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I have for sale a Besson 225 Compensating BBb tuba with a recording bell. I received it several years ago and very recently had it cleaned by Jim Langenberg in Elgin. The horn is from the late 50s/early 60s, placing it ~60-70 years old. All of the slides and pistons work very well, and the bell is detachable and dent-free. The horn itself has very few dents, and it also retains a solid 90% of its lacquer. The tuba's receiver has been replaced to accept modern mouthpieces, and it responds well and has a very large sound. Perfect for outdoor gigs or community band.

The price is $2000. I accept cash and PayPal. I am willing to drive up to 2 hours from Geneva, IL to meet a buyer. I would much rather drive than ship the tuba; it is very heavy and bulky and not idea for shipping at all.

I will also throw in a Blessing 24AW mouthpiece if the buyer would like.

Here are some pictures of the horn circa when I bought it: https://imgur.com/a/tHd4E

Bump.

Bump.

November Bump.

Christmas week bump. The horn is still for sale and in good condition.

Thanks for the response Bloke. Still for sale.

Still available and in great condition.

or...a King bell fits the tenon. I wonder how well it fits, but it does. Maybe the 19 or 22 upright bell pops right on, unless they are too wide in the bell throat-flare transition region (or not enough rise before flaring) and don't clear the top bow.

2018 bump. The horn has been cleaned by Jim Langenberg and fitted with a modern receiver. I will still sell the Blessing 24AW with it free of charge. Price is $2000.

Inquisitive PM sent

I’m not in the market for a used BBb, but I had personal reasons for wanting to try the Besson 225.
- I’m always interested in meeting fellow Chicago-area tubists.
- It was in the vicinity of an orchestra rehearsal where I was playing a demo horn.
- The high school that I attended had dinky little convertible tubas for our concert instruments. When another school’s band visited us for a joint concert, they brought their two Besson 225’s. To date, I had never played a forward-bell tuba (besides sousaphone). They gave me permission to try it. I thought that it sounded so much more powerful and warm than the little tubas that our high school had.

So when I read Alex’ listing of the Besson 225 for sale within driving distance, I wanted to refresh my memory: is the 225 as big and massive as I remembered?

The Besson certainly is heavy for its size. Despite the large, unusually located forward bell, the overall appearance of the 225 is not as large as a Conn 2XJ or 3XJ. In fact, because of the placement of the bell, I sensed that much of the sound that the horn might be giving out was lost behind the bell. The horn played well. I had forgotten that this was a 3+1 valve set; I thought that the Besson that I played briefly at that high school concert had only 3 valves. The valves work well, but (surprisingly for the not-so-large size of the horn) the player must fully stretch one’s arms to effectively reach the top 3 and side 4th valve.

Conclusion: The Besson is everything that anyone looking for a horn like this would want; in other words, it’s a very safe investment.