uilleann

Hi Tom,
I just picked up an old Couesnon trumpet with a C tuning slide. What a nice horn. Love these Couesnon's playing it with a cookie cutter mouthpiece.
On the bell the address is Rue De Laffeyette France but no serial number.
Any thoughts?
John

Cornet1

These were/are quality instruments from a diffferent age......

Above the bell engraving with the Rue Laf. address there should be a 'flaming grenade' outline with a two digit number within,...this is the date of manugacture.

Is the bore 0.44".......?

Is there an upright brace on the tuning slide and a corresponding one on the instrument with a 'push-rod' type adjuster for tuning?

Is finish in raw brass/.....can you see a lead solder seam running along the bottom of the leadpipe?

Is the sound small but rich...?

uilleann

Thanks for the info....1926, bore .464, the Bb has a brace but the C slide has no brace and no solder line the finish is in raw brass on the valves casings right side #2 has a number 6 and on the third valve a "P" or a "B"
Thank you
John

Cornet1

From what info I can gather, i think that during the later 20's they made more instruments with the F.Besson (Meha) as the inspiration and bores seem to get larger. IN the early years after WWI the trumpets were individually 'French' with mainly small bores.

I think serial no's only started in the late 30's and anyway, they are only of academic interest now as the entire records were lost in a disastrous fire after WWII.

The early/vintage Couesnon trumpets are beginning to be collectable now. I recently watched one on UK Ebay made in 1925 which was really bashed!....just a piece of junk until quite recently. It started at 99p,...say, 60 cents, and finally went at £120 with 43 bids......

uilleann

Thanks for all of the help. I have a few Couesnons a trumpet and a cornet from the 70's and I think they play extremely well, But I am primarily a oboe/English horn player. I sort of compare the cornet to the English 10-10 Besson anyway Thanks.....John

tom turner

Hi,

It looks like Cornet1 has things well in hand!

The company that became Couesnon was begun by A. G. Guichard in 1827 . . . one of the earliest horn makers that survived into the late 20th century.

Gautrot bought 'em in 1845 . . . and added the Triebert company in 1881. As an oboe player, have you heard of the vintage Triebert oboes? They were legendary in their time!

In 1883 Amedee Couesnon bought Triebert-Gautrot and became a real giant. Couesnon pumped out tons of instruments in the late 19th century and early 20th century and, by 1911 they had EIGHT factories and 1,000 employees! They dominated international sales in those "glory days" of the brass band craze, making lots of private label ("stencil") horns as well as their own brands.

Long before other trumpet makers maked high trumpets, Couesnon had developed their own . . . making, in decending order:

Piccolo in Bb/A
High F/G
Eb/D
C/Bb (like yours)
Bb/A mezzo-soprano (like we all own)

They also make single key trumpets in C and Bb too, of course.

Their pro horns went by the "Monopole" name, and there were several Monopole variations.

Alas, the two World Wars were not kind to Paris or French companies and the proud old company went into decline. The company was just an anemic shell of their former glory when the devastating fire wiped out the company's manufacturing facilities, blueprints and records . . . and put lots of folks out of work for good.

Nearly 20 years after their company-ending fire a former worker who was making fiberglass cases bought rights to the Couesnon name and started the "new" Couesnon. Like the "new" Olds line of today, I do not consider the new Coueson company to be a direct decendant of the old.

Hope you enjoy your vintage horn. Through the years Couesnon made zillions of horns. Some were cheap "stencils," some were student grede . . . some were just average . . . and some were really nice! In this way, they were like the American giant C.G. Conn of the same late 19th century era!

Sincerely,

Tom Turner

uilleann

many, many thanks to cornet1 and yourself for the info I have just dropped off the trumpet for a valve job. The horn is wonderful I will post pictures when I get it back. I have been looking fot Treibert oboes for a while but no luck as yet. I am trying to learn jazz on the oboe but keep getting lost but I think it sounds kool.
John

Cornet1

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!

Robert Rowe

I have two Couesnon Trumpets. The one that merits attention is a "Monopole" C-Trumpet, s/n 32794 (not sure, but I believe it was made in late 1950s, mid-1960s ... help, anyone?).

Now, I'm not your average C-Trumpet guy ... I have six right now (some come-&-go with regularity), including a vintage Martin Committee and a Magna, a Courtois proto-type, a Getzen custom-shop horn, a LeBlanc Paris.

The Couesnon C is the "best-in-show". It has a looong Eb/D-style bell, a 1st valve trigger, an "underslung" 3rd valve throw-ring (ala Fr Besson, Blessing Super Artist). The horn has pretty good intonation, for a C (one must facilitate the 1st trigger and use alternate fingerings on some tones and partials, with any C Trumpet -- the "nature-of-the-beast"). The tone is "to die for" ... I kid you not. Amazingly sweet and pure ... perfect for chamber music, Baroque pieces, recording, church.

If you see a nice one, try to "fetch it". You won't be sorry. (Not expensive, either ... for now, anyhow).

Robert Rowe

buzzer

Very interesting reading about the evolution of the Couesnon company. What is the correct way to pronounce the name? Have heard various - anyway a local company has a Couesnon Eb/D trumpet serial number 41XXX for a good price. Change from one key to other is by changing only the main tuning slide. No model number given. Anyone familiar with that horn (silver finish) with the little info I have on it?
Thanks