Buescher Band Instrument Company
Encyclopedia
The Buescher Band Instrument Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments in Elkhart, Indiana
.
26 April 1861; died Elkhart, Indiana
29 November 1937). He accompanied his family to Goshen, Indiana
and then to Elkhart in 1875. In 1876 he found employment with C.G. Conn's fledgling band instrument factory, and in 1888 he was promoted to foreman. In 1890 while still employed with Conn, he began producing band emblems at home and was setting up his own shop. In the fall of 1894 he opened the Buescher Manufacturing Company at 1119 N. Main Street which made band instruments and other metal products, in partnership with John L. Collins, a clothing merchant, and Harry L. Young, a salesman. In March 1901 he patented a cornet
unusual in that the valves were of unequal lengths.
In 1903 there was a disastrous bank crash which affected Buescher's factory and a number of other local businesses. In 1904 the business was reorganized and renamed the Buescher Band Instrument Company. After the reorganization, the company limited itself to producing band instruments. In 1916 Buescher sold a major share of his company to six businessmen including Andrew Hubble Beardsley. Buescher remained president until 1919 when Beardsley assumed that title. Buescher was vice-president and general manager of the company until 21 January 1929 when he resigned these positions, remaining on staff as a consultant engineer.
In 1926 Buescher Band Instrument Company was joined with the Elkhart Band Instrument Company
(some claim that Buescher was bought by Elkhart Band Instrument), a company founded two years previously by Beardsley with Conn's Carl Greenleaf as secretary-treasurer. In 1963 Buescher was sold to H. and A. Selmer
. After the sale Selmer restricted the use of the Buescher trademark to selected products, and rebranded some instruments with other names. The quality level of the Buescher horns gradually decreased after the Selmer buyout as Selmer USA began to concentrate on the student horn market.
Though Buescher manufactured many kinds of brass instruments, the company was known primarily for its saxophone
s which competed successfully with Conn and Martin
. It is believed that Buescher was the first company to produce them in America. It also produced some flute
s and clarinet
s between 1910 and 1920, the Saxonette
(also known as the "clariphon" and the "claribel"), a clarinet with a curved metal barrel and a curved metal bell pitched
in A, B♭, C or E♭. They were produced with the Albert system
, and later with the Boehm System
. Similar instruments were also produced by Gretsch and Supertone, although these could be stencils of the Buescher.
Buescher True Tone Clarinets (possibly Penzel Mueller stencils)
Buescher 400 clarinets (Selmer era)
Buescher "Aristocrat" Bb clarinet (Selmer era)
The Aristocrat was a Truetone professional trumpet previous to the Selmer buy out and became a student horn after 1963. It was a step down from the Truetone.
After the traditional Truetone trumpets were the Buescher 400 Truetone. These are more modern sounding and good for big band jazz. There were three models. Brass with nickel, Silver plate, and silver plate with sterling silver bell called Super 400.
(1905–1932)
The New Aristocrat (1932–1934)
split bell keys, black rollers, "The New Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat I (1934–1941)
left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, "The Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat "Big B" (1941–1955)
Professional model, left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, large "B" plus "The Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat II (1951–1959)
left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, "Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Buescher 400 "Top hat & cane" model (1941–1959)
Professional model, large bell, silver ring around bell opening, bell keys behind bell, yellow or tan rollers, great engraving with castle and top hat, "Buescher 400" in silver on bell.
Aristocrat III (1959–1963)
large bell, bell keys behind bell, yellow or tan rollers, "Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Buescher 200 (1964 - later)
Buescher 400 (1964 - later)
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
.
History
The company was founded by Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher (born Elk Township, Noble County, OhioNoble County, Ohio
Noble County is a county located in the state of Ohio. As of the 2010 census, the population was 14,645. Its county seat is Caldwell. Noble County is named for Rep. Warren P. Noble of the Ohio House of Representatives, who was an early settler there.-History:...
26 April 1861; died Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart, Indiana
Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...
