Buescher Band Instrument Company

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The Buescher Band Instrument Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments in Elkhart, Indiana.

Contents

[edit] History

The company was founded by Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher (born Elk Township, Noble County, Ohio 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 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 of 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 saxophones 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 flutes and clarinets 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 system. Similar instruments were also produced by Gretsch and Supertone, although these could be stencils of the Buescher.

[edit] Instrument models

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[edit] French Horns

  • ,, Double French Horn 400

Clarinets

Buescher "Aristocrat" Bb clarinet

[edit] Trumpets

  • Buescher Bb Trumpet

[edit] Trombones

  • Buescher Grand (silverplated with goldplated bell engraving)

Buescher/Aristocrat Clarinet model #91674

[edit] Flutes

  • Buescher 400

[edit] Saxophones

Buescher True Tone Saxophones (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)

[edit] 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 F.A. Buescher
  • Elkhart city directories (available Elkhart Public Library)