Saxophones Embassy tenor

My first tenor was an Embassy - bought from Boosey & Hawkes in London sight unseen (bit like Ebay really!) in 1961.

It was lacquer with nickel plated keys and the bell keys were LHS.

Anyone got any ideas about year, where made etc.

Just curious.
 
The embassy tenor may be a Buescher stencil. I came across one a couple of weeks ago and Googled for more info. Below is a post from SoTW. But as already stated - wait for Pete and Kev - they are the experts. All info I have included I have found via Googling!


Thanks for asking your question on AllExperts. I don't have any pictures to go on, but it's most certainly a stenciled saxophone. A stenciled saxophone was made by a major manufacturer but they would have engraved a different name on it. Companies, music stores, schools and other businesses would order a number of saxophones from a major saxophone maker and have their name put on instead of the company that made them. A major manufacturer could also create separate brand names to compete in certain markets or may have purchased a smaller company and kept the name. Whatever the reason, for the most part these stencil horns were built with many of the features and quality of their parent company. The major saxophone companies that made stencils were Conn, Buescher, Martin, and Selmer. Some of these companies were purchased in time and became stencils themselves. After doing a bit of research, I discovered more information about Embassy. They were made by at least three different companies. There was an alto was made by Couesnon in France and it's a professional grade saxophone. I've also seen an alto made by Pierret that seemed to be an intermediate or student horn. Another person meantioned that he felt his embassy tenor was made by Buescher. The 'Embassy' and 'Acadamy' names were used by Besson and Boosey & Hawkes for certain markets in the 1960's. Does it say "Made In France" or anything else on it? There are many ways to tell if a saxophone was produced by a certain company. Look at the tone hole construction, G# key cluster design, key guard design, Bell to bridge brace, neck, key layout, Bottom of the bow guard, octave mechanism type, engraving, and serial number markings. The serial numbers of the stencils did not follow the parent company's serial numbers, so it is hard to tell the year it was made but you can usually tell the decade, 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's, or 60's. The Embassy is not on the stencil sax list, but if we see photos... we might be able to do some detective work. It could be made by Buescher or Boosey and Hawkes, but we'll never know. More research is still needed. Anyway you look at it, you have a historic saxophone. Get it fixed up but don't refinish the body, leave it as it is. When someone re-lacquers a saxophone, the value is reduced. If it is a silver plate finish, you can use a gentle silver polish. If it's gold plated sax, leave the finish alone. It's worth what some one would pay for it. It could be worth $150 to $650 depending on the condition and part of the country. If it plays great, please don't worry about how much other people think it's worth. Their opinion doesn't matter. If you love it, and play the heck out of it, that's all that matters. Have fun!!
Good Luck!
TSgt Grant Koeller
USAF Bands
 
Thanks for that - since it was the 60s and it was bought from B & H, I assume it was one of their stencils.

I parted company with it in the early 80s - in a generous mood, I donated it to my sons' school in Tokyo as I hadn't played it in years. My only regret is that I let a wonderful Brilhart mouthpiece go with it. Wish I had that now!

Thanks again.
 
I know nothing about these saxes, sorry. B&H were buying stencils from a few places, probably including a factory in Wales. They used to make their own, but afik it was long closed by the 60s. Unless you've got good photos, or can recognise it from someone else's photos, it's a difficult one to trace.

Keep your eyes on ebay for another Brilhart, they come up occasionally, but tend towards expensive.
 
Thanks - as I said just idle curiosity.

I bought the Brilhart secondhand in about 1963. It was the only one I've ever seen with a circular bite plate. It was a great mpc - stupid to have let it go but you do daft things sometimes - and I have the divorce papers to prove it!
 
Got it! I gather from the web that it must have been a UK manufactured piece as it has the metal band as illustrated.

personaline-1.jpg
 
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That's the one. Not sure about the band, I had mine banded as the shank was cracked, that one you found could also be a fix/mod.. Bite plate should be fake wood, not that it really matters. Be aware that Brilharts were renowned for inconsistency in tip sizes.
 
Hey Guys, I have an embassy tenor sax! I'm looking for information on parts as I'm using it to learn repair. Any info that you all have found is greatly appreciated.
 
Hey Guys, I have an embassy tenor sax! I'm looking for information on parts as I'm using it to learn repair. Any info that you all have found is greatly appreciated.
The bad news: you're unlikely to be able to buy replacement parts for an obscure stencil horn bult in the 50s or 60s.

The good news: It's unlikely you'll need to. Most of what has to be replaced is pads, cork, felt, springs and such - all of which are standardized and can simply be bought by size. If you have actual pieces of keywork missing, standard practice is simply to adapt the part from another horn. Saxophones are all pretty much the same mechanically so you can almost always do some adapting to replace a missing piece of keywork. Components like hinge rods are typically made on site by the repairer to fit. Necks are tricky but there's usually a "fits and works" substitute out there, unless the horn is just REALLY WEIRD. Which yours probably isn't.

If you'll post a set of good photos - including overall left and right sides, with clear views of keyguards, neck octave key, bell brace, and left and right hand little finger keys, it's usually possible to nail down just who made the horn, which opens up more sources for information and possibly for repair parts that are if not direct drop-ins, likely to be adaptable.
 
It does look like a Buescher, especially the bell and neck, with strong whiffs of Martin Indiana Deluxe.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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