45 pm
by Carroll
iiipopes wrote:The other way is to one by one unsolder, try the note, then resolder each and every brace on the horn until you find the one that is on the compression node, killing the note, then move it about 1/4 inch.
This is really the only way... because the note will vibrate at the same fequency, no matter the fingering. The wave will have compression nodes in the same spots, no matter the fingering. I had a similar problem on my Sterling... but the note was the high "B".
There are ways to nudge the node...
viewtopic.php?t=14859&highlight=golf+tape
Posted: Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:35 pm
by iiipopes
Yeah, but on that thread I talk about just that -- nudging it. In this case it's unmitigated kill. I don't think my lead tape solution will work, since all the extra mass would do in this case is add to the total kill.
Now, seeing as how braces are hand assembled and soldered, and mistakes are often made -- just look at Bach trumpets -- there is one step to help you isolate which braces to try first: get another ostensibly identical horn that does play the note in question, and one by one compare the braces to see if any are visibly different in position or assembly. If so, start there.
Posted: Thu Jan 18, 2007 2:18 am
by adam0408
Its a custom shop high D delete. Pretty rare. I think only twenty or so horns were made with this option.
I think its kind of like shaving the door handles on a hotrod.