Besson 995 CC

CTAYLOR · Post by **CTAYLOR** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 2:44 am

Any thoughts on this horn? Looks like a beautiful horn. How do they play? compared to other similar horns

MikeMason · Post by **MikeMason** » Sat Mar 08, 2008 12:27 pm

They have a very strong reputation.They,like all tubas,vary in quality somewhat.Try the one you're looking at and maybe have a trusted pro or teacher evaluate it for you as well.Use the search function here to do research.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:08 am

Yes, conventional wisdom is that a 995 is like the little girl with the little curl, when you find a good one, it's very good, but when you find a bad one, it is horrid. This is consistent with the other stories of quality control problems at Besson just before their bankruptcy. The name and rights to manufacturing were bought out of bankruptcy by the consortium headed by Buffet-Crampon. Manufacture of component parts is now in Germany, although I believe final assembly is still in the UK. The famous Edgeware Road factory is now ancient history.

As the line of instruments was revamped after bankruptcy by the new owners to bring up quality control, they have first focused on their traditional market, British brass bands, so those models from cornet to BBb tuba have been updated first. I don't believe the 995, not being a traditional brass band instrument, has made it back into production yet, and probably won't, at least for the forseeable future.

ASTuba · Post by **ASTuba** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:54 am

Besson wasn't bought by Conn-Selmer, they have been purchased by an independent group that bought Keilwerth and Schrieber. They are in the process of re-doing the complete line, including the 995 and are getting input from people who own the 995's currently.

I have one, and I really love the way it plays. I've had to do some things in order to get the pitch to a decent level, as the tuning slide on these is WAY too short, but otherwise, I can't complain. Many people have said that my 995 is better than most 4/4 Nirschls that they've played.

I'm thinking about selling my tuba, as I am wanting something a bit larger in sound, but I know that if I did this, I'd really miss this tuba, as it's truly a fantastic instrument.

Aaron Tindall · Post by **Aaron Tindall** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 9:50 pm

Besson professional brass instruments are being made AND assembled in Markneukirchen, Germany at the Meinl/B&S factory that Geirhard owns. This is not done at the Schreiber factory that is literally down the street and arouns the corner. Another unmentioned brand is being made there.

As for the 995 I know for a fact that Besson is revamping this horn, and is currently looking at a few different options to improve upon what is already a great design.

There will be a protype of the new and improved 995 to play on soon, and I hope will be available at the ITEC conference in June.

Hope this clears some of this up.

Aaron

www.aarontindall.com

Alex C · Post by **Alex C** » Sun Mar 09, 2008 10:38 pm

Keilwerth/Schrieber bought the tooling for the Besson instruments.

The euphonium they sell has an improved, redesigned the bell and leadpipe, both big improvements. It is the York Emminence (and Preference, too).

They are also producing the York Eb and BBb 3+1 tubas. The Salvation Army recently made a LARGE purchase of York mid & low brass instruments for their staff band (New York Staff Band? anyone know?), a good endorsement.

I don't know if Keilwerth/Schrieber bought the tooling for the 983 Eb but a person connected to York told me that they have no plans to produce that instrument.

Walter Nirschl built the 995 for Besson and this horn is very similar to the 4/4 Nirschl. I hope someone can verify this, but I believe that the Besson is "exactly" like the Nirschl 4/4 except for the leadpipe. I don't think that Besson ever had the tooling for the 995. As to whether the new Besson (Buffet-Carmpton) can make this instrument from scratch... it's a guess. I doubt they will be working with Nirschl on this one.

I played several 995's and thought they were great horns. The Nirschl's I have played were different, maybe more refined but that was not a direct comparison. I'd like to play one with a Nirschl leadpipe on it.

iiipopes · Post by **iiipopes** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 12:19 am

Alex C wrote:Keilwerth/Schrieber bought the tooling for the Besson instruments.

The euphonium they sell has an improved, redesigned the bell and leadpipe, both big improvements. It is the York Emminence (and Preference, too).

They are also producing the York Eb and BBb 3+1 tubas. The Salvation Army recently made a LARGE purchase of York mid & low brass instruments for their staff band (New York Staff Band? anyone know?), a good endorsement.

I don't know if Keilwerth/Schrieber bought the tooling for the 983 Eb but a person connected to York told me that they have no plans to produce that instrument.

Walter Nirschl built the 995 for Besson and this horn is very similar to the 4/4 Nirschl. I hope someone can verify this, but I believe that the Besson is "exactly" like the Nirschl 4/4 except for the leadpipe. I don't think that Besson ever had the tooling for the 995. As to whether the new Besson (Buffet-Carmpton) can make this instrument from scratch... it's a guess. I doubt they will be working with Nirschl on this one.

I played several 995's and thought they were great horns. The Nirschl's I have played were different, maybe more refined but that was not a direct comparison. I'd like to play one with a Nirschl leadpipe on it.

The pre-bankruptcy Besson webpage describing the 995 boasted it as having been designed by Walter Nirschl. I don't know who actually manufactured or assembled the components then.

Here is the link to the original article on TubaNews about Buffet-Crampon purchasing Besson after having previously purchased Courtois, and the setting up of manufacturing at the Schreiber and Meinl factories:

http://www.tubanews.com/articles/contentid-268.html

Roger Lewis · Post by **Roger Lewis** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 7:43 am

Besson 995 horns had some intonation issues and were extremely mouthpiece sensitive. They appeared to have the same valve body as the 6/4 Nirschl horns, but that's a guesson my part, not having spent a lot of time on the 6/4. Mr. Nirschl had learned of this inconsistency and I believe developed a new leadpipe for the horns and the later versions were not mouthpiece sensitive but were still a bit inconsistent. As mentioned earlier the good ones were great. I found a silver one recently here at WWBW that had been taken out of inventory, but it was in excellent condition. A well known pro has this horn right now and sounds awesome on it.

Just my $0.02

Roger

Pete Link · Post by **Pete Link** » Mon Mar 10, 2008 1:20 pm

Hi Folks,

I happen to be the lucky recipient of the above mentioned tuba by Roger. I have spent the last week on it many hours a day and have to say that I love it. It has been hard to put it down really. I took it on stage and surrounding folks had great things to say as well. This is the first 4/4 CC tuba which has really linked up with me and the way I play. It matches my 6/4 Nirschl dead on. Intonation is fantastic for me as it also has the exact same tendencies as the Nirschl. I make small adjustments on 1 and 4 for fine tuning and thats it. This has to be one of the later refined ones mentioned earlier in this post. It has the updated euro receiver, great valves and newer leadpipe. I have played a few in the past and some did indeed have issues in the pitch department but had potential otherwise.
I should also mention that I have owned a 4/4 Nirschl until last summer and that was also a great horn but this one fits me much better.
If you can find a good one, pick it up! They are very easy to play with a great response and feel. I only wish that the leadpipe angle was the same on my 6/4. This one is great!

A great public thanks goes out to Roger and to Scooby Tuba for their ears and good conversation!

Pete

TubeNet

Besson 995 CC

Besson 995 CC

The early......