The company was founded by Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher (born Elk Township, Noble County, Ohio 26 April 1861; died Elkhart, Indiana 29 November 1937).

In the fall of 1893 he opened the Buescher Manufacturing Company at 1119 N. Main Street, which made band instruments and other metal products, in partnership with John L. Collins, a clothing merchant, and Harry L. Young, a salesman.

In 1916 Buescher sold a major share of his company to six businessmen including Andrew Hubble Beardsley.

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.

The "Elkhart" brand was retained by Buescher for its second-line instruments after the company was dissolved upon Beardsley's death in 1936.

Buescher stayed true to Adolphe Sax's concept for saxophone sound into the early 1930s, gaining the favor of classical saxophonist Sigurd Rascher and those influenced by him.

The Aristocrat and 400 models remained popular with professional players through the early 1950s, until instruments with more modern keywork gained favor, and changes to Buescher's product line were coldly received.

During the 1970s, the market position of the Buescher Aristocrat/Selmer Bundy model declined under competition from Yamaha's more up-to-date and more efficiently produced student instruments.