besson?

[Doug@GT]

Rare factory original CC tuba. It's a full size compensating CC tuba with 3&1 piston configuration of .728" bore. The upright bell measures 19". This horn has a truly glorious sound. Nearly dent free, but the original lacquer finish only scores about a 60%. Perfect for a CC player who wants to fit in the local Brass Band. No case at this low price.

[Chuck(G)]

Matt Walters would know for sure, but I think this is the Besson that belonged to Nathan Turner. It was one of two Bessons that Mr. Jacobs had--the other is a 3-valve compensating CC that Richard Frazier now owns, but with a smaller 16" bell.

I've got one of the 3-valve CC's, one serial number after the one that Richard owns. It's a nice little horn, but you've got to get used to playing your A's using valve 3. E using 12 is pretty well in tune. The bad part, though, is that I can't go any lower than Gb--the false tones are so weak that they're useless.

Nathan sounded pretty good on his Besson, but remember that this is a compensating 3+1. I don't get the statement about "brass band" in Dillon's ad though. I can't imagine anyone wanting to play treble-clef Bb bass parts on a CC rather than a BBb.

Rare--yeah, I suppose so. There are probably less than 10 of the Besson CCs in either configuration wandering around.

[Chuck(G)]

how can i get in contact with the good ol boy matt? is he on the BBS?

He drops in from time to time, but you might get a faster response by dropping him a line at his Dillon address:

matt@dillonmusic.com

[Chuck(G)]

Very interesting - maybe only available in the US? From the photo it looks very much like it might be a cut down version of the BBb Sovereign. !

It's not a "cut " horn, but factory production. To my eye and recollection, this is less a BBb Sovereign than a horn built up from a mixture of Eb and BBb parts. The bottom bow, in particular, looks to be an Eb part, with the big bell the same as on the "Fletcherized" Eb Imperial.

The valve cluster is indeed probably a BBb part with the 1st and 3rd valve compensating loops shortened (you couldn't shorten the 2nd valve loop because it's so short already). For most CC players, the 3+1 setup is a deal-spoiler, but OTOH, you can play right down to the pedal without any fancy fingerings.

AFAIK, these special CCs were built for the US market to see if the CC crowd could be wooed. These came out in the 60's at about the same time as the little bitty Besson F compensator.