TrumpetMaster - View Single Post - Need information about the different Mehas

Liberty Lips · 04-12-2004, 01:56 AM

There is a serial number dating list on the brass bow that seems to have some merit:http://www.thebrassbow.com/Serial.html This corroborates the 92000 number delineating post-war vs. pre-war.

During the war, so I'm told, the Nazis looted many factories for metal to be used for munitions, so some mandrels and other important tooling was lost. When France was invaded some parts were smuggled out and the horns were finished in England, and after the war many English parts were used to start up production, so the problem with post-war horns is that it's impossible to tell if they are really French or English Bessons; not to mention the fact that raw metals weren't very easy to get ahold of, and a lot of Besson's key craftsmen had either been killed or they had emigrated.

According to Larry Gianni, the pre-war F. Besson Mehas were all medium-large bore trumpets (.460), and the large-bore horns (.470) only appeared after the war. This begs the question: what, then, was the difference between a pre-war Meha and a pre-war Breveté? "Breveté" simply means "patented" in french; one would think that would apply to all of their instruments.

When Zig Kanstul won the contract to manufacture the F. Besson Meha for the Boosey & Hawkes Company in the early 1980's, which owned the Besson name, he acquired a number of pre- and post-war Mehas and Brevetés from Hal Oringer to study and duplicate. My understanding is that the trumpets are quite accurate; after all, Kanstul had been manufacturing Benges for years, which were pretty accurate Besson copies to begin with. Zig has an interesting collection of mandrels, not just from the Olds plant and from Benge, but some say from the Besson factory as well. There were two models of Kanstul/Besson Mehas: the horns marked "Paris-France" on the bell were .460 bore, and the horns marked "Paris" were .470 bore. Kanstul made a Breveté as well, but I don't know much about those.

I'm not absolutely certain, but I'm pretty sure that Boosey & Hawkes (now "The Music Group") stopped renewing Kanstul's contract, and had an Indian manufacturer build the "New Generation Meha". Now, apparently, they are just unloading their inventory and will pretty much be out of the brass manufacturing business when it's gone.

That's all I know, and it's dubious, at best. How do you like your post-war Meha? Have you had a chance to compare it to any of the other Bessons?

04-12-2004, 01:56 AM	#2 (permalink)
Liberty Lips Pianissimo User Join Date: Dec 2003 Posts: 76	There is a serial number dating list on the brass bow that seems to have some merit:http://www.thebrassbow.com/Serial.html This corroborates the 92000 number delineating post-war vs. pre-war. During the war, so I'm told, the Nazis looted many factories for metal to be used for munitions, so some mandrels and other important tooling was lost. When France was invaded some parts were smuggled out and the horns were finished in England, and after the war many English parts were used to start up production, so the problem with post-war horns is that it's impossible to tell if they are really French or English Bessons; not to mention the fact that raw metals weren't very easy to get ahold of, and a lot of Besson's key craftsmen had either been killed or they had emigrated. According to Larry Gianni, the pre-war F. Besson Mehas were all medium-large bore trumpets (.460), and the large-bore horns (.470) only appeared after the war. This begs the question: what, then, was the difference between a pre-war Meha and a pre-war Breveté? "Breveté" simply means "patented" in french; one would think that would apply to all of their instruments. When Zig Kanstul won the contract to manufacture the F. Besson Meha for the Boosey & Hawkes Company in the early 1980's, which owned the Besson name, he acquired a number of pre- and post-war Mehas and Brevetés from Hal Oringer to study and duplicate. My understanding is that the trumpets are quite accurate; after all, Kanstul had been manufacturing Benges for years, which were pretty accurate Besson copies to begin with. Zig has an interesting collection of mandrels, not just from the Olds plant and from Benge, but some say from the Besson factory as well. There were two models of Kanstul/Besson Mehas: the horns marked "Paris-France" on the bell were .460 bore, and the horns marked "Paris" were .470 bore. Kanstul made a Breveté as well, but I don't know much about those. I'm not absolutely certain, but I'm pretty sure that Boosey & Hawkes (now "The Music Group") stopped renewing Kanstul's contract, and had an Indian manufacturer build the "New Generation Meha". Now, apparently, they are just unloading their inventory and will pretty much be out of the brass manufacturing business when it's gone. That's all I know, and it's dubious, at best. How do you like your post-war Meha? Have you had a chance to compare it to any of the other Bessons?