Posted by Klaus on June 19, 2001 at 12:37:15:
In Reply to: does anyone know about TRIUMPHONIC TUBA' posted by dennis on June 19, 2001 at 12:03:31:
Never owned a SA made instrument myself, but they have been in my environment.
The SA Bandmaster cornet had a very good name in the brass band I played in in the late sixties. The 3 first solocornets were equipped with the last 3 specimens, that came to Denmark before the SA folded its brass instruments production.
When I, on my Imperial baritone, with another Danish band took part in the European Brass Championships in Royal Albert of London in 1978, I took the chance to consult a brass repair shop, which had been recommended to me.
A quite small outfit, but the lone repairman happened to be the last shopmanager/controller/overseer of the SA productions.
Had I back then had an idea, that I would end up as a brass collecting freak, I would have taken some notes of our conversation. His main point was that the musical quality of production varied wildly from model to model because an inconsistent level of design.
I think I vaguely remember the cornets, alto (tenor in the UK) horns, and euphs being very good, and the baritones and the flugel horns being disasters.
Nothing remebered about the tubas, but for the vision of the BBb basses used in the huge (60+ members) and very good British SA band visiting my teenhood town of Holbęk. Virtually all players worked at the Vauxhall motor company, which had sponsored the tour.
Those BBb basses resembled the older Besson designs in so far, that they had the large branches running in the front level with the valves somehow burried in the background.
To my knowledge, and there I feel myself quite positive and sure, the SA stamped instruments were all made on the SA production facility.
Klaus