TubeNet

What are your thoughts?

Worth the price?

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

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.

What is the bore size?

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

bloke wrote:- 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:

bloke wrote:

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.

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.

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.