buescher tuba?

[bobo]

i have a 3/4 BBb bueschere tuba does anybody know anything about these horns? are they a decent brand of horn or what any info would be awsome

[Art Hovey]

The Bueschers that I have seen and played are all exceptionally well-built and generally have good intonation.

[Roger Fjeldet]

I have a Buescher 4-valve Bb Sousaphone from the 20ties in my stock - lo vely sound and good intonation
I have been told that old Buesher`s were quality instruments, but faded after WWII.
Can anyone confirm this?

Roger

[imperialbari]

With a little care their CC helicon appears to work well:

[bobo]

thanks guys
the serial number is 594148 if that helps

[imperialbari]

The first tuba I owned after I got back into playing regularly was a 3/4 sized Buescher 3-valved BBb tuba. It played loud and clear, but had it's intonation quirks. For me, it played about a half-cent sharp even with the main slide all the way out. I might have been able to correct this with a little mouthpiece experimenting, but I didn't know this was an option at the time. I had the main slide lengthened by 1-1/2". C in the middle of the staff HAD to be played 1 & 3. D below the staff sometimes came in better if I used the third valve. D and D-flat in the staff had to be fingered the same as the ones below the staff.

Schleppy, you shouldn’t have given this away for free. Those fingerings are just about THE secret behind making just about any 3 valve BBb somewhat useful.

K

[imperialbari]

For one obvious reason I might want to know whether that Buescher really was made in the UK.

Klaus

[imperialbari]

Couldn’t read that text in the photo. You of course, know what gave the UK origins away?

K

[imperialbari]

Yes. The British term is a little less PC than the one you applied. Somewhat related to Lucie Ball & Buster Keaton.

K

[Rick Denney]

Yes. The British term is a little less PC than the one you applied. Somewhat related to Lucie Ball & Buster Keaton.

The little Missenharter that I named "Soldering Practice" came with the defamilification device, and it was definitely made in the U.S. perhaps in the late 19th century. So, I'm not sure this feature is uniquely British, though it probably was by the time Schlepp's instrument was made.

But I've never seen an American-made tuba with such a minimal bell flare.

Also, after seeing the picture, I had a cold chill--a Besson Stratford cold chill. That instrument had required significant surgery to play reasonable in tune. Wayne lasted a lot longer with it than I would have.

Rick "who did not mourn the departure of that particular Besson" Denney

[Uncle Markie]

Bueschers were made from the turn of the century (1900s) as an independent line of instruments until the early 1960s when they were acquired by Selmer. After that they were relegated to a student line for Selmer.

They were most famous for their saxophones, but the "400" line of brass instruments were very good as well - pro line stuff. I have two Buescher cornets - a "400" fro the late 1940s and "Super 400" from the 1957-1962 period. Both have exception intonation, and play very easily.

Buescher tubas & sousaphones are another story. Buescher started out designing saxes for Conn, and later branched out into making his own stuff - as did some other makers. Some Buescher sousaphones look like "out the back door" Conn 14Ks - stenciled. Same for the helicons. In those days manufacturers cooperated with one another, probably to cut down on tooling expenses to fill out the catalog.

In my experience, Buescher tubas played either really well, or really awful. By today's standards most of them are small bore horns - that's true of the baritones, too. Like everybody else, they made 4-valave double-bell euphoniums, etc. I played exactly one Buescher CC, and it was useless - missing notes. Buescher's version of the bell-front tuba was pretty odd-looking - some of the smaller flared bell fronts I can recall. Very little "flare" to the bell, and curved at 90 degrees.

After the Selmer takeover most of the Buescher stuff sold in this country was actually student-line English Besson - the "Stratford" line of brass - cornets, trumpets, and small tubas. There are probably some baritone horns kicking as well. Prior to 1962 - or so - everything made by Buescher came out of Elkhart, IN.

Buescher got a lot of their design elements right - my Buescher cornets are much more in tune than other makes I have owned - like Getzen, King, and Conn. I don't believe too many manufacturers would build horns this way today - too many manhours, not enough profit, etc. Cost per unit rules.

[Ken Herrick]

The one Buescher tuba I remember is the bell front one that Rex Conner had. I played on it several times at Interlochen in 63 and recall it being pretty good. I'm not sure what he did with it after the next summer when he showed up with a Melton. It must have been one of the first in the US and he mentioned they were going to be branded as Mienl Weston as Melton sounded too much like something out of a Sears catalogue.

The other Buescher instrument which sticks in my mind was a very old tenor sax which I fully overhauled ten or twelve years ago. It was a really sweet instrument. Bueschers were regarded as having a unique sound supposedly largely influenced by their parabolic taper.

[Rick Denney]

At the time that I got this Buescher, my only alternative was a ragged out Olds fiberglass sousaphone. The Buescher was a major step up for me at the time.

When I had that Besson, the alternative was no tuba at all. I was happy to have the Besson. I was even happier to replace it.

Part of it was the condition. I was convinced mine had been used as an offensive weapon in some war, and not based on the sounds it made. The early 60's dates are about right, though. I found that tuba squirreled away in the nether regions of my high school band storage locker, and provided the dumpster when my band director announced his intention to throw it away. That school was built in 1962, and the tuba was probably bought new at that time. If so, it's amazing how much damage it sustained in the 10 years before it came to me.

Rick "who preferred the plastic King sousaphone" Denney

[sloan]

My Buescher 3V Eb helicon is a joy to play (esp. after being "blokified"). If memory serves, it dates to about 1920 and (in my hands) played at closer to A=435 than A=440 when I acquired it. It plays well enough to have motivated me to design and build the infamous "helicon cage" for shipping. It's solid, well-crafted, and plays nicely in tune with itself (and now...with a little help from Bloke...it plays well with others).

Perhaps there's a 4th valve in its future...

[The Big Ben]

Couldn’t read that text in the photo. You of course, know what gave the UK origins away?

K

Yeah, I figured that detail didn't show well in the photo, if it showed at all.
What gave away the UK origins? The big round leg digger on the bottom bow?

AKA "The Emasculator"