More info on the Selmer New Large bore/Radio Improved/Super sax Serial number runs

[picconose]

I have a Selmer tenor, which I bought from the original owner in 1959. I always thought it was just a normal New Large Bore, but yesterday, was reading the Vintage Sax web site about these, and suddenly realized my instrument is a little different from the New Large Bore models. It has all the features of the slightly later Radio Improved, but not the bell stampings. The bell stampings on my horn are the same as all the New Large Bores pictured in the website. My serial number is 10390X, and is the only Selmer I have heard of with a suffix letter in the serial number.

Does anyone here have any recollection of ever seeing a Selmer with a letter suffix in the serial number? If so, what were the salient features of the instrument?

INcidentally, it is a great instrument. It plays beautifully, with a good scale, and excellent response throughout the entire range.

 

[kevgermany]

I seem to remember reading that suffix X designated an experimental model.

 

[picconose]

That is what I was beginning to suspect. If so, it makes this instrument a little more interesting, and probably adds to its value. However, the only way I would ever part with it is if I had to stop playing altogether. It is definitely my favorite saxophone, and with the exception of my Haynes Db piccolo, my favorite instrument to play on.

 

[sirspinbad]

do you feel like you have any sacrifices concerning the instrument..picco? mainly,action,keywork,hand position...etc....

 

[picconose]

do you feel like you have any sacrifices concerning the instrument..picco? mainly,action,keywork,hand position...etc....

No, I do not.

But, you have to understand, I only started on sax in the Summer of 1959. I bought this saxophone in September, 1959, and sent it back to Paris to be overhauled and re-lacquered. Got it back in November of the same year. So it is the instrument I learned on. I bought a 1964 Mark VI alto in 1993, and played on it for about five years. It never did feel comfortable to me, and I traded it to a guy for his cigar cutter. I cannot play on modern saxes, because I never know what is gonna come out when I go for a low C#, B, or Bb. Give me an old style plateau system every time. The action on both that tenor and my alto feels just like every other Paris Selmer I have ever handled; very crisp and quick.

On second thought, that isn't exactly true. My Modele 26 tenor feels just as light and crisp, but because of the touchpad locations on the keys, it feels like my fingers are moving a little further than on the two later instruments.

 

[picconose]

Re: More info on the Selmer New Large bore/Radio Improved/Super sax Serial number run

Recently (about a year ago) got a New Largebore Bari. The serial number is only 257 digits higher than my tenor, so they feel the same except for size. I have discovered I can play things on it that I couldn't begin to "cut" on my Alfredo Santoni or my Dolnet bari. (The solo passages in Ted Heath's arrangement of Chloe, for example). Also, I fnd the Link Super Tone Maste rhas a much bigger and more controllable sound on this horn than it did on either of the other two. So I am a happy camper. I also boughta"back up" alto - New Largebor, buit not a cigar cutter - it has an octave/register mechanism more like the older Modele 28. When it arrived, it was not playable; pads were in terrible condition, and regulation was all out of whack. It is currently in the shop for a complete overhaul. As an experiment, I am having it repadded with kangaroo pads; supposedly,they are not as prone to sticking as the normal leather ones. We shall see.


Now, if only I could find a soprano in the same model range.

 

[kevgermany]

Re: More info on the Selmer New Large bore/Radio Improved/Super sax Serial number run

Good to hear from you again.

Lots of new info on the Santoni makers over at the woodwindforum.

 

[sirspinbad]

Re: More info on the Selmer New Large bore/Radio Improved/Super sax Serial number run

Ive pretty much found that "complications" from older keywork is more noticable on smaller horns....alto,soprano

 

[picconose]

Re: More info on the Selmer New Large bore/Radio Improved/Super sax Serial number run

Ive pretty much found that "complications" from older keywork is more noticable on smaller horns....alto,soprano

I don't know that I agree with you, because on the larger horns (tenor and bari) since the keys have to move further,I fnd lost motion in the mechanism is more noticeable under the fingers. I WILL say, though, with smaller horns, there is less room for error. That is to say, slop in the mechanism is more likely to show up as a leak. That is especially noticeable in flutes, clarinets and piccolos; even more so than in saxes.

