C Euphonium?

[lgb&dtuba]

I haven't seen one of these either.

I guess if you played treble clef baritone you could take this instrument and play an untransposed treble clef part pretty easily. Don't know why, but you could.

[Timswisstuba]

From the pictures it looks like he has the 4th valve down so a concert C is possible if the horn is in Bb.

Moreover it doesn't look like a compensating horn.

[Uncle Buck]

I can't make a judgment on tube length based on the photos, but I can't help from wondering if the seller did the pitch-test, to determine what key it is in, while the lever-thingy (I'm sure someone here has the proper term) that holds the 4th valve down was in place, so the seller was actually testing 4th valve, not open . . .

[Kevin Hendrick]

... it doesn't look like a compensating horn.

No, it's not a compensator (look at the pic of the "player's side" of the valve block -- no comp loops).

[Todd S. Malicoate]

I asked the seller if they checked the pitch of the horn with the 4th valve locked down - they say they didn't, and reiterated that the euphonium is in C. Anyone check with Besson to see if they have really made a euphonium in C? I tried researching the internet but found no mention of a 765C model euphonium.

[windshieldbug]

I think you're looking at the result of the successor to the French 'C' Ophicleide and also the need for a non-transposing "vocal" treble-clef tenor instrument...

I've seen them before, and a quick check turns up this euphonium on Horn-u-copia, for example.

[iiipopes]

The Besson 7XX is not a compensating series. It was the intermediate series: same bore and general construction, just not compensating.

Hmm. Euph in C -- isn't that just almost the same as an old French C tuba?

[Dan Schultz]

That main tuning slide does appear to be a little shorter than normal. I suppose it's entirely possible for this euph to be pitched in C. It's just a matter of taking a foot out of the open bugle and trimming the tuning circuits a bit. That being said.... I can't imagine a practical use for it.

[iiipopes]

Perfect use for a C euph: filling out the section with a C melody saxophone!

Didn't Amati or some other company actually have one a few years back? (although as I remember, intonation was reportedly dreadful!)

[J.c. Sherman]

Might be the perfect Bydlo axe... Quite a screamer, I'll bet!

J.c.S.

[MichaelDenney]

Didn't Amati or some other company actually have one a few years back? (although as I remember, intonation was reportedly dreadful!)

I haven't checked for a couple of years, but Cerveny/Amati did indeed make a C euph and may still do so.

[Kevin Hendrick]

Didn't Amati or some other company actually have one a few years back? (although as I remember, intonation was reportedly dreadful!)

I haven't checked for a couple of years, but Cerveny/Amati did indeed make a C euph and may still do so.

Just checked -- Amati has three models in C (AEP 232AV, AEP 242A, AEP 342A), Cerveny has one (CEP 534-4M), and Miraphone has one (C-56A).

[sungfw]

The Besson 7XX is not a compensating series. It was the intermediate series: same bore and general construction, just not compensating.

Not at all true.

The Besson 760 and 766 were 3-valve compensators, equivalent to the 3-valve B&H Imperial, the 767 was the equivalent of the 4-valve Imperial.

[iiipopes]

The Besson 7XX is not a compensating series. It was the intermediate series: same bore and general construction, just not compensating.

Not at all true.

The Besson 760 and 766 were 3-valve compensators, equivalent to the 3-valve B&H Imperial, the 767 was the equivalent of the 4-valve Imperial.

Hmm. I stand corrected. The 7XX as an intermediate non-comp series must have come later.

All joking aside, the horn looks like a high-pitched horn.

[sungfw]

The 7XX as an intermediate non-comp series must have come later.

I suspect it's more the case that the 767 was eventually discontinued in favor of the 967/968 and the 960 was discontinued and not replaced (after all, how much demand is there for a 3-valve comp euph?), leaving only the non-comp 762 (current 7062) and 765 (current 7065) in the 7xx(x) series.

Klaus Bjerre, who posts here as Imperialbari, has a scan of the 1978 B&H/Besson euph brochure showing the 760 and 767 on p. 2, and a spec sheet on p. 3.

[NB: the link is to a file in a Yahoo Group, so you'll probably have to join the group to view it.]