Let's TRY to Solve the B&S Serial # Mystery...

[xax]

It seems to me that there are enough of us with GDR built ("vintage"?) B&S horns that we should be able to solve, or at least begin to demystify, how B&S serial numbers relate to build dates. Anyone have any ideas?

[tonyg]

You might want to try and email B&S.

[xax]

Yeah, that seems like a good place to start. I didn't bother though because i "assumed" that someone else had already done it. (I emailed Kessler but got no info back; I figure if anyone would know, they would). Also, i went to the VMI/B&S web site as well as a couple others, German and English. They all say old serial numbers are not available. I still intend to call/email them.
What i understand is that before unification, B&S was a "decentralized" cooperative; instruments having been built in small shops. The B&S name was reserved for their best instuments; stencils like Weltklang etc being generally of lesser quality. However, i have also read that the Weltkland and Luxor names were for the best horns. The name/quality question may be a function of the age of the horn.
see http://www.saxwelt.de/index
According to at least one source, the raison d'etre for the B&S instrument manufacturing cooperative was to get foreign currency for the GDR. That was also given as the reason for the absence of a serial number lists, though i don't see exactly how one would relