Besson Fabrication #88306 .445 bore

Circa 1935 This horn was in very rough shape when I got it but I like how it came together. Although it is a small bore version of this horn it plays bigger than one would expect. Thanks to Besson authority Niles Eldredge I can share the info with you. "Two concerns were importing Besson trumpets to NY in the 1930s--both without the Besson name, as it was illegal to import Bessons from France then (because the English branch kept anglophone export rights when they bought out the French family in 1895-1896). Both said only "Fabrication Francaise Perfectionée". One was the Leisch boys (Oscar, predominantly), who brought in what would have been a normal "Grands Prix" trumpet, set up with third slide tuning--with the throw ring below and the stop rod on top; (this is the ax that Bach copied, but with the ring on top--the stop rod on the bottom) (Besson thought you shouldn't have your left hand in contact with the bell--so they set it up lower). The other was Joseph Rapuano--who brought