• There is no serial number chart extant for Couesnon. I do, however, find it difficult to believe that they produced saxophones after 1980, as their construction is far inferior to the Buffet SuperDynaction 'transitional' models or S1, the Dolnet M70 or the Selmer Mark VII/S80.
• Here is a vintage Couesnon flugelhorn. The quintessential jazz horn. French made, serial number 56532. This particular horn was professionally repaired with a couple of dents repaired and the #2 valve cap replaced. The cap used is not an original Couesnon but functions as it should and does not affect the play of the instrument.

Q: Whatever happened toCouesnon?

Free Serial Numbers

Couesnon is one of the great names in brass instruments, inbusiness over 170 years. It grew to include eight factoriesemploying, at one time, over 1800 people in France. In the USA in the1950s, the Couesnon flugelhorn became very popular as a doublinginstrument for jazz trumpet artists. Their flugelhorn sounded great,was readily available, and was cheap. They were everywhere. Itsdesign is copied by the overwhelming majority of instrument makerswho now make and market flugelhorns.

Related: couesnon flugelhorn flugelhorn cornet couesnon cornet couesnon trumpet couesnon sax courtois selmer trumpet couesnon clarinet french trumpet dolnet Refine more Format.

Why is it, then, that one can no longer buy such a popularinstrument?

A:

Actually, you can. Here's the story.

The Couesnon company was started in 1827, in ChâteauThierry, a small city on the Marne River, 50 miles east of Paris, anarea traditionally associated with the making of brass instruments,according to Richard Dundas, in his book, Twentieth Century BrassMusical Instruments in the Twentieth Century (third edition). Thecompany was purchased by the Couesnon family in 1883 and already hadan outstanding reputation as a maker of fine instruments. Theproduction included percussion, woodwinds (including double reeds),small and large brasses, and military bugles. Under the personaldirection of Amedee Couesnon for 48 years, the company won manymedals and awards for quality production and technical innovation.

They made many horns which were imported into the United States,including many that were sold under the names of music stores andother private labels.

By 1911, Couesnon had expanded to eleven factories and more than1000 workers, meeting the needs of many performing groups andmilitary bands. During this time the products were highly soughtafter and were played by many of the virtuosos at the time. To get asense of this, take a look at theCouesnon1915 Catalog. Although they made virtually any musicalinstrument, during the 1930s they began catering to 'Fanfare bands'(marching brass bands very popular at the time), and gradually becamealmost the only supplier of marching brass instruments in France. Atthis same time, prior to the war, the Couesnon trumpet factory inParis was located right next door to the F. Besson trumpet factory,where the premiere trumpets prior to World War II were made.Curiously, the Couesnon trumpets of the time look virtually identicalto the F. Besson models.

Couesnon Flugelhorn Serial Numbers Lookup

At the end of World War II, the music business started to change,but Couesnon continued to deal primarily with the special needs andinstruments of brass and military bands. The C/Bb trumpet marketbecame dominated by Selmer, Courtois, LeBlanc in France and even thelarger American manufacturers. The public continued to associateCouesnon with the brass band; not the orchestral or jazz band.Starting in the 60 's and during the next 20 years, Couesnon tried toexpand its share in markets other than fanfare bands. They made aline called 'Monopole Conservatoire' higher quality instruments,trying to gain more customers in conservatory (music students). Forexample, they employed Mr Bernard Soustrot (first prize in the 1976Maurice André Competition in Paris) to try all the piccolostrumpets made in the workshop and to give his 'blessing' to these newinstruments. Unfortunately, these efforts proved ultimatelyineffective, and their traditional market continued to decrease inpopularity to the point that brass bands have almost all disappearedin France. According to Richard Dundas, sixty percent of theproduction was exported throughout the world with as much thirtypercent sold in the United States. However, as sales declined, theprofits dwindled and the losses mounted. Factories were sold off andin 1969 the main factory in Château Thierry was badly damagedby fire, destroying the archives. In 1978, the contract with Gretchto import Couesnon instruments to the United States was terminatedand new Couesnon instruments have been very rare in the US since thattime.

The fire resulted in loss of all the company records, includingthose which would make it possible to determine the year ofmanufacture from the serial number. This question arises all the timeand there appears simply to be no information available. I've triedover a number of years to see if anybody in the US or France has thisinformation, or any key to the odd numbers that are found stamped allover some Couesnon instruments. There seems to be no key or patternto them. And worse yet, so very few Couesnon instruments are in thehands of the original owners that attempting to establish a data baseof serial numbers and date of manufacture (as has been successfullydone with Benge trumpets) is impossible.For a while one major retailer of used instruments used to attachdates of manufacture on the Couesnons they were selling based on theserial numbers. I inquired as to where they were getting thatinformation (only wishing to provide web space for it), they answeredvaguely and then discontinued the practice entirely withoutexplanation. Sorry about that.

