Cundy Bettoney Bassoon, French System, Vintage, Beautiful For Sale

This bassoon has been identified by an acknowledged French bassoon expert asa Cundy Bettoney French Key System bassoon, most likely made in their Bostonfactory sometime between 1918 and the mid-1930s. I was unable to find any manufacturer name,serial/model number, date or other markings on the instrument; however, itappears to be totally identical to photos I’ve seen of several C-B bassoons.

I have read that around 90-some years ago Fred Bettoney, son of the founder of thecompany, played second bassoon in the Boston Symphony, and that the patternused in the Cundy manufacture of their bassoons was the Buffet instrument belonging to Abdon Laus,who was the first bassoon at that time. AbdonLaus is credited as the bassoonist who played the difficult high note openingin Stravinsky\'s Rite of Spring premiere in Paris, May 29,1913.

The wood in this bassoon maple and the surface may have been refinished earlier in its life. The instrument has nickel-silver keys andmounts. Measurements (done with a non calibrated meter stick): wing joint 470 mm; butt joint 436 mm; longjoint 498 mm; bell joint 391 mm; total height 1325 mm.

THE STORY OF THIS INSTRUMENT IS EXTRAORDINARY! Friday, October 17, 2014 marked the firsttime in perhaps 65-75 years that this instrument was played. Here’s “the restof the story.”

I, the owner of this instrument, was a school band directorin East Central Illinois in the 1960s. Ifound this bassoon in 1963 in a locked attic of a very old school building, andsubsequently acquired it from the school district. The original case was broken and ugly so I tossed it out. My intent then was to restore the instrumentto its original beauty.

The first thing I did was to remove all the keys, have thempolished and re-padded with high quality tan kid leather pads. Regrettably, that was as far as I got back then. I wrapped the keys, wood joints and bocal inpadding and stored it away in a cardboardbox. Somehow, 51 years slipped by untila month ago when I “re-found” the bassoon and decided that I better completethe restoration while I’m still 6 feet above.

I realized immediately that this was not a German HeckelSystem bassoon, but one like I had never seen before. I sent photos to a number of professionalbassoonists, and only one was able to easily identify it as a Cundy Bettoney FrenchSystem bassoon.

Though I was a brass playing band director, I’ve had plentyof woodwind instrument repair experience so I reassembled the bassoon. A professional wind instrument repairtechnician re-corked all of the tenon joints & the bocal, replaced many bumpercorks, adjusted pad heights and leveled & re-seated the pads. Unfortunately, neither of us had the necessary abilityto play test it.

Through a friend, I was able to arrange a special meeting on 10-17-2014 with a bassoonist in the Minnesota Orchestra.While this kind fellow was able to produce bassoon sounds from theinstrument—the first in perhaps 65-75 years!—he acknowledged that theinstrument does not play easily due to a number of small leaks. He said that these will need to be taken care of beforethis instrument again plays well.Consequently, I need to make it clear that this bassoon is not noweasily playable, but should be able to be made playable by someone with thetime and expertise to do so.

Concerning the bocal, not knowing otherwise, I assume that it is the one that came with the instrument originally. The second from last photo above shows the whisper key vent hole.

One small fault is visible in the 3rd from last photo. The upper tenon of the long joint is missing a small part of the wood measuring approximately 18 mm wide x 6 mm depth.

The starting offer is predicated on the fact thatI have spent nearly $400 and many hours restoring this bassoon. A case is not included, but I have been told that a ProTecbassoon case, if “re-blocked” for this bassoon, is a good and economical choice.

This listing states, “Returns Accepted.” A return will be accepted on this basis only: I warrant that my description above is accurate and that no significant information about this instrument is being withheld. If the buyer finds within fourteen days that this bassoon has not been accurately described above, I promise to refund the full purchaseprice to the buyer if appropriately notified, and if the instrument is returned to me prepaid in a not lesser playing and/or cosmetic condition than when received.