I didn't know where else to turn! Old bugle question!

[kalishdude]

Hi, yes, i know this is a site for tuba and euphonium and all that jazz but ive been dying to get some info on this one apparently very old bugle. It is a Boosey and Co. instrument with serial number 84059. It says on the top of the logo "ClassA" and at the bottom it reads london. the only little info i could get is that it might be a "fake indian pocket cornet" but i have no idea what that entails. if anyone could tell me what condition this horn is in, where its from or what price range, if any, it is in i would greatly appreciate it! thanks!





Edited with photos

[Kevin Hendrick]

This should help:

viewtopic.php?t=11173

[windshieldbug]

Looking at the "Journal of surviving Boosé, Boosey and Boosey & Hawkes brass instruments, with archival and catalogue data"

The serial number 84059 comes up as:

{84059} (`serial number' of Indian fake pocket cornets, euphoniums, bugles and B-flat trumpets),

so, I am sorry to say, that the bugle you have is likely an Indian reproduction.

[kalishdude]

hmm, now what does an indian reproduction mean, because the bugle was purchased in australia

[windshieldbug]

That it was made in India, with "close enough" stampings on the bell to make it look possibly legitimate, without regard to whose name they are using.

As far as I'm aware, anyone who ever made those World War One trench bugles for real never serialized them. For both British and American companies, they were more of a commodity than a musical output.

BTW, I've got one, too, but it's brass and copper. A nice little bugle, but a reproduction none-the-less.

[kalishdude]

so its pretty much worth nothing then? lol well at least it looks nice

[windshieldbug]

Well, I wouldn't say it's worth nothing, as I say, I have one, and it's a nice little bugle. But it's probably not that old, if you're only considering it's antique value...

[iw hunter]

G'day,
I was just searching the history of a bugle I have and ended on this site. I am an australian and the bugle I have has the same inscription as the one here serial no84059 so I assume mine also is a copy.

[iiipopes]

I have one. It was given to me. It is a fake. The person who gave it to me knew it was a fake and only paid "discount store art" price for it, and that's what it had been doing: occupying a niche by a fireplace. That said, my little bugle is of the same configuration as the pictures in this thread. It is pitched in concert C, and with its chained mouthpiece actually has a very good tone and plays very well in tune - suitable for actual use if the player has the embouchure to play the upper notes of bugle calls in the key of C, instead of the more traditional lower keys that most American bugles are pitched.

Just to experiment, I tried a number of other mouthpieces in the horn, and all of them resulted in significant intonation issues. The only mouthpiece that secured proper pitch and tone in all partials was its crudely made original. So there you have it.

If you want one, don't pay anything higher than a few dollars for "discount store art" value, but occasionally you can get lucky and actually find a playable one.