Posted by Paul Scott on October 29, 2000 at 09:10:53:
In Reply to: Re: Besson Souv. Bb posted by Chuck Jackson on October 29, 2000 at 01:11:52:
I agree with all of the foregoing comments. I own a 3-valve Besson built in 1978 and it plays better than any of the 4-valve Besson BBs that I've tried. The third valve is built as a "true 1-2", i.e 1 1/2 step length. In fact, notes which are usually fingered as 1-2 are supposed to be played using 3. The horn actually came from the factory with a fingering chart! These instruments are inconsistent from horn to horn. One weakness I've found on several examples is a rather sharp third space Eb and a slightly flat first space Ab. Also, the third valve on mine is not aligned properly to the ports in the casing. I don't know if all of these characteristics would apply to the 4-valve, as well.