Restored Silver Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Besson 4 Valve (3 + 1) Bb Euphonium. - $3,500 - (Astoria, OR)
This a wonderful very well-made 4-valve professional Boosey & Hawkes Imperial Besson Euphonium manufactured about 1960. The design is a later configuration that is less prone to denting around the valve section. It is a compensating sweeter-sounding model with a Euroshank leadpipe. The horn now plays beautifully with a nice rich Besson sound, excellent response, and smooth valve action. This horn was professionally re-plated and I tried to preserve the finish as much as possible during the restoration so some of the dent spots are not as quite smooth as I would otherwise do. Nearly all the dent work was done without disassembly. Some small, non-critical dents were left as their repair would damage the finish or other parts of the horn. I worked dents from all of the connective tubing between the valves and the reverse taper sections as well. The bell was brought back into round and is fairly smooth with a solid bell wire. I fixed valve caps, threads and substantially quieted the valves, adding new felts and some springs. Water key corks are also new. There are light scratches on the finish--many are burnished out or diminished. You can still see where some creases and dents were removed although the horn is very smooth & shiny overall. Early work on this horn was very professional and included a conversion to low (standard) pitch and a quality silver plating. Solid 2 1/2 to 3 octave range although an experienced player can achieve a full 3 1/2 octaves plus peddle tones (full & solid, centered). I recommend either Medium Shank Bach, Schilke or Dennis Wick mouthpieces no smaller than a Bach 12 for best response. Schilke, or Dennis Wick SM3, 3.5, 4, or 5AL are ideal for the best tone and response. These horns are worth rebuilding as they are of excellent stout design and construction coupled with the superb Besson tone quality. I started work on this horn about 5 years ago as a special horn for my brass ensemble recordings and performances. I've been playing on this…
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From ebay.com - 1 month ago