Vintage Saxophones pre WWII

This guide will not attempt to be geplete, but will focus on a few
important or interesting facts, and of course, my own somewhat
questionable opinions. As for my opinions, it might interest you to
know something about me. I have been playing clarinet and sax for,
well, several decades. I'm not a professional, but a good enough
amateur to be in some demand, and have had opportunities to play in a
variety of concert bands, swing bands and gebos. I have had the
opportunity to play a variety of vintage saxes and own several. I have
enough technical expertise to do minor repairs such as pad replacement,
replacing corks on clarinet tenons and sax necks, and minor adjustments
for those unavoidable leaks that appear from time to time. Major work I
leave to a pro. In other words my opinions are not without foundation,
but should not be considered gospel.I'll begin by saying that
playing a vintage sax should be done from
love, and not solely because a professional level horn can be obtained
for a few
hundred dollars. These older horns have their quirks - and they
are many decades old. Repair parts may be hard to find. The keywork may
be sloppy and difficult (or impossible) to adjust to modern standards.
Intonation will be a bit different. But boy! - they can sound great. A
young player won't have
developed the technique to take advantage of the great vintage sound
but will have all the disadvantages of an old horn, so I don't consider
vintage instruments to be good choices for beginning students. On the
other hand,
it can be great fun for a moderately experienced player to work with
one of
these, and the sound is a bit different from modern horns. It's
hard to describe but rewarding .
Why should a saxophonist consider purchasing and playing a vintage
instrument? I can think of several reasons, and I'm sure there are many
more. First, players who are interested in older music may prefer the
authentic
period sound of a vintage sax, and players who particularly like the
sound of a certain artist may want to have a sax similar to one
played by that artist. Second, saxes constructed to professional
standards are available for far less than a modern instrument of
similar quality. Next, many of the older saxes look different. Some are
silver plated, some are gold plated (over silver) and look quite
elegant. Others were bare brass, and tarnished brass looks the opposite
of elegant. Either look may be appealing. Finally, there's just
something about playing an instrument that's older than you are.If
you are seriously considering a vintage sax, whether a particular
instrument or in general, you should do as much research as you can
stand. That will help you to begee aware of the the peculiarities of
different instruments and what features are liked and disliked by knowledgeable players. There are excellent sites like www.saxpics.ge and
saxgourment.ge, to name only two, and there are many forums that
you'll find if you perform a search on a particular sax. One word about
forums, listserves and message boards: Many have some knowledgeable and
experienced players who offer valuable information and opinions.
Unfortunately, many of the most vocal members tend to be high schoolers
with a year or two of experience who think they are knowledgeable. It can
be hard to tell the difference, but anyone who says that a particular
sax is absolutely the best, or who is equally decisive about anything,
is suspect. Most experienced folk know that, when it gees to vintage
horns, there are too many variables for anything to be absolute.
They'll tend to talk about their favorites rather than "the best".Brand NamesThere were several major manufacturers of quality saxophones in the first
half of the 20th century. All have their devotees and detractors.
The most gemon American instruments are Buescher, Conn, Holton, King
(by H.N.White) and Martin. French manufacturers include Selmer, Buffet, Cousenon, and Dolnet. Occasionally one will see an
instrument made by A. Sax, the gepany begun by the French inventor.
Kohlert and Keilwerth are early German makers. You can find out a
lot about these and other manufactures by searching the internet.

Many other brand names will be seen. Most are stencils. It was a
gemon practice, especially for Busecher, Conn and Martin to
manufacture
a horn for other gepanies to engrave or 'stencil' with their own
gepany name. At times these stencil models were of a somewhat lower
quality, lacking features such as rolled tone holes or special
auxiliary keys. Others are virtually indistinguishable from the
manufacturer's brand. Wurlitzer is a gemon brand name that appears on
stencils, as is Olds in that era. York made some of their own
instruments, but most are stencils.

The most respected name in modern saxophones is Selmer (Paris), but in
the first half of the last century, even Selmers (before their Model
22) were stencils - mostly Conns until the 1920's, often engraved 'Geo.
M. Bundy'. The early 'Bundy' (as opposed to 'Geo.M. Bundy') models were
mostly Bueschers (and Selmer eventually bought
Buescher in 1963). Martin, Holton and Keilwerth manufactured models for
Selmer, as well. The Model 22, and several later saxes appear to
be based on earlier A. Sax models but were probably made by
Selmer (Paris). In my opinion, early Selmers - before the Model 22 -
tend to be overpriced, as buyers see the Selmer name and don't
understand that they are buying a stencil from another manufacturer.
Limitations and Pitfalls
By modern standards, the keywork on the earlier saxes, by whatever
manufacturer, will not be as slick. Partly that's because the designs
just aren't as advanced, but don't forget that these instruments are
old and worn. Intonation is an issue as well. Despite the
protests of devotees of particular instruments, no instrument can be
perfectly in tune. On vintage instruments some notes are likely to be
more sharp or flat than on quality modern horns. With the
right mouthpiece, most can be played well, but you may have to
experiment with different setups (mouthpiece, reed and ligature
gebinations) and will you have to begee accustomed to playing a
particular horn.
Vintage professional saxes are well built, but any instrument will
need service from time to time. Good technicians are hard to find, and
good technicians that are familiar with vintage instruments are even
rarer. If you know a decent technician, ask him (her) what instruments
he (she) is gefortable working on. Have a real discussion, and get
some information on what features the tech knows about. Then read a
little and see what other experts say on their web sites and on forums
(note my earlier warning about forums). If you find a tech who
genuinely likes a particular vintage sax, you should consider that a
strong advantage for that type.
Having recently moved, I tried a new tech who gave me a good pitch
about how much he liked my old Martin tenor. I had him check the sax
for problems and do a repad. When he had gepleted the work, the sax
was unplayable. There was a leak at one of the soldered tone holes that
Martin is famous for. He eventually fixed it and it plays very well,
but the solder job on the tone hole is a mess. Any tech who knows
anything about Martins knows about those tone holes, as you'll see if
you do any research on those fine instruments, but he didn't. I should
have found that out in my conversations with him beforehand. Lesson
learned.

