Saxophones Sioma alto sax

DavidUK · Sep 6, 2022

RichardB said:
Reaslly? David do you plan to keep this instrument, if I may cordially ask?

He's not offered it to me, I think he's offered it to you? I'm not after one.

DavidUK · Sep 6, 2022

@MMM - was your offer to @RichardB via private message? Richard may not be aware of it if he hasn't used PM before.

MMM · Sep 6, 2022

DavidUK said:
@MMM - was your offer to @RichardB via private message? Richard may not be aware of it if he hasn't used PM before.

@DavidUK it’s all in hand, thank you.

jonf · Sep 7, 2022

Good to hear, it all seemed a bit confusing at one point

RichardB · Sep 7, 2022

Many thanks to all!
My apologies for any confusion I may have caused.
I've now worked out how to use the private message function (PM)!

Hankenstine · Oct 2, 2022

@RichardB would like to purchase this Sioma saxophone from me but unfortunately I'm not prepared to post it. If anybody on the forum happens to be travelling from the North West (Liverpool/Manchester/Chester/North Wales/Shropshire areas) to Cambridge or vice versa and is able to help transport the instrument please let us know. I'm sure some sort of fee for your efforts could be arranged.

greenstripe · Oct 13, 2022

Spotted on eBay - a complete wreck and probably not worth fixing:

Vintage Alto Saxaphone 1224 Alex Burns Ltd - needs attention | eBay

1224 Alex Burns Ltd. The leather seals are old and will need replacing. The lower cup is bent a little and is a little lobsided on the hole.

www.ebay.co.uk

Colin the Bear · Oct 14, 2022

Financially probably not worth giving it to a tech, but an interesting DIY project. I checked other items and it's listed twice.

greenstripe · Oct 14, 2022

Posted as it may have sentimental interest to @RichardB perhaps might the sort of thing to hang on the wall

greenstripe · Oct 24, 2022

Another possible:

Antique Lioma Paris Saxophone Silver Plated in case | eBay

<p>Antique Lioma Paris Saxophone Silver Plated in case. </p><p>first of all i don’t know a think about saxophone s, so have taken as many pics as i can, it looks in good condition with a clean body that seems to be silver plated or nickel. it has mother of pearl on the buttons and all the...

www.ebay.co.uk

RichardB · Nov 2, 2022

Many thanks for this info, dear Greenstripe!

Much appreciated! I continue to be interested in Sioma / Alex Burns Ltd instruments (sax, clarinet, flute) -
though I think I'm too late for these particular models.

It turns out that Sioma Berengarten's grandchildren (aka Seymour Burns) are muscial and one of them may like to acquire a Sioma instrument.

best wishes to all

Richard

RichardB · Nov 19, 2022

To all

I'm still looking for SIOMA brand instruments (saxophones, clarinets and flutes), preferably with the mark ALEX BURNS LTD, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1. If you know of any such intsruments available for purchase, I'd be very glad to hear from you

***

I'm also aiming to put together a memoir on the SIOMA brand, and on ALEX BURNS and SEYMOUR BURNS (aka BERENGARTEN), musicians and brothers.

Alex Burns (1901-1947) was my father. The SIOMA brand was named after my uncle Seymour. Alex Burns was originally a classical cellist who turned to the saxophone. His love of the saxophone developed eventually into his musical instrument shop in the West End of London. Seymour spent some time working in Hollywood in the 1920s.

If anyone has any information that might be relevant, I;d be very glad to hear from you.

With trhanks and good wishes to all CAFÉ SAXOPHONE members and visitors

RichardB

UK

DartmoorHedgehog · Nov 19, 2022

RichardB said:
To all

I'm still looking for SIOMA brand instruments (saxophones, clarinets and flutes), preferably with the mark ALEX BURNS LTD, Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1. If you know of any such intsruments available for purchase, I'd be very glad to hear from you

***

I'm also aiming to put together a memoir on the SIOMA brand, and on ALEX BURNS and SEYMOUR BURNS (aka BERENGARTEN), musicians and brothers.

Interesting - good luck with that. As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I've got a Sioma-branded metal clarinet. I don't want to sell it because I really like it (it gets played far more than my other, theoretically much posher, clarinet because it's just so nice to play despite costing me less than £100), but I'm happy to take more pictures etc if it helps.

RichardB · Nov 19, 2022

Many thanks, DartmoorHedehog, do please post some pictures here, which may be of interest to others as well as myself.

Do you have the original case? If so, is there any indication of the shop it was bought from?

DartmoorHedgehog · Nov 19, 2022

RichardB said:
Many thanks, DartmoorHedehog, do please post some pictures here, which may be of interest to others as well as myself.

Do you have the original case? If so, is there any indication of the shop it was bought from?

There are a couple of pictures of it in the thread I linked to in post #15 of this thread, but I can take some more if you're interested (won't be for a week or two though because I'm in limbo at the moment between house moves and most of my stuff is in storage).
It is in what could well be the original case, but no label or branding on the case I'm afraid.

DavidUK · Dec 19, 2022

I noticed the Karl Meyer tenor I bought some months ago came in an Alex Burns case...

I thought Karl Meyer was a Selmer London brand, but it could simply have been sold 2nd hand from Alex Burns and they nailed their name plate to the case.

The KM has become a donor for another Selmer London sax, a silver Pennsylvania which came missing hinge rods, one key, one guard, all guard screws, the wrong replacement pivot screws. Now rebuilt and complete using the KM parts but currently a work in progress to strip down and fix missing corks, felts, etc.

Steve Marshall · Dec 20, 2022

Cases get swapped over. Yes, I think Meyer is a Selmer brand.

DavidUK · Feb 20, 2023

Another here: French vintage alto saxophone | in London | Gumtree

RichardB · Mar 14, 2023

Many thanks, all, for keeping me posted about SIOMA saxes. Much appreciated! For the record, I'm still looking for SIOMA brand instruments, if they have 'Alex Burns' and the 'Shaftesbury Avenue' address stamped on the intrument. (Apologies for the delay in getting back online here. I'm catching up, as my computer has been out of order. ) Best wishes to all.