Here, however, might be some good news: Steve H., a correspondentwho has purchased several Couesnons, writes:

A customer in France who deals in vintage hornsgave me this info which seems to work, judging by condition andstyling of various examples. In the 'grenade,' the circle with flamecoming out of the top [editor's note: some people think that it's'the pineapple,' pictured nearby, and they only appear on someinstruments], below the word PARIS is a number which indicates theyear of manufacture, 6 would mean 1906, 24 would mean 1924, 65 means1965 and so forth.

So, everybody take a look. Matching the estimated age of yourCouesnon with the number described, If you think it might be possiblethat it is the date of manufacture, pleaselet me know.

Althoughtoday the company has only 25 employees working in its sole shop inChâteau Thierry, Couesnon is still in business. In 1999, theFrench drum maker P.G.M. bought the name, the tooling, and thefactory to give it new life. The company is now known as P.G.M.Cousenon. Their most popular products are hunting horns and tambourdrums mainly for the French market. Unfortunately all the mandrelsand tooling needed for the making of C, Bb and piccolo trumpets hadbeen stolen, so the workshop is making only brass band instruments,such as the flugelhorn ('bugle' in French), cornet, tuba, a trueFrench French horn, with piston valves and extended stems for lefthand operation, hunting horns, and a natural trumpet (Jeanne of Arcmodel) and of course military bugles ('clarion' in French) includingbass bugles, cavalry trumpets and so forth. Many of these instrumentshave unique designs. As the instruments are hand made in very smallquantities, the quality, I am told, is exceptional.

The company is now a very small family owned business whoseownership is found in the company's name, P.G.M.

P comes from the family name Planson, the ownerof the drum company who bought Couesnon in 1999. Both mother andfather work at the company, mother in the office and father in theproduction. They have two daughters Sophie and Isabelle who actuallyown the company today.

G comes from Sophie's married name which is Glace. She runsthe company now, and her husband Stephan Glace works as productionmanager.

Couesnon Flugelhorn Serial Numbers Chart

M comes from Isabelle's married name which is Moret. She isa sewer and makes instrument bags. Her husband does not work at thecompany.

The company is all situated in one building, containing office,manufacturing, storage, and lacquering. Only silverplating and casemaking are done elsewhere. Production facilities are old-fashionedand the employees are skilled hand craftsmen, somewhat similar toSchilke--no computer controlled devices and just a littleelectromechanical machinery. All of the Couesnon instruments are tobe regarded as handmade. Strangely enough nobody at the factory couldplay, at least not a flugelhorn, and professionals musicians werecalled in for the final testing.

They make three flugelhorn models, to wit:

• 137 Tradition, which is the small one (2003 price 1031 Euro, in lacquered version which is standard),
• 142 Monopole (1721 Euro) and a 142 CR (Cuivre Rose) which has rose brass bell (1892 Euro).
• 144 which is the 4 valve version (1804 Euro).

I've heard rumors of an all copper version and silverplating isavailable on request for all models except the 142 CR.

Production of flugelhorns is about 50-60 a year, and except from afew sold in France, most are sold to Japan. Because the production isso small, they are not found in large quantities in music stores,even in France. There are no distributors. Thus, the only way toacquire a new Couesnon instrument is to order directly from thefactory.The company struggles and its marketing efforts are from thesame age as the tooling. They don't have a web-site, they don't havee-mail, they don't take credit cards, and they don't seem to have adistribution network. Communications and transportation to ChateauThierry is poor . There are only a few trains to/from Paris, and nobuses. No brochure could be found anywhere in Paris, only in theiroffice.

Couesnon can be reached by phone at 0323835675 (Sophie Glace, whoanswers the phone, speaks pretty good English), and by fax 0323836797(responses are somewhat slow in coming).

Serial Numbers Nero

In January 2005, PGM-Couesnon slipped quietly into the computerage, launching their ownwebsite. It isvisible in both French and English.

I'm indebted toJean-MichelSouche, a young French trumpetplayer and teacher who was able to research and tell me much of theinformation about the current status of the company and its products.I am also grateful for OlafBrattegaard of Oslo, Norway, who visited the company in February2003 and reported to me much additional and more current information.Feel free to contact Mssr. Souche if you are interested in any ofthese products or Mr. Brattegaard if you have more questions. For the1915 Couesnon catalog link, I'm grateful to Jean Monange.

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