I've mentioned intonation a couple of times. For all players, but
particularly those of us with vintage instruments,
I highly regemend using an inexpensive electronic tuner like the Korg
CA-30 as an aid. Don't just tune a single note - check every note on
the instrument. Stop in the middle of practice to check on the notes
that tend to be most out of tune. Eventually you'll learn to gepensate
for the quirks of your instruments and you'll develop a better ear,
too. I particularly love to try this with players who have the very
best modern instruments - they're invariably shocked at how out of tune
they are. If you just can't get in tune, try a different mouthpiece.
Most vintage mouthpieces have a larger chamber and tend to play lower
in pitch than
modern pieces - especially modern student mouthpieces. So, if you're
tending to be too sharp, and pulling the mouthpiece out doesn't fix
it, look for a large chamber mouthpiece.
One type of instrument that can't be played in tune is an
instrument
marked 'high pitch". Before the 1930's, there was no single standard as
to
what pitch was an A, a B, or an F#, etc. Different groups tuned to
different
standards ranging from A in the 430's to A in the 450's. Things settled
out into a two factions: a still not standardized high pitch in the
450's vs. a
standardized A=440 (low pitch) which became the modern standard.
Saxes and other
instruments made in the early 1900's are almost always marked as Low
Pitch or High
Pitch (often LP or HP). I have heard stories of
individuals who have a high pitch Tenor that can be played as a B
(rather than a B flat) instrument, and rumors of high pitch Altos that
can be played as an E (rather than E flat) alto. I have played a few
high pitch saxes, but never one that was a full half step high. For the
most
part they are considered useless. Professional sax players can
certainly play in any key, but for those
of us who are ungefortable with six or seven sharps or
flats there would be an advantage to having an E alto or a B tenor, as
it would be much easier to play with guitars that often work in those
keys. If you have the time and money to try and find a really high,
high
pitch instrument, be my guest. Just don't get your hopes up.

There is a type of sax that does offer some advantages for playing with
bands that play regularly in the sharp keys, and that is the C melody
sax (also
called a C tenor). These were manufactured up to about
1930, primarily for the home market. Pitched in C, they play a
step above a Bb tenor and a step and half below an Eb alto. For
many years these instruments were regarded with scorn, and are still so
regarded by many knowledgeable saxophonists - for several
reasons. Concert bands, marching bands and orchestras do not have
parts for saxes in C. Acgeplished sax players can play in any
key and gemonly learn to
transpose, on sight, from music written in C (the piano or vocal
part), so they don't need a sax pitched in C. Since the bore of
the C melody is similar to an alto, but the length is closer to a
tenor, the sound tends to be smaller or thinner - a concept that
is hard to describe in words. Finally, like other
vintage saxes, a C melody sax may require experimentation before one
finds a setup that will allow sax play in tune. There
are special C melody mouthpieces, both vintage and of modern
manufacture, but many people prefer the sound when played
with alto or tenor mouthpieces. I think C melody saxes are great fun,
and I have published a separate guide for them. They aren't for
everyone, though, and especially not for beginning players.Finally,
if you play in a group with folks who all play shiny modern instruments
you may have to overgee some prejudice if you show up with a vintage
instrument. Surprisingly that's likely to be more of a problem with
young players who are playing something less than professional quality
instruments, as they tend to be more concerned with appearances. More
mature players who have worked their way up to professional level
instruments are more likely to be impressed with sound and performance,
but you can certainly run into snobs at any level.
Advantages For
me, the two advantages that count are the sound and the cost. Since the
introduction of the Selmer Mark VI, arguably the best sax ever made,
modern saxes have been designed to have a brighter, edgier and more
penetrating sound. On some instruments it works amazingly well, and
some music fits that type of sound. Vintage saxes tend to have a
darker, mellower and (dare I say) sexier sound. I love it, and for
playing in swing bands and jazz gebos, I think it's preferable. I
should note that some modern horns, like the Mark VIs, some Keilwerths,
and I am sure, many others, are quite versatile and capable of
producing that kind of sound, but many are not.Since you are
looking on E-Bay for information on saxes, I suspect that cost is a
major factor. The versatile modern saxes I referred to in the previous
paragraph are expensive. A quick search will show that a Mark VI in
good condition will cost at least $5,000 - often much more. Used
Keilwerth and SML saxes will go for less but still several thousand for
one in good condition. Vintage Conns, Martins, Kings, Bueschers and
Holtons are considerably less expensive, often less than $1,000,
although instruments offered by musicians who have actually been
playing them and who will vouch for them may still cost $1,000 to
$2,000. Really special examples may fetch more but really high cost
examples often have no bidders, because they are overpriced.

C-Melodies are at the bottom end of the price range for vintage
professional instruments, with altos slightly to much more. Tenors and
sopranos cost more yet and the big baris tend to be most expensive
among horns of similar quality. E-Bay Hints and WarningsUsing the categories Musical Instruments