LA CL: Besson Comp

[Kirley]

I forwarded this to a buddy of mine that lives in LA. He's a bass player who has been wanting to learn tuba. Unfortunately, somebody bought it while he was on his way there to get it.
Oh, well.
Thanks for posting these, Hal. It is much appreciated!

[iiipopes]

I have one of those, in B&H livery. Since on the rare occasion I play Euph it is usually in community band or tuba Christmas, I find it much more manageable than a traditional British-style 4-valve comp Euph. The repertoire I play doesn't go below F at the bottom of the staff, so no need for a 4th valve since 1+3 is compensated, and high range is not an issue. So for me, a 3-valve comp is much less stuffy and in some ways has slightly better intonation than a 4-valve (3 dead for G & D, instead of 1+2, which if 1 and 2 are tuned dead, G and D will be a hair sharp, as that is not a compensated valve combination on a 4-valve comp Euph).

It still has the round tone of a 4-valve Euph, and works very well with a Wick Ultra SM6, which is essentially a 6 1/2 AL, but with a deeper cup and slightly more open backbore to help the low register stay smooth, while keeping definition and tone in the middle register and security in the upper register. This horn may be an old enough that the "British medium shank" mouthpiece is used instead of the now-standard large shank.