- Messages
- 8,161
- Location
- Bristol, UK
- Price of Item
- £125
For sale: Hawkes Lafleur Soprano saxophone.
I think this saxophone dates from the early or middle 1920's.
Hawkes and Son used the Lafleur brand for imported stencils, and this one is almost certainly French-made, probably by Buffet Evette & Schaeffer.
(Note: The Lafleur brand was also used later by Boosey and Hawkes for East German stencils, but this instrument is from before the merger.)
On the bell it says:
J.R. LAFLEUR & SON Ltd
147 WARDOUR STREET
LONDON.W.1
2496
LP
The case has a Hawkes and Son logo.
It is shiny silver plate with no engraving. The silver is worn on the keys, but the body is mostly good.
Ribbed construction, soldered tone holes, no key pearls (metal touches), no sling hook ring.
Keyed from Bb to Eb, as was common with French sopranos from this period.
It has a couple of minor dents on the body.
Lots of poor pads, but no obvious leaks and it plays top to bottom (though I struggle with the top notes).
It is Low Pitch, and intonation is pretty good, but it needs a mouthpiece with a short shank, or it is not possible to push the mouthpiece far enough onto the cork, because of the octave mechanism.
It seems to be quite mouthpiece-friendly. Sounds best with my Aizen LS (which is not included in the sale).
It has a pleasant, but quiet tone. It isn't a screamer, but it would be fine in a quartet or for playing at home.
It is much lighter weight than my modern soprano.
I got this as a fixer-upper to try out my repair skills. I have cleaned it and got the neck cork and the worst pads replaced. So it is playable.
My next step was to replace the rest of the pads, which seem to seal, but which are old and worn.
But a year has gone by, and I'm clearly not going to do it, so it's time to sell the sax to someone who will play it.
It came with a Berg-Larsen mouthpiece, which seems to suit it, so I will include that.
It also came with what is presumably the original Hawkes and Son case, which is as grotty as one might expect.
I will sell it with the original case, and/or a new John Packer one.
Price: £125 plus shipping.
(The mouthpiece and the Packer case are worth almost that.)
I live in Bristol, so you are welcome to come and try it out.
I think this saxophone dates from the early or middle 1920's.
Hawkes and Son used the Lafleur brand for imported stencils, and this one is almost certainly French-made, probably by Buffet Evette & Schaeffer.
(Note: The Lafleur brand was also used later by Boosey and Hawkes for East German stencils, but this instrument is from before the merger.)
On the bell it says:
J.R. LAFLEUR & SON Ltd
147 WARDOUR STREET
LONDON.W.1
2496
LP
The case has a Hawkes and Son logo.
It is shiny silver plate with no engraving. The silver is worn on the keys, but the body is mostly good.
Ribbed construction, soldered tone holes, no key pearls (metal touches), no sling hook ring.
Keyed from Bb to Eb, as was common with French sopranos from this period.
It has a couple of minor dents on the body.
Lots of poor pads, but no obvious leaks and it plays top to bottom (though I struggle with the top notes).
It is Low Pitch, and intonation is pretty good, but it needs a mouthpiece with a short shank, or it is not possible to push the mouthpiece far enough onto the cork, because of the octave mechanism.
It seems to be quite mouthpiece-friendly. Sounds best with my Aizen LS (which is not included in the sale).
It has a pleasant, but quiet tone. It isn't a screamer, but it would be fine in a quartet or for playing at home.
It is much lighter weight than my modern soprano.
I got this as a fixer-upper to try out my repair skills. I have cleaned it and got the neck cork and the worst pads replaced. So it is playable.
My next step was to replace the rest of the pads, which seem to seal, but which are old and worn.
But a year has gone by, and I'm clearly not going to do it, so it's time to sell the sax to someone who will play it.
It came with a Berg-Larsen mouthpiece, which seems to suit it, so I will include that.
It also came with what is presumably the original Hawkes and Son case, which is as grotty as one might expect.
I will sell it with the original case, and/or a new John Packer one.
Price: £125 plus shipping.
(The mouthpiece and the Packer case are worth almost that.)
I live in Bristol, so you are welcome to come and try it out.
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