TromboneChat

Last spring I picked a fairly nice and original Besson 8-10 on Craigslist. I finally have made time to clean it up and hope to spend some time with it later in the week. I have tried to find information on these horns but have had little luck. The bell says this one was produced in England My internet searches have yielded little helpful info.

It is an intermediate level horn with a great lineage. They are rare because sometime after thr 1970s the factory burned and wasn't replaced. They produced the models 2-10, the 8-10, and the 10-10. That makes the horn about 50 years or older and not replaceable. Is yours in silver or brass, my 10-10 was silver.

I actually have two of them. The one I got on CL is lacquer and is the older of the two.

You are a lucky man. I don't think they were appreciated enough in the US.

I have read a fair amount about the Lesson 10-10s but the 8-10s seem elusive over here.

The gentleman I got lacquer horn from told me is that it was purchased used and he played it through middle school and high school here in eastern Iowa and held onto it until last spring. He's moving to a smaller place since his kids are out of the house and the horn needed to go. The purchase included the original Besson 8 mouthpiece and original case that is in very nice condition. Serial number on this one is 244678.

The second 8-10 is a silver horn that was gifted to me by a dear friend who is no longer able to play. The silver horn has a history of being played in dance bands throughout Iowa and into Nebraska and possibly more. The friends father purchased it and used it for similar types of playing. My friend inherited the horn and continued to play it until he was told it was beyond repair - the bell is too thin to repair or refinish. I cannot confirm that information and want to have the horn checked out by a reputable local tech. The serial number on the silver horn is 256169.

Nice to see you here, Trav1s (Luther avatar and all). I think Merlin Grady is in Iowa. He was listed on the Best Techs thread on TTF. Good luck with the silver 8-10.

Hi Bruce,

I figured the avatar would be a hint I made it over to the new board. It is good to be active in the trombone world again after some time off. ITF Iowa City gave me some renewed inspiration. Nothing like a Doug Elliot mouthpiece fitting to free me up my playing.

Merlin is about 45 north and Lee Stofer is 75 miles due east so I have resources handy. It is simply making the time to drive up and have Merlin look at them both. I am pretty sure a side setup will help the lacquer horn as I found several significant dents in the inner and outer slide as I cleaned it up. It does not play too bad as it is.

I need to figure out how to post pics on the new forum so I can share pics of both horns.

There was an informative set of posts by Stewbones on TTF this year, including a post which explained how some of the Besson and B&H trombones were linked. Here is the link in case you had not seen it.

And best of luck with the Bessons.

For those of us (definitely me) that are not familiar with this instrument can you share the bore size and bell size? Congrats on your purchase. I love it when I see people purchase a horn and they really like it. That's not always the case.

Bore is .4874” and the lacquer horn has 7.75” bell

I have an 8-10 that was given to me by a friend. It is a silver one that was a gift. It cleaned up beautifully and actually is a pretty good player. The slide has some plating loss. Is there another non-Besson 8-10 slide that would fit the bell?? THanks

Spent some time with this horn and tried two different mouthpieces that I have in my possession - Kanstul 12C and Faxx 6.5AL.

I thought the 12C would be a good fit with the small bore of the 8-10 but found the entire combo frustrating. After playing around for about 10 minutes last week I put it back in the case.

Last night I grabbed the 6.5AL and I pleasantly surprised with the combination. Entirely different experience than the 12C and I think it could be a really fun jazz combo/big band horn with some slide work.

Bumping this to the top. I set the slide up with Yamaha lube and it works surprisingly well. (Also, the DE combo for the 79H works surprisingly well on this horn.) With a slide set-up and some dent work this would be a great lead horn for someone who likes smaller bore horns. After more time with it, I find myself settling in on the .500" and .525" Conns so I am going to pass this onto someone who will appreciate this. Ad going up later today.

walldaja wrote: ↑Sat Aug 04, 2018 4:38 pm It is an intermediate level horn with a great lineage. They are rare because sometime after thr 1970s the factory burned and wasn't replaced. They produced the models 2-10, the 8-10, and the 10-10. That makes the horn about 50 years or older and not replaceable. Is yours in silver or brass, my 10-10 was silver.

There was never a fire at the factory. The factory at Edgware (where I was born and lived) made some interesting stuff. Always top craftsmanship. The '8-10' has a fat bell-throat, thus giving it a broad sound .

Is the 8-10 comparable to the 35? Except for the inner slide with was silver plated and not chromed, it's a very good quality horn with a fat sound for such a small bore, I really love mine

Windmill wrote: ↑Sun Mar 07, 2021 1:02 pm Is the 8-10 comparable to the 35? Except for the inner slide with was silver plated and not chromed, it's a very good quality horn with a fat sound for such a small bore, I really love mine

8-10 is intermediate level, 0.487in bore 7.75in bell comparable to B&H Emperor/Besson Stratford.

2-20 is a student model. 0.487in bore 7.25in bell comparable to Regent, Westminster,35 and some others.

Stewbones43

I have a slightly-off topic question that perhaps someone posting on this thread may be able to help with:

What was the spec of the B&H Imperial 40-40? Is it similar to a 10-10? I have one which at some point was converted into a hackbutt. I noticed it is stamped with 520 which could possibly refer to 0.520“ bore size? It could also just be an ID to match the parts of this example. As for bell size... can‘t say...half of it has been chopped off.

I think the 4040 was a code for the small bore trombones-0.487in bore and 7.25in bell, so it is smaller than the 10-10

The Imperial was the pro model at the time but these instruments were made mainly for the military and brass bands in the UK and its Commonwealth countries.

The 520 is a mystery. Where abouts on the instrument is it marked?

Cheers

Stewbones43

stewbones43 wrote: ↑Mon Mar 08, 2021 3:24 pm I think the 4040 was a code for the small bore trombones-0.487in bore and 7.25in bell, so it is smaller than the 10-10

The Imperial was the pro model at the time but these instruments were made mainly for the military and brass bands in the UK and its Commonwealth countries.

The 520 is a mystery. Where abouts on the instrument is it marked?

Cheers

Stewbones43

Thanks for the Info, it‘s stamped on the slide receiver and on the tuning slide.