Besson 10-10 Mystery

[Logan]

Hey everyone,

Been hunting down a Besson 10-10 for a while, never played one but was curious about them more than anything. Finally picked 2 up within a week of each other.

Oddly enough, one doesn’t have any serial number on it - curious if anyone has any ideas of what may have happened.

I’ve looked at a bunch of serial sheets, there are gaps etc. but thought this was interesting.

Thanks!
Logan

[stewbones43]

Hope you are enjoying your 10-10s. I have one which has had an aftermarket F section added and I use it mostly for 3rd chair in big band music, sometimes it goes below E natural and often the trigger makes life much easier at the bottom of the stave.
As for your missing serial number, that is a mystery. It usually works the other way round i.e. the instrument has a serial number but the work books don't, there is a gap in the number sequence and the instrument is somewhere in the middle. The work books are held in the Horniman Museum and Library in SE London along with the old Boosey & Hawkes instrument collection, moved there when the Edgeware Road factory closed.
Do both instruments have the same engraving on the bell?
Photographs might be useful.

Cheers

Stewbones43

[Logan]

For sure - here’s two:

Brass is the bell with no serial

https://flic.kr/ps/445NMc

[walldaja]

Good find! I looked for decades and finally found one. I played a silver one in high school (67-69) and loved it. Way underrated in the US.

[Logan]

Good find! I looked for decades and finally found one. I played a silver one in high school (67-69) and loved it. Way underrated in the US.

Yeah super pumped - I’d been waiting for one to pop up for a long time. Naturally two did within a week of each other. One for 300 and one for 150. Both need some minor dent work and cleaning, real excited to get them back from the shop.

[stewbones43]

Thanks for the photographs, unfortunately they do not shed any light on the missing serial number.
My 10-10 from 1958 has the same engraving as your 2 and its serial number is in the normal place for B&H/Besson trombones of that era, i.e. on the underside of the bell spout, just in front of the first bell brace. I don't know of any other place used by the makers in the past 70 years or so.
The only suggestion I can come up with is that, at some point in time, the original bell was replaced by a new one of the correct pattern and engraving but without a serial number. This is only conjecture and regrettably cannot be proven or disproven!
Still, you have 2 nice trombones to enjoy.

Cheers

Stewbones43