Any tips on buying a used Besson 2052 euph?

[tokuno]

I'm in the hunt for a German Besson Prestige 2052 for my son, and they seem scarce on the used market, so I'm wondering if I'm looking in the wrong place, using incorrect search terms, or missing out on a network of Besson players.
Google turns up stale listings, obvious scams, and retail (which I'm starting to lean towards at this point), and there's a dearth of postings on David Werden's site.
Anyone know of other places I should post or monitor before I order it from WWBW?
Occurs to me that I should probably have asked this on Dave Werden's site first, but this is a more familiar, comfy forum to me, and judging from the number of previous Besson 2052 ads, I'm not without hope that I'll receive some useful hints.
Thanks

[tbonesullivan]

Did that model come out relatively recently? That could explain the dearth of used listings. In general, there aren't nearly the number of used euphoniums out there as there are, say, trombones. Part of this is that for the "big names" in trombones, they have pretty much left their lineup unchanged since the 60s. You can still get a Bach 42B or Conn 88H.

With Euphoniums, they make changes, and out comes a new model number. However there are still other recent Besson models which may be just as good. But again, they don't come up used very often.

Looking at Dillon music, they do not have a 2052, but they do have a 2051. They also have some 967 and 968 series horns.

Is there any reason why it HAS to be a 2052, and not the 2051 or any comparable models from other makers like Yamaha, Willson, Sterling, etc?

[pgym]

Did that model come out relatively recently?

2006 or 2007, if memory serves; certainly no later than summer 2007, when I tried one at Tuba Exchange.

[Edit: an email from Steve Mead informs me that the first two digits of Buffet-Crampon serial numbers are the year of mfg, and that the serial # of the first production Buffet-Crampon Besson euph was 06300012, which was made in Nov. 2006.]

And, no, the model number hasn't changed over the years.

@tokuno: if you're buying a German-made Besson, make sure it's a Buffet-Crampon Besson, not one from Schreiber & Keilwerth (~2001-2005, if memory serves), which had a (well deserved) reputation for indifferent quality control. (To be fair, they did occasionally allow a good one to escape from the factory).

[tokuno]

Yeah, as I understand it, the German 2052 has only been available for about 12 years, but I was still expecting Google to turn up more than it did, so I'm wondering where else I need to look.
My other kids' safaris were mercifully short, but theirs are commonly available instruments: Buffet R13 at a local repair shop, Muramatsu at a local retailer, and a teacher's Bach Strad Commercial big-bore that she liked that wasn't stocked locally, but Google found us a bunch, and we selected one used like-new for a song from the East Coast.
Even my wife's viola bow. They're jaw-droppingly expensive, but at least the local shop stocked a forest-worth of 'em for her to evaluate.
This euphonium safari's tougher, but he's been able to play-test Yamaha 842, 642, Adams E1, E1 sterling, E3, Wessex Yammie clone, Miraphone 5050. and a Besson 967. No local Willsons, but I've owned 2 of 'em and I'm pretty sure they aren't what he would want. The Sterling Virtuoso's not locally available, but I'm reluctant to ship horns on trial - been there/done that with tubas. Net-net is that the 967 works well for him, but needs a trigger, so we seek a Prestige 2052, and would perhaps take a flyer on a 2051, but are concerned about the 2051's 11.25" bell without him having tried it.
The German quality control carries a good rep, so I'm comfortable buying used, but scratching my head over the absence of offerings. Adams is the hot local horn, but I figured there'd surely be clumps of Bessons somewhere in the US. *shrug* maybe it's a "buy it and keep it" kind of horn?

[tokuno]

[Edit: an email from Steve Mead informs me that the first two digits of Buffet-Crampon serial numbers are the year of mfg, and that the serial # of the first production Buffet-Crampon Besson euph was 06300012, which was made in Nov. 2006.]

And, no, the model number hasn't changed over the years.

@tokuno: if you're buying a German-made Besson, make sure it's a Buffet-Crampon Besson, not one from Schreiber & Keilwerth (~2001-2005, if memory serves), which had a (well deserved) reputation for indifferent quality control. (To be fair, they did occasionally allow a good one to escape from the factory).

Great info, thanks! Hadn't seen any of this in my (admittedly cursory) Besson 2052 research.
I bought a new British-made 967 back in the early 80s (shipped in sight-unseen) to replace my Yamaha 321, and was "impressed" by its . . "hand-crafted" . . appearance. Quickly realized that the Yamaha consistency that me and all my 321-owning pals took for granted wasn't available from the British Besson company . . .