Posted by Andrew on October 28, 2000 at 12:34:31:
In Reply to: Besson Souv. Bb posted by Erik van Wensen on October 28, 2000 at 07:11:23:
The basic design (a follow-on from the decades-old B&H Imperial) has been around since the beginning of the century and generations of bandsmen have put up with their decidedly unsatisfactory characteristics because there just wasn't anything else available in the UK until quite recently.
John Fletcher has written a lot about the "Bubble-B" as he always called it.....his theory was that the compensating system was probably the root cause of the "bubbliness" and stuffiness.. They are notoriously unpredictable....no matter how carefully (or how brazenly) you approach any note or passage you can NEVER be confident of what will come out! They are literally treacherous. I've played quite a few....in the brass band context mostly. They are incomparably inferior to the EEb range. However DO try a few...you may be lucky and pick one that actually works!