Saxophones maxtone sax

[usn694]

Hey everyone...what does anyone know about maxtone and carl fischer saxophones? I heard they were Japanese.

 

[rhysonsax]

I think that Maxtone is a name that has been used by various different companies and so not a reliable guide to quality or source of the sax.

A couple of years ago I bought brand new Maxtone alto & tenor saxes from an American on SOTW. They were made in Taiwan, supposedly in the same factory as Mauriat saxes and are very, very similar in many features and also in their quality. Beautifully finished I got a couple of really good saxes for very reasonable prices. They had been on an interesting journey from Taiwan to USA to England, with me paying various people's profit margins, handling charges and taxes on top but still the overall prices were good for silver and gold-plated professional quality saxes.

I think that Carl Fischer is a name attached to a range of "stencil" saxes made by several different manufacturers, such as Conn, Buescher and maybe Buffet. See SOTW forum for more information (e.g. http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?43193-vintage-Carl-Fischer-1940-s )

So in both cases, the names you mention don't tell you enough to know about the quality and source of the specific saxophone in question. Experts would need to see the horn in question, or at least some quality pictures.

Rhys

 

[usn694]

thanks!