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Greetings!

I am curious about the sound of the Besson 981 Eb’s with the older, smaller 17” bell, compared to the newer style 19” bells.

I think John Fletcher played a 17” bell, but somewhere along the way changed it to a 19” bell, presumably to get a broader tone.

Has anyone played both styles, side by side? I’d be curious about the impressions.

Also, does Besson offer a 17” bell option anymore?

TIA!

I generally prefer 17 over 19, better lineup of partials, more clarity on the sound. Better balance, to me they are true bass tubas and not pseudo contrabass tubas. Be aware that the old 17 981 is found with small shank receiver. The modern version of a 17 would be the 980 TA Very nice horn. Or the 983 FA. There is even the 15 bell 984, which is fun, but probably mostly for solo works. All are 4 valve compensated.

After some investigation over the last few months I found out a few things.
I believe these to be true, but if wrong please do correct me.
Hopefully there are some nuggets in my tail to help you?

[1] Besson (nay Boosey & Hawkes) tubas I have played since the late 1970s. Imperials then moved onto Sovereigns. Never have played other manufacturer's tubas until recently, after returning from a playing break of a number of years.

[2] Summer 2020 saw me look look to buy a tuba. So, I started to research before committing lots of my hard-earned cash.

[3] Besson stopped all UK manufacturing operations circa 2000. Today, Besson do not make tubas. Their branded tubas are made by B&S in Germany.
Not sure whether B&S make all the details, eg. bell, bows, valves, etc., but they certainly assemble them on behalf of Besson.

[4] I spoke with a handful of people whose opinion I rate highly and they all expressed a view that Besson tubas from the 1980s were of a "golden age".

[5] These 1980s tubas were made from brass 30-40% thicker than later models, so of John Fletcher''s time.

[6] I also discovered that Fletch did not like the bore size of the 981 Sovereign leadpipe, thinking it was way too big. It is still possible , even today, to obtain a Swiss Cavalry (SC) leadpipe to fit to a Besson, a pipe bore size that he did play, with your favoured receiver.

[7] In modern Besson's the trend (default) are 17" bells, for, it is said, that they project more. I believe the modern tubas have reduced the leadpipe bore(?). In the older Besson's they have 19", 17", and 15" diameter bells and used come up for sale in the UK often. My guess is the small bells are stiffer and this directly impacts on resonance, but couple this with thicker brass and the leadpipe bore..... Mmmmmmm.

Anywho, I ended up buying an old Besson 782 (nay Imperial) from the early 1980s. It blows very well and is not crazy expensive. Now looking to do some major customisation work (leadpipe, receiver, 4v., etc.) to make it suit my exact needs, Geoff