It has a seam as seen in all original early Besson trumpets, but the same is true of Benge mouthpipes made in Chicago. The braces between the bell and mouthpipe and first slide hook are definitely Benge parts. I can see that some of the parts are not original, but not all are obvious.
I have no way of knowing if the heavy polishing was done at the Benge shop in 1970 or previous to Mr. Most modern trumpets were originally copied from the French Besson and were manufactured from about 1885.īush This trumpet has been so heavily polished that the bell stamp needed to be engraved over to make it more legible, making it look almost as if it is a counterfeit.Ĭlose examination does show that the original stamped lettering is there. Lou Duda, the foreman of the Benge factory and outstanding trumpet craftsman, painstakingly reassembled the trumpet and presented it to Irving Bush. The instrument was disassembled in Mr Benges trumpet studio in Chicago, Illinois.
Ive included a scan of Irvs story of this trumpet on his personal stationary below, but here is what it says: SeptemTo whom it may concern: The French Besson Bb trumpet, serial number 85419 is the instrument played by Elden Benge, the first trumpet with the Chicago Symphony under the direction of Frederick Stock.
