| Hi Bustnut. I just saw your message. I've owned a Besson International (aka "BE 800") for the last 5 years. It's a Kanstul-built horn. Kanstul used to build trumpets etc. on contract for Boosey & Hawkes for the (primarily) North American market.
The International is a fine "little" horn for the price (assuming you didn't have to pay "list" for it!). To give you an idea, the one I have was about 1 month old and I got it for $600 Cdn (which, at the time, was about $380 US). I played it for a couple of years and purchased "up" to a Strad only because I got a deal on the strad at the time.
I played the Besson in an adult community band where I found that as long as I didn't try to "match artillery" with the Bachs etc. there was no problem. The horn slotted very nicely (better than the Strad in fact). The lack of bracing meant that you could "bend notes around" quite a bit. The valves were always good but I initially found the springs a bit "tight" for me. A quick email to the Kanstul factory fixed that... they mailed me three different sets of springs, all different weights, FREE!
My son is now playing that horn in his school concert and jazz bands. It remains trouble-free with good valves and good intonation. As long as he looks after it I think it'll last him as long as he wants it to.
If you have any questions about your International, a quick post to Jack Kanstul with the serial number would probably get you an equally quick reply as to when it was built & etc. |