There’s an antique Besson soprano sax for sale on eBay at the moment. It is an interesting and rare horn from the late 1800s.
Source: eBay.com
One of Montreal’s top vintage saxophone dealers, wideangleman, is selling this interesting piece of saxophone history. This is what he writes about it:
Antique Besson Class A Curved Bb Soprano Saxophone
Fully Serviced & Working Beautifully w/ Case
This fabulous curved soprano dates to the late 19th Century, and is quite similar in build quality and design to early Buffet Paris instruments, with large, diamond shaped feet on the key guards, and an overall finely crafted build quality. the instrument has been very carefully serviced, and now sports a finely made German Silver reinforcement under the neck, as well as mostly new pads, with the exception of a few original, stamped leather pads that are in superb shape. The horn has a wonderful, complex and rich voice, with no leaks and excellent cosmetics. A few signs of ding removal here and there, but nothing significant. No wear-through on the silver plate.
Horn comes with a good vintage case that has been adapted for service for this instrument.
Bid with confidence, this is a rare, and fully functional instrument.
This curvy appears to be in quite remarkable condition, when you consider it is well over 110 years old.
Source: eBay.com
The Besson company has a long history. It was founded in Paris, France in 1837, through the efforts of Gustave-Auguste Besson (1820-1874).¹
Like others, Besson became involved in lawsuits with Adolphe Sax, and in 1858 Gustave-Auguste left Paris to start a new factory in London. Besson’s factory in Paris continued to produce instruments as well, and eventually distribution warehouses were added in Brussels, Charleroi, Madrid and Barcelona.
Although Besson is more commonly known for their brass instruments, they did make a variety of woodwinds as well. The company has been associated with, and/or been owned by, many brands, such as: SML, Boosey & Hawkes, Couesnon, and most recently the Buffet Crampon Group—of which they now are a part of.
Getting back to this antique Besson curvy now up for sale, the auction for this little gem runs until March 11. The Buy It Now price is $888.00. Or if you like to gamble, you can always make the man an offer and take your chances.
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Update: Well perhaps wideangelman had a change of heart, or sold the horn privately, because the auction was ended a day early—on March 10. The reason given is as follows:
I hope this rare little curvy found a good home. 8)
“Wideangleman” seems to be, other than an excellent photographer (check out his other auctions), mostly a brass guy in his personal ability. I’ve never bought a horn from him in an auction, but I have bout a couple of old Martin cornet mouthpieces. He’s good people, and responds readily to questions / comments. Sometimes his vintage sax info is a little off (not at all that I know in this instance), but it’s usually the kind of thing that’s neither here nor there in the long run / value department. Lots of the vintage saxes he offers have been overhauled or tweaked by Al Mclean, a Canadian saxophonist and tech of real talent — check out his auctions & you will see youtube posts featuring Mcclean & often, the horns up for auction.
I would suspect from two features (a bis key and an automatic octave key) that the horn is more like 100 years old rather than 110. However, both of these make it easier to play if that’s what it’s being bought for, especially the octave key. I’d dare say a 100 year old horn with these features is worth more than a 110 year old horn without them, so I’m certainly not accusing anyone of any sort of malfeasance. It’s just that in 1900, few if any horns had the automatic octave key, but by 1914 they almost all did.
Hello there T.K. Welcome to my site.
Yes, it’s quite possible that Randy Cole, AKA Wideangleman, is a brass player. I’ve noticed that he sells brass winds, so I’ve thought he at least has an interest in, or plays trumpet and the likes.
I think that for many brands of horns (Selmers for example) there are so many subtle differences, that it is really difficult to differentiate the very early models from each other. Even Selmer does not always provide accurate info about its very early horns. (For example at one time they claimed to not have have made any C pitched horns in Paris.)
When it comes to the more obscure horns—which were made for example, by companies no longer in existence—the information available is based perhaps on past company records (if any of those still exist), but most likely solely on the research of saxophone historians. Many times these saxophone historians don’t always 100% agree with each other on details of vintage horns.
Saxophone technicians are not necessarily specialists in vintage horns, and even those that are, might disagree with each other about the specifics about the more obscure brands of horns. (Or even the lesser known models of well known brands.) This holds true for reputable dealers (such as Wideangleman) as well.
I do love Wideangleman’s horns. I think he manages to find some of the finest examples of the best vintage horns. The fact that they are (generally) sold completely rebuilt authentically by Al McLean makes them even more tempting. :devil2:
Thanks for dropping in T.K. I hope you do so again sometime.
Regards,
Helen