- Buescher Band Instrument Company
The Buescher Band Instrument Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments in
Elkhart, Indiana .History
The company was founded by Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher (born Elk Township,
Noble County, Ohio 26 April 1861 ; diedElkhart, Indiana 29 November 1937 ). He accompanied his family toGoshen, Indiana and then to Elkhart in 1875. In 1876 he found employment withC.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 theBuescher Manufacturing Company which made band instruments and other metal products, in partnership withJohn L. Collins , a clothing merchant, andHarry L. Young , a salesman. In March of 1901 he patented acornet 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 until21 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'sCarl 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 someflute s andclarinet s between 1910 and 1920, theSaxonette (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 theAlbert system , and later with theBoehm System system. Similar instruments were also produced by Gretsch and Supertone, although these could be stencils of the Buescher.Instrument models
French Horns
*,, Double French Horn 400
=Clarinets= Buescher "Aristocrat" Bb clarinet
Trumpets
*Buescher Bb Truetone (Professional), Mostly made with a 9 which is the New England model, Aristocrat Bb below Buescher's professional true-tone model, Which became a student horn after 1963.
Trombones
*Buescher Grand (silverplated with goldplated bell engraving)
Buescher/Aristocrat Clarinet model #91674
Flutes
*"Buescher 400"
axophones
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)
Bassoons
???(model number unknown)
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)
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