Has anyone?

[Mr.T439]

What are your thoughts?

Worth the price?

http://cgi.ebay.com/Boosey-and-Hawkes-S ... 7C294%3A50" target="_blank

[Lew]

I have dealt with this seller before and he is legitimate and reasonable to deal with. I prefer the sound on these old horns to most of the new ones. The price for this is reasonable, but not necessarily a great bargain. I would say that it is priced fairly.

[Mr.T439]

What is the bore size?

[ztuba]

This was purchased for $8something and is being resold at twice the price. I personally would get the extra 900 up and get one of those almost new 642s that you always see for around 2500

[Mike-ICR]

- Does the bell engraving say "Boosey & Hawkes" or "Besson" ?
- Why are there no shots of the bell engraving ?
- Is the bell 12" in diameter (as is the bell flare on a Sovereign) or 11" in diameter (like a run-of-the-mill import Besson) ?
- Why the generic/Allied/DEG replacement case ?
- What happened to the lacquer ?

I've seen others with the same lacquer problems. The finish just seems to peel off but I'm not sure why. I guess it could have been a bad batch.

I noticed this:

[Mike-ICR]

I noticed this:

Thanks. I missed it.

I guess that is a "Sovereign" insignia...(??) It doesn't resemble any of the old "Imperial" (ie: "Besson") insignias that I've seen.

I've never seen that engraving either. I heard once that the amalgamation of B+H and Besson was a very gradual process and that Besson started making B+H horns well before the name actually changed. The fact that the engraving looks to be machine made or punched makes me think this might be a Besson made B+H. I assume Besson would have used their own equipment for the most part and just filled in the blanks. Does that make any sense? Just a thought.

[Wyvern]

I am sure I have seen band instruments from around the Imperial/Sovereign switch over with that stamp, so that would not worry me. Not so sure about the lack of lacquer. Would not go down well in the UK, but I know some of you in the states prefer raw brass. Most likely the previous owner had stripped.

[Peach]

General thought over here is that the 'Round stamp' Sov's include some of the finest examples available since; certainly the Cornets, Eb Horns, Euphs and Eb Tubas. The Eb Tubas of that time tend to be of a lighter gauge brass and have a very colourful sound.

I think at that time B&H produced almost exclusively silver plated instruments - very much the norm, with lacquer something of a special order. I'll bet what's left of the lacquer on this Euph is the original stuff which was just not too good to begin with. Once a patch wears through to bare brass, some lacquer just keeps coming away wherever it's touched.