San Marcos TX CL: Vintage 3v

[hrender]

The ad says King, but to me it looks like English (Besson, Boosey, etc.) even without the thigh-ball. Significant condition issues, but cheap.

https://sanmarcos.craigslist.org/msg/d/ ... 89852.html

[the elephant]

Compensator — This is not a product out of Cleveland, Ohio. I agree. The braces and such scream Besson. To me, it looks like an old Imperial from the early 1970s or late 1960s. Perhaps the bell was replaced or the employee who entered the information took down the info for another tuba they have/had in stock?

[hrender]

D'oh. I missed the comp loops, obvious give-away. I was just going on the braces and overall layout. Did King even make a bell that would fit a New Standard? The 1140 bell would be too small and the marching horns would be too big.

[the elephant]

Is it a New Standard? I have never seen one. I thought it might be an old Besson Imperial. (I have limited experience with these horns. I only know that - for me - the 4 banger comp is terrible, but the 3 valved one is quite nice.)

[hrender]

I honestly don't know for sure. We had what I think were 3v New Standards in high school in FL ('70's). That's what it looked like to me. Those little leaf-shaped braces between the valve tubing were what first caught my eye and reminded me of those horns.

Update: I looked on Horn-u-copia, and the horn that most resembles this one is a B-H from 1950 that the caption says was also sold as the Besson Imperial, so you nailed it.

[iiipopes]

Look at the valve caps and valve buttons. We need a closer picture to know for sure, along with a picture of the bell engraving. If it has fluted valve caps and "gum drop" valve buttons, it is usually a Besson. If it has reeded valve caps and plain buttons, it is usually B&H.

Another detail of this period, which is also not clear from the picture: The Besson version usually (but not always) had lacquer finish for the brass bands, and the B&H usually (again, but not always) had silver plate for the military contracts.

Did a few of each go down the line with the other name and/or other finish and/or other hardware, irrespective of what was inscribed on the bell over the years? Yes. But these is the general tendencies. We need a closeup of the bell and serial number and top valve block hardware to be sure, although the rest of the pictures on the CL listing lean towards Besson.

[prairieboy1]

Besson.