Saxophones Dave Guardala

[Eastman52st]

I was up in Dallas, TX to visit my sister for Christmas and their was a Tenor sax player playing on the street with a Dave Guardala Silver sax. These Saxophones are very rare and I was very impressed with the tone. Please share any Knowledge or comments you may have about this Brand.

 

[kevgermany]

afik all the Guardala saxes were made by the now defunct B&S in Germany. They were sold as a top end/premium sax.

There's a review of one on Stephen Howard's site, shwoodwinds. Makes me thin the saxes were probably overpriced/oversold.

B&S' tooling was bought by Powell, the US flute makers and is being used to produce their American Eagle saxes. But I think the saxes have little to do with the B&S models.

 

[griff136]

I was up in Dallas, TX to visit my sister for Christmas and their was a Tenor sax player playing on the street with a Dave Guardala Silver sax. These Saxophones are very rare and I was very impressed with the tone. Please share any Knowledge or comments you may have about this Brand.

These horns were made by German company B&S. The company stopped making horns in 2006. Their Blue label horns are fairly nice and beginning to grow in popularity.

Happy Christmas

edit : just noticed Kevgremany's reply - must have missed it .

 

[Nick Wyver]

99% or so of the tone is down to the player anyway. It would have been him you liked rather than the saxophone.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

99% or so of the tone is down to the player anyway.

With one exception, listen to some of those old guys who play a Selmer, definitely a certain vibe going on in that sound, quite unlike anything else....

 

[Pete Thomas]

afik all the Guardala saxes were made by the now defunct B&S in Germany. They were sold as a top end/premium sax.

They were, but I think at the end they were sold off with extreme discounts, almost fire sale style. Either people discovered the high prices were not reflected by the quality of the horns, or else the Dave Guardala brand suffered when he was indicted for fraud.

 

[spike]

Tried a couple of Guardala horns when they first came out, and really liked 'em but my dealer warned me off them as they'd had some trouble with the batch they had as the metal used for the key work was a bit soft consequently it tended to go out of alignment fairly quickly. Whether that problem was rectified in later models - I know not.

 

[Colin the Bear]

99% or so of the tone is down to the player anyway. It would have been him you liked rather than the saxophone.

Ain't it the truth. Learn to play, practice for 30 years, put your soul into it and pour out your heart in a performance and some bod wants to know what make of sax you play and do you give lessons. lol

 

[jonf]

I'm always put off any sax where there's an excess of marketing BS over manfacturing quality. Guardala products fall into that category, as do Cannonball, Theo Wanne, and anything that hails from Steve Goodson. The products may all be perfectly fine, but the marketing spiel puts me off.

It's a bit like Omega watches. Why would you pay a couple of grand for an Omega that comes with James Bond marketing spin-off, or is endorsed by a nubile tennis player, when an Oris with an absolutely identical movement costs less than half the price. You're just paying for marketing in the end, not the product.

 

[MLoosemore]

...Learn to play, practice for 30 years... lol

Phew, only another 29 years practising before I have to post something on the monthly tunes threads.... age 94.... well I guess that might work

 

[BigMartin]

Phew, only another 29 years practising before I have to post something on the monthly tunes threads.... age 94.... well I guess that might work

Look at it another way. After a year, you can notice how much better you play than you did last week (assuming you've been practising regularly and effectively). After 30 years, you get to notice you're playing better than 5 years ago.

 

[montereyscott]

afik all the Guardala saxes were made by the now defunct B&S in Germany. They were sold as a top end/premium sax.

There's a review of one on Stephen Howard's site, shwoodwinds. Makes me thin the saxes were probably overpriced/oversold.

B&S' tooling was bought by Powell, the US flute makers and is being used to produce their American Eagle saxes. But I think the saxes have little to do with the B&S models.

Hi, I recently acquired a low serial number Dave Guardala alto sax and am trying to learn more about the horn before I decide if it's a keeper. Two experienced musical instrument techs have told me that it's definitely a Keilwerth. There's a dearth of information regarding this brand of horn and lots of mixed information. Thanks.

 

[jazzdoh]

Hi, I recently acquired a low serial number Dave Guardala alto sax and am trying to learn more about the horn before I decide if it's a keeper. Two experienced musical instrument techs have told me that it's definitely a Keilwerth. There's a dearth of information regarding this brand of horn and lots of mixed information. Thanks.

I can't say that the 2 techs are wrong but I always thought that Dave Guardala saxophones were made by B&S

 

[Dr G]

Hi, I recently acquired a low serial number Dave Guardala alto sax and am trying to learn more about the horn before I decide if it's a keeper. Two experienced musical instrument techs have told me that it's definitely a Keilwerth. There's a dearth of information regarding this brand of horn and lots of mixed information. Thanks.

Ask whether they have ever heard of B&S. They may think that J-K was the only saxophone manufacturer in Germany.

Bonus points to your experienced techs if they can name three saxophone manufacturers in Italy.

 

[stitch]

I ... am trying to learn more about the horn before I decide if it's a keeper.

Surely how it plays and feels is all you need to know to decide that?

 

[jonf]

Ask whether they have ever heard of B&S. They may think that J-K was the only saxophone manufacturer in Germany.

Bonus points to your experienced techs if they can name three saxophone manufacturers in Italy.

Orsi, Borgani, Rampone & Cazzani, Ida Maria Grassi. And I'm not even a tech, experienced or otherwise.

 

[jonf]

Hi, I recently acquired a low serial number Dave Guardala alto sax and am trying to learn more about the horn before I decide if it's a keeper. Two experienced musical instrument techs have told me that it's definitely a Keilwerth. There's a dearth of information regarding this brand of horn and lots of mixed information. Thanks.

Guardala saxes were not made by Keilwerth, they were made by B & S. Which company made it is pretty irrelevant, though. What really matters is how it plays. What do you think of it? How do you find it to play?

 

[Ivan]

Guardala saxes were made by the now defunct B&S in Germany

These horns were made by German company B&S.

I'm always put off any sax where there's an excess of marketing BS over manfacturing quality

I always thought that Dave Guardala saxophones were made by B&S

Guardala saxes were not made by Keilwerth, they were made by B & S

Looks as though B&S cornered the stencil market before it moved East

 

[Dr G]

Orsi, Borgani, Rampone & Cazzani, Ida Maria Grassi. And I'm not even a tech, experienced or otherwise.

That’s my point. Now let’s hear from the techs that montereyscott interviewed regarding the provenance of his Guardala.

 

[jthole]

Looks as though B&S cornered the stencil market before it moved East

B&S, Kohlert, Amati, Guban Arta, several Italian makers. Lots of stenciling going on in middle and southern Europe at the time.

That’s my point. Now let’s hear from the techs that montereyscott interviewed regarding the provenance of his Guardala.

When I was a kid, in the late 1970s, my granddad got me an old Dolnet alto. My parents went together with me to a sax tech, who said it was junk (maybe that one was indeed), and they should throw it away and buy a decent sax.

Unfortunately it disappeared indeed (I don't know how, but I would have wanted to have it, if only for sentimental reasons), but fortunately my sax teacher at the time helped to buy me a Martin alto