B&S History


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Posted by Rick Denney on February 04, 2004 at 16:03:07:

Okay, you guys know full well that I cannot tolerate owning an instrument without knowing the history behind it.

I know that Klaus can remind us what B&S stands for. But what are the roots of the marque? I seem to recall that Klaus has described that in the past, too, but I've been unable to unearth it out of the archives. The VMI/B&S website is no help.

What year did Mssr's Tucci and Perantoni start their association with B&S? 1984 comes to mind. Bloke tells us (in the archives) that his pre-PT B&S dates from 1982, and another poster in the past announced the sale of a Perantucci-ized F tuba dating from 1984. That's also about the time I started seeing Mike Sanders with his in San Antonio.

Does anyone know the dates of B&S Symphonie F tubas with the fifth valve paddle on the back left, to be operated by the left thumb? Or when they used (or stopped using) clock-spring linkage springs? Or when they stopped installing the wide bell garland (which is what mine has)? Or when they started putting the little oval plastic label on the tuning-slide brace?

When did B&S first introduce the graduated-bore F tuba? This seems quite innovative for an GDR company in the days when innovation was not usually part of central economic planning. When did B&S become part of VMI? I'm assuming that happened as a result of unification.

If there's no one source, maybe folks knowing their date of manufacturer can identify the features of their own instruments, and we can piece it together.

Rick "who hopes this isn't any more boring than some other topics" Denney


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