 

[peterpick]

i'm fascinated by this. i have a 'new large bore' alto (i eventually worked out) which was my only sax for 35 years, and is wonderful, a very simple and effective design. i believe the new large bore may have been adlophe sax's last contribution to the selmer factory. nobody could tell me what the thing was, and most serial number lists would tell you it was a cigar cutter, since it was made in 1931 (from memory). i recently bought a tenor of the same model which plays with a more concentrated tone than i had expected (not so 'spread') and has a cigar-cutter-like guard for the bell keys (which are on the left). great saxes and little known. whether this is a 'selmer super sax' or not i don't know, i think this model was rather brushed aside by the cigar cutter/radio improved/balanced action etc etc development stream, and it has never received much attention. great saxes, and a fair bargain at the moment.

 

[jbtsax]

What an interesting thread. I have not heard the term "large bore" before. The Sax Pics Selmer page shows that serial number to be in the Modele 26 range that follows the Model 22. Did it get that name due to the fact that it has a larger bore than the 22? Can anyone suggest a site where I can get more information about Selmer "large bore" saxes? Thanks.

 

[peterpick]

saxpics is wrong about this. it does not even mention the 'new large bore' as a type. the model 26 is not a new large bore, at least because of the different tonehole arrangements. i think the model 26 has a pad on top of a pad for sounding f, certainly i have seen pictures of such a horn and i think it was a 26. not a good idea, say the wise. i've never played one and don't know. the new wide bore is the first of the selmers i know of that has a neck that fits the subsequent models - cigar cutter, radio improved, ba, sba, mk VI, and there my knowledge ends. for saxpics info on the new wide (or large) bore you have to read the material on the model 26, which he says is a wider bore than the 22, and i suppose he is right about this, he certainly ought to be. however, i thought the new large bore was a different bore from that horn. in between the 26 and the wide bore there is the rare and strange model 28, which some of my acquaintance do not believe exists and i have only seen pictures of. anyway selmer's serial chart is not entirely accurate, and there are experiments of all sorts in the 30's and 40's. no-one has even mentioned the jimmy dorsey model, have they? don't worry, i haven't got one.

 

[jbtsax]

Here is a bit more information I found from Pete Hales (Saxpics) to add to the discussion. Selmer Modele 26

 

[peterpick]

i'm sorry, jbt, but when i click i get a bloke called john talcott doing very nice repairs on old curvy sopranos and the like. and it's on facebook, of which i am not a fan. the model 26 and the new large bore (or wide bore, and i am often called this) are entirely distinct saxophones.

 

[griff136]

.....

Does anyone here have any recollection of ever seeing a Selmer with a letter suffix in the serial number? If so, what were the salient features of the instrument?

I had a Selmer series 2 soprano in only a week ago with a suffix letter B - it is my understanding that this gets stamped on the horn after the serial number when the guy who stamps the horns makes a mistake and stamps 2 horns with the same serial number.

 

[jbtsax]

i'm sorry, jbt, but when i click i get a bloke called john talcott doing very nice repairs on old curvy sopranos and the like. and it's on facebook, of which i am not a fan. the model 26 and the new large bore (or wide bore, and i am often called this) are entirely distinct saxophones.

I believe you clicked the link to my facebook page that is part of my "signature", By the way, I have never been referred to as a "bloke" before, although I have been called a lot of other things. I hope it is not a "derogatory" term. Go to this one: The Selmer Modele 26 :: SaxPics.com

 

[Jeanette]

I have never been referred to as a "bloke" before, although I have been called a lot of other things. I hope it is not a "derogatory" term.

Not derogatory at all, just another word for man

Jx

 

[jbtsax]

Not derogatory at all, just another word for man

Jx

Thanks Jeanette. We really need a "tongue in cheek" emoticon.

 

[Jeanette]

Thanks Jeanette. We really need a "tongue in cheek" emoticon.

I did wonder if I needed to post that

Jx

 

[Tenor Viol]

Thanks Jeanette. We really need a "tongue in cheek" emoticon.

For those located in the more southerly regions of the UK I believe the appropriate term is "diamond geezer"