This instrument is at least 90 years old. I worked for the Besson Company - it closed when the name was taken over by B&H. in 1947. "Besson & Co" was a name used when the factory was in Euston Road London, prior to the 39/45 war. We never made these in my time.
I'm afraid not, These are Indian made and are purposefully made and engraved "Bessons & Co" (With an S) to trick buyers into thinking they are the rarer original "Besson" pocket trumpets. They are nothing like the high quality of the original authentic Besson Instruments.
As others have pointed out, these are fakes, but more importantly thats not a mouthpiece receiver. Its supposed to have a detachable leadpipe that fits into that oversized socket. This would have a cornet mouthpiece receiver on the other end.
4:20 The Indian manufy forgot to drill out the hole for the water key lol. Congrats, you restored a new horn, which was faked to look aged. 16:00 Sounds like one of the pistons has an incompletely soldered passage way, hence the air leak. The grin at the end is priceless. Love the overall optimism, reminds me of current bull sentiment while buying dips in the market :) Surprisingly, some of the Indian euphoniums are not too bad as they copied 19th century English instruments. As always, play before you buy, or at least return when deceptive/defective.
Hey, don't know when you will see this comment, but this video will surely help me a lot! I just got a pocket trumpet yesterday and an instrument "professional" told me it's for the wall or the trash. I'm determined to restore it! Could you tell me what kind of brushes those were and also what to look out for when restoring the trumpet?
Hey how you doing I got one just like this but no sound what should I do go a different mouth piece right now wind I blow in it no sound just air I need up
Hello! Make sure the mouthpiece has a tight seal against the lead pipe, so there is no rattling or space. You'll also want to check that your valves are open - if they get stuck, you may have a blockage in one of your tubes. Hope that helps, but if not, you may want to get it checked out by a local tech. If you have this same pocket trumpet, though, you might want to consider getting a more modern and better-quality one, as you may end up spending more than it's worth on an overhaul. Good luck!
These cornets are fake and are intended to deceive the buyer in thinking he or she has a real Besson. They play terrible and are not worth anything, even when they are restored. Recycle it as scrap brass.
What size and make the mouthpiece you were using for your pocket trumpet. I have a pocket trumpet and a Bugle can you use a trombone mouthpiece for your pocket trumpet or not .
Hey Roman! Sorry I didn't reply sooner! For this project, I used a standard trumpet mouthpiece (I think it was a 3C). It was just a cheap one that I bought in bulk from Amazon for various things, such as this. Note that I did have to chop a couple of centimetres off the mouthpiece in order for it to fit. I know tenor/baritone horn and trombone mouthpieces have a much shorter barrel, so there is a reasonable chance they would fit in a pocket trumpet; however, whether or not they would produce a tuneful note is another issue! Hope this helps!
