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Matt Higgins wrote: Do they still make the 983 Eb?

yes they do. That is their most popular E flatter I believe. I've done some searching and found a lot of websites that sell them. But here's one

http://www.donmack.com/Detail.asp?ProductID=911" target="_blank" target="_blank

I believe that these horns have not hit the re-development program yet. When Buffet bought Besson they did not buy the tooling so they have not been manufactured in a couple of years. The emphasis went to the British style brass band instruments - the 981, 982, 994 etc.

The re-inventing of the 983 is scheduled to happen sometime next year to my knowledge. The only way to get one is to find one that is new, is to see if a music store has one left over from the previous manufacturing period.

Used, right now, is about the only way to go if someone will let go of the one they have (not likely).

Roger

The truth of the matter is that, while the 983 is extremely popular here in the states, the reason the tooling was not bought was because of the Euro 3+1 set up. Buffet did not think it would be a good business move, so they have been out of production for awhile. Also note that when the new ones roll out, they will be made with all the other tubas in Germany by German tuba makers. So, with that in mind, these new 983s will be different then the crop of instruments that are floating around currently, the overall layout will be the same, but the tooling will be changed and with that many variations can occur in what they will sound like. That being said, I talked to Tim at the Besson booth at ITEC and he told me that they are currently in the tweaking stage and that they would be available by the end of th 2009 calendar year roughly. This is kind of what happened with the new besson 995s, they were retweaked and the one I tried at ITEC was far and away the best one I've played.

I have a 983 from 1998, it's not for sale. I also have a 968 euphonium from that era. It's nice enough, I guess. Buuuutttt.... I recently tried a new 968, and....hubba-hubba! What a horn! If the build quality, ease of playing, and sound on the new 983 are anything like the new 968, these things will be awesome.

I don't have the most complete understanding of this debacle, but the old Besson tooling was owned by Schreiber, who made the parts which were assembled into instruments in Besson's UK factory. After buying Besson again, Buffet claimed that the tooling was theirs, but Schreiber wouldn't give it back. Despite Schreiber keeping Buffet in business by making many of their woodwinds, and Buffet keeping Schreiber in business by buying so many, it's been a long drawn out fight. Now the York line of instruments is made by Schreiber with this former-Besson tooling. I spoke to Schreiber directly about building the 983 as a York or other brand instrument, but they said they didn't have the complete 983 tooling, since they never made the valve section. They only made the bows, which are apparently the same as the 980-982. I suspect the front action valves were made by Meinlschmidt, then assembled to the bows by Besson in the UK.

Current Bessons are made across town at JA/Meinl Weston/VMI, with new tooling.

Best,

Ferguson

I have a 983 that I bought in either 2003 or 2004. It was a "dent and scratch" horn at Dillon's...I believe they had about 3 of them at the time, 2 silver, 1 lacquer. Immediately after I bought it, I had Matt Walters do some tweaking. I've played a few of these before (and since) and I can honestly say, in what is probably a completely biased opinion, that mine is one of the good ones.

I love this horn. It's a shame they aren't making them right now. Hopefully, when they come back to market, they won't be too drastically changed. These instruments have such a sweet, velvety sound, and I'd hate to see that quality lost. Everytime I start fantasizing about getting a contrabass tuba again, I play my 983, and remember why, when faced with only being able to afford one horn, I sold my big horn and bought the Besson.

Just thought I would give an update on what is happening with the 983. It is being "tweaked" as someone mentioned above. Nothing major, mainly ergonomics and also the way the valve guide is kept on the valve. The timetable is 2009 I believe. So the good news is this horn will be back into production. The bad news is, just a little bit longer to wait. (but it will be worth it!) For those of you who had a chance to try the new 995 at ITEC, expect the same results with the 983.

--KT

Ferguson wrote:I suspect the front action valves were made by Meinlschmidt, then assembled to the bows by Besson in the UK.

Does Meinlschmidt make piston valves?

Klaus Smedegaard Bjerre

If they had purchased all the tooling, from what I have heard, there would have been a great many other expenses then required under British law. They chose the least expensive method, which then allowed them the capital to bring the instruments back for us, the players.

Just my wild-a$$ guess.
Roger

I might very well be wrong, but I think if you purchase a certain percentage of a company, including tooling and designs, that you then become responsible for all debts, taxes, etc., both public and private. This would have made the deal unworkable IMHO.

Roger