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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.

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.

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 . . .

Timswisstuba wrote:... 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).

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.

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.

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?

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.

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!)

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

J.c.S.

iiipopes wrote:
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.

MichaelDenney wrote:

iiipopes wrote:
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).

iiipopes wrote: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.

sungfw wrote:

iiipopes wrote: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.

iiipopes wrote: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.]