Saxophones Oldest Saxophone Here?

[ESJohn]

Just for fun, I was wondering who has the oldest saxophone in the cafe. I promise that it is not me (1960, 1970). If you have it (or even one older than, say 1930), what are your thoughts about it? I think one still in working condition and not is use as a table lamp would be a good standard.

 

[wakyct]

Definitely not me (early 60s), I am interested in playing something late 20s, early 30s some day though.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Martin handcraft alto 1920's. As far as I remember. Awaiting my attentions. It's in a bit of a state playing wise. Not bad looking.

 

[Woodpad]

1925 a high pitch Evette low B to high Eb alto, big bore, no rollers. It is an old fanfare Cecilia instrument.
Looks like a copy of a much older instrument.

It has very modern pads and I use it to understand how saxophones have changed through time.

 

[jonf]

I've got two 1924 Buescher True Tones, alto and soprano, both in good playing order. I bought the soprano 40 years ago. It still has the same Gordon Beeson pads which it had when I bought it.

I like them both, they have a good tone and perfectly acceptable intonation. They were made for someone with far smaller hands than me, though. Without risers the palm keys would be unusable.

 

[jazzdoh]

I have a King C melody with serial 45xxx that puts it between 1919-1920, it's the one you see on my a avatar.

 

[farina_man]

Mmmm...... High-pitch, two octave key alto: P. Senecaut, Bruxelles (c19???); HP John Grey tenor (early c20?); 1916 Conn LP New Wonder 1 tenor; 1920 Buescher TT alto; 2 x 1922 Buescher TT c-melodies; early 1920s Pierret tenor; several Pierret altos from 1920s/early '30s. My regular players include: 1930s Lewin alto and tenor (Martin Handcraft stencils); 1928 Conn New Wonder 2 (Chu) tenor; 1929/30 Pierret "Vibrator" tenor; 1933 Pan American baritone. The only modern saxophone I own nowadays is an Arbiter soprano (which I like very much!) bought new in 1993 to replace my stolen Buescher TT soprano. 😀

 

[thomsax]

My oldest sax is a Conn New Wonder 18M (straight Bb soprano low pitch) from 1924.

 

[ESJohn]

Wow! What a variety! Farina_man should have a public exhibit someday (perhaps at a library event) to show off the collection! That is tremendous!
I'd love to see the others, too! It would be so cool to see all of the ones mentioned in one place. Plenty of mops would be needed to wipe up all of the drool from the admirers!
It's nice to see that the range from soprano to bari is represented here. The 1920's had to have been a very good time to be in some part of the sax business. Thanks so much for the response! Feel free to keep them coming!

 

[Digger2054]

Both my Conn's are from the 20's,, not sure on the Bari.

 

[JayeNM]

Not fair of me as I refurb, but I have a few 20's splitbells here, various makers.

There comes a point in 'oldness' where the horn is actually anachronistic, so I doubt a pre-1920's horn is gonna be a feasible player. You CAN do it, but really, it's handicapping at that point unless you are in some sorta novelty vintage music band....

 

[bodak]

1921 Buescher true tone Tenor, plays just great, better pinkie table { for me } than my 26 wonder 2 conn tenor, or my 31 conn tranny tenor.
Regards to all.

 

[scotsman]

🙂🙂 Adolphe Tenor. As best I can find out 1928? Amazing and in tune ..Regards ..🙂🙂

 

[lydian]

Not fair of me as I refurb, but I have a few 20's splitbells here, various makers.

There comes a point in 'oldness' where the horn is actually anachronistic, so I doubt a pre-1920's horn is gonna be a feasible player. You CAN do it, but really, it's handicapping at that point unless you are in some sorta novelty vintage music band....

Chris Potter on an 1859 Adolph Sax horn:

View: https://youtu.be/7YOV0kZQIAo

 

[saxyjt]

The technique is basically the same. So if you manage to setup the horn properly, anything is possible.

I gave a couple of fairly old horns. A 1923 Martin C melody and an Hawkes & Sons XX Century soprano of witch I don't know the year of manufacture. Depending on the source it could be from 1924 to 1932 or so... I worked on the C melody a few years ago but it still needs some tweaking and tuning. The Hawkes & son is in pretty good shape. I worked on it and the result is rather good but it remains an old horn with some quirky features that makes it difficult to play in my humble opinion. I love it though and pick it up once in a while.

But to be honest, I'm not playing enough these days to provide a serious feedback.

 

[Jimmymack]

My 1937 King feels like a wee'n in this company but I am still playing it regularly, today in fact.

 

[ESJohn]

Well, here are the results, so far. If I'm counting it correctly, horns owned by members of the Cafe include three C melodies, four sopranos, six altos, seven tenors, and two baritones.
The 20's era dominates with the oldest sax mentioned being 1916 and the newest of the old from 1937. There appear to be fifteen different names on the bells. Farina_man claims the largest selection. And thanks to Lydian for the YouTube video featuring the 1859 Adolphe Sax.
I think the spreadsheet could be downloaded and updated by anyone here. I don't claim any particular ownership of the data.
I'd like to hear from some of you as to why you own a sax from days gone by. Words such as "amazing", "in tune", "great", "better" and such have been used already.
I purchased my Zephyr because I perceived it as an upgrade from the Cleveland 613 and, for whatever reason, wanted to stay "in the (King) family. That's the only logic that I can remember employing. For my skill level, I'm not certain that anyone would be able to distinguish between the two if I were to play a tune for you on both for you to compare.
JayeNM makes a valid point as to playability of horns from that era, which is countered by Lydia's video of the 1859 Adolphe Sax model.
Great input, everyone!

 

[Jimmymack]

Once upon a time, over 20 years ago, I went looking for Conn as I'd developed a liking for American saxes. I came home with a Super20. Roll forward and I wanted a back up horn and started looking for a cheap Zephyr, the one I found was taken of market but I discovered a, very not cheap, Zephyr Special (the 1937 horn). I played it and loved the way it looked, the tone and the way it played, except for the bottom end which took a lot of work to get used to.

So, above all it's the sound, like the Super20 but richer and fuller then the action which is crisp and solid. It is also a thing of beauty to me but it wouldn't be without the aforementioned.

 

[ESJohn]

Along the same line, here is another Ebay offer. Current bid is $67. 1914?

Vintage 1914 CG CONN ELKHART SAXOPHONE #121297 | eBay

<p>This is one of several vintage instruments that we have available offer from the same local estate being offered in the same condition as found. They will most likely need some kind of refurbishing before being operational. The saxophone is marked with a patent date December 8, 1914 with the...

www.ebay.com

 

[LostCircuits]

1898 Conn alto - nickel plated, fully restored but HP
and
1887 Millereau alto needs a new neck tenon receiver and neck - for the last 3 years or so and it's HP

Otherwise,
1915 Martin straight sop
1917 Conn NW (formerly owned by Dave Edwards / Lawrence Welk)
And a bunch of "babies" from the early 1920s

(sorry but, em, ... you asked)