| Hey Tom,.....that's fantastic info that you have collected....i have put it in my 'special info' folder.
We should just mention that Couesnon, while not the same company as of old, ARE back in business as a small maker who actually produce instruments themselves rather than just getting them by the shed load from China to put their own name on! As such, perhaps they should be encouraged since all European and American makers are under threat now!
Couesnon CLAIM that they use some of the original companies mandrels for making the bell sections of some instruments including the flugel horn.
When I aquired my Besson 'International' cornet in 1974 it was head and shoulders above all the opposition for it's fantastic sound,....Interestingly, the only cornet which came close to it for sound was a somewhat ugly Couesnon model which was quite rare in the UK at the time and sold by Bill Lewington in his shop in Shaftesbury Avenue in London. He also had in stock an incredible little Eb flugel horn by Couesnon that I have never forgotten or seen the like of since! |