Q: More info on my trumpet ( No Answer) Question Subject: More info on my trumpet Category: Asked by: bconger-ga List Price: $10.00 Posted: 16 May 2006 20:18 PDT Expires: 15 Jun 2006 20:18 PDT Question ID: 729607 I have an F. Besson Bb trumpet and would love some more information on it (when it was made, how many were made, how much it is worth). It is silver plated and has a ring on the third valve slide and a U-shaped thumb holder on the first valve slide. The valve caps are silver with no inlays.
Two areas have text markings: the second valve has '4653' above a circle with 'F. Besson Kanstul' in it. The top of the bell has a lot of text, including: 'F. Besson, Brevete, S.G.D.G., 96 Rue D'Angoulene, Paris France, star, 66 Haute Recompense, 6 grands prix, Hours Concours, Membre du Jury' Thanks!! Answer There is no answer at this time. Comments Subject: Re: More info on my trumpet From: thursdaylast23-ga on 17 May 2006 13:19 PDT The 'Kanstul' marking on your trumpet dates to, at the earliest, 1981, when Zigmant Kanstul launched Kanstul Musical Instruments in Anaheim, California. One poster to a brass forum mentioned that his Besson Brevete (often spelled?Brevette?) was made in the early 1980s, and mentioned a 4XXX serial number, comparable to yours.
Here is a brief biography of 'Zig' Kanstul on the company's website. You might also consider contacting the company to see if they can date the horn more closely from the serial number. The original French Bresson Brevetes were made much earlier in the century.
The word?brevete? Actually just means?patented,? But got attached to a line of instruments. If you?re interested in a picture of a vintage 1935 B-flat Bresson Brevete made by the Paris-based company, check the picture and commentary at the link below (it?s the second instrument featured on the page). Pretty spectacular-looking for its age. Apparently both Miles Davis and Raphael Mendez played Bresson Brevetes of this original vintage (second link below).
Brand (Besson), model (MEHA), MPN (Serial #4719), Key (Bb), Skill Level (Professional), Country/Region of Manufacture (United States) Review (mpn:-sn-4719 for sale) Meha Bb -sn-4719 Trumpet model Accessories Professional Besson French Kanstul. Contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Serial number is 588052, but that doesn't help me place the date of manufacture date. Looks like a 1990's horn. Help me out if you know more than I do about the date.
The following is a brief history of the 'Kanstul' stamp and its connection to the French company, F. Besson, as posted by a contributor to an online forum on brass instruments: 'The French company operating under the name of F. Besson went out of business sometime in the early 60s after having dominated orchestra trumpet playing for 30 or 40 years. Vincent Bach, Elden Benge and Dominic Calicchio all copied and tried to improve on F. Besson trumpets.
Real pre World War II F. Bessons are still highly sought after and those made after the War are still very good horns.
Although I am a little foggy on the details of the history, the F. Besson tooling and name ended up in the hands of Boosey & Hawkes who contracted with Zig Kanstul to make F. Bessons trumpets, the classic models (the Meha and Brevette) for a time from the early 80s (maybe late 70s?) until maybe 2000, when the contract terminated?B & H has since reorganized as The Music Group and is still apparently marketing and selling F.
Besson trumpets. I have no idea who is making them or where. They are also selling Besson made in England and, I understand, Pakistan.
The original tooling, including the original bell hallmark (which said Made in France) were used even though the horns were made in California in the shadow of Disneyland. These were very good horns, sold at reasonable prices, and a lot of people are very happily playing them.' Another poster on a forum at www.trumpetherald.com posted similar information re: dating.?The F.
Besson Brevette (.415' bore) and Meha (.460' bore) flugels were built by Kanstul for Boosey and Hawkes roughly during the 1980's and 90's, along with a range of F. Besson trumpets.
Although the bell markings (probably copied from the original, real French Bessons) say Paris-France, the horns were built completely in the Kanstul plant. I own a Meha flugel, serial 1630, which according to Kanstul was built in '92-'94. They couldn't be more precise. The horns are absolutely top-of-the-line, I like mine better than the newer Kanstuls.? As to price, using the Google cache feature, I was able to find a listing for sale of a?Mint condition Kanstul built Besson Brevette ML bore.? The asking price was $825 in October of 2005.
However, I cannot tell from the cached page whether or not it sold. Another post on a brass forum mentioned buying a Besson (Kanstul) Brevette for around $500:?I was very pleased with the horn.
And for the price, it was a very good bargain.? There was a recent listing on eBay for a horn that closely matches the description you give of your instrument. It sold for $466 on May 9, 2006. Since the sale is so recent, the pictures of the instrument are still posted, and you might check them to see if this instrument is like yours. One final note. Most of the comments I read posted by musicians familiar with or actually playing a similar instrument were very positive. One person noted his regret at passing up a chance to buy this particular horn:?I love the Besson Brevette, and regret not having bought one.
I don't think Kanstul makes them any more and the company has just changed hands? posted 2006. You can probably find more info/details on such forums by doing a Google search with the terms?Besson? (or?Brevette??try both). Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice.
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