29 November 1937). He accompanied his family to Goshen, Indiana
Goshen, Indiana
Goshen is a city in and the county seat of Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. It is the smaller of the two principal cities of the Elkhart-Goshen Metropolitan Statistical Area, which in turn is part of the South Bend-Elkhart-Mishawaka Combined Statistical Area. It is located in the northern...
and then to Elkhart in 1875. In 1876 he found employment with C.G. Conn's fledgling band instrument factory, and in 1888 he was promoted to foreman. In 1890 while still employed with Conn, he began producing band emblems at home and was setting up his own shop. In the fall of 1894 he opened the Buescher Manufacturing Company at 1119 N. Main Street which made band instruments and other metal products, in partnership with John L. Collins, a clothing merchant, and Harry L. Young, a salesman. In March 1901 he patented a cornet
Cornet
The cornet is a brass instrument very similar to the trumpet, distinguished by its conical bore, compact shape, and mellower tone quality. The most common cornet is a transposing instrument in B. It is not related to the renaissance and early baroque cornett or cornetto.-History:The cornet was...
unusual in that the valves were of unequal lengths.
In 1903 there was a disastrous bank crash which affected Buescher's factory and a number of other local businesses. In 1904 the business was reorganized and renamed the Buescher Band Instrument Company. After the reorganization, the company limited itself to producing band instruments. In 1916 Buescher sold a major share of his company to six businessmen including Andrew Hubble Beardsley. Buescher remained president until 1919 when Beardsley assumed that title. Buescher was vice-president and general manager of the company until 21 January 1929 when he resigned these positions, remaining on staff as a consultant engineer.
In 1926 Buescher Band Instrument Company was joined with the Elkhart Band Instrument Company
Elkhart Band Instrument Company
Elkhart Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer in Elkhart, Indiana.-History:The company was founded in 1923 by Andrew Hubble Beardsley who was the president of Buescher Band Instrument Company, and Carl Dimond Greenleaf , president of C. G...
(some claim that Buescher was bought by Elkhart Band Instrument), a company founded two years previously by Beardsley with Conn's Carl Greenleaf as secretary-treasurer. In 1963 Buescher was sold to H. and A. Selmer
The Selmer Company
Henri Selmer Paris company is a French family-owned enterprise, manufacturer of musical instruments based in Paris, France in 1885. It is known for its high-quality woodwind and brass instruments, especially saxophones, clarinets and trumpets...
. After the sale Selmer restricted the use of the Buescher trademark to selected products, and rebranded some instruments with other names. The quality level of the Buescher horns gradually decreased after the Selmer buyout as Selmer USA began to concentrate on the student horn market.
Though Buescher manufactured many kinds of brass instruments, the company was known primarily for its saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
s which competed successfully with Conn and Martin
Martin Band Instrument Company
The Martin Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer in Elkhart, Indiana.-John Henry Martin and the first Martin company:This company was actually the reappearance of a previous company. John Henry Martin The Martin Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer...
. It is believed that Buescher was the first company to produce them in America. It also produced some flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
s and clarinet
Clarinet
The clarinet is a musical instrument of woodwind type. The name derives from adding the suffix -et to the Italian word clarino , as the first clarinets had a strident tone similar to that of a trumpet. The instrument has an approximately cylindrical bore, and uses a single reed...
s between 1910 and 1920, the Saxonette
Saxonette
A saxonette is a soprano clarinet in C, A, or B that has both a curved barrel and an upturned bell, both usually made of metal. It has the approximate overall shape of a saxophone, but unlike that instrument it has a cylindrical bore and overblows by a twelfth...
(also known as the "clariphon" and the "claribel"), a clarinet with a curved metal barrel and a curved metal bell pitched
Pitch (music)
Pitch is an auditory perceptual property that allows the ordering of sounds on a frequency-related scale.Pitches are compared as "higher" and "lower" in the sense associated with musical melodies,...
in A, B♭, C or E♭. They were produced with the Albert system
Albert system
The Albert system refers to a system of clarinet keywork and fingering developed by Eugène Albert. In the United Kingdom it is known as the simple system. It has been largely replaced by the Boehm system ....
, and later with the Boehm System
Boehm System
The Boehm system is a system of keywork for the flute, created by inventor and flautist Theobald Boehm between 1831 and 1847.Prior to the development of the Boehm system, flutes were most commonly made of wood, with an inverse conical bore, eight keys, and tone holes that were small in size, and...
. Similar instruments were also produced by Gretsch and Supertone, although these could be stencils of the Buescher.
French Horns
- Single French Horn. Buescher produced a single French horn in F, with a serial # range including 259090
- Double French Horn 400
Clarinets
Buescher oval logo HR, wooden and metal clarinets in Albert and Boehm systemsBuescher True Tone Clarinets (possibly Penzel Mueller stencils)
Buescher 400 clarinets (Selmer era)
Buescher "Aristocrat" Bb clarinet (Selmer era)
Trumpets
- Buescher Bb Truetone (Professional), There were a wide variety of Truetone models many custom made for the professional musician. Louis Armstrong recorded with a Buescher Truetone 10-22R Trumpet in the late 1920s.
The Aristocrat was a Truetone professional trumpet previous to the Selmer buy out and became a student horn after 1963. It was a step down from the Truetone.
After the traditional Truetone trumpets were the Buescher 400 Truetone. These are more modern sounding and good for big band jazz. There were three models. Brass with nickel, Silver plate, and silver plate with sterling silver bell called Super 400.
Trombones
- Buescher Grand (silverplated with goldplated bell engraving)
- Buescher 400 (Early models had slanted braces on bell section and offset slide tubes with the upper slide tube roughly 2" behind the lower. Later models had straight braces).500 bore
Tubas
- Buescher silver-plated military band-style upright three-valve Bb flat
- Buescherphones (tradename for sousaphones)
Saxophones
Buescher True Tone SaxophonesBuescher True Tone Saxophones
"True Tone" was the brand name of the first line of saxophones produced by the Buescher Band Instrument Company between 1905 and 1932. The name was stamped into the back of the instrument below the thumb rest, combined with a stylised tuning fork logo. The instruments were made in the company's...
(1905–1932)
The New Aristocrat (1932–1934)
split bell keys, black rollers, "The New Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat I (1934–1941)
left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, "The Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat "Big B" (1941–1955)
Professional model, left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, large "B" plus "The Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Aristocrat II (1951–1959)
left sided bell keys, yellow or tan rollers, "Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Buescher 400 "Top hat & cane" model (1941–1959)
Professional model, large bell, silver ring around bell opening, bell keys behind bell, yellow or tan rollers, great engraving with castle and top hat, "Buescher 400" in silver on bell.
Aristocrat III (1959–1963)
large bell, bell keys behind bell, yellow or tan rollers, "Buescher Aristocrat" engraving
Buescher 200 (1964 - later)
Buescher 400 (1964 - later)
Sources
- New Grove Music Dictionary ("Buescher")
- McMakin, Dean "Musical Instrument Manufacturing in Elkhart, Indiana" (unpublished typescript, 1987, available at Elkhart Public Library)
- The Elkhart Truth, 29 November 1937, obituary of Ferdinand August Buescher
- Elkhart city directories (available Elkhart Public Library)
See also
- C. G. ConnC. G. ConnC.G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, was a United States manufacturer of musical instruments, especially brass instruments. In 1985 their Strobotuner division was bought by Peterson Electro-Musical Products, who continue to service their line of products.Assets...
- Martin Band Instrument CompanyMartin Band Instrument CompanyThe Martin Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer in Elkhart, Indiana.-John Henry Martin and the first Martin company:This company was actually the reappearance of a previous company. John Henry Martin The Martin Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer...
- Horn-U-Copia page on Buescher Band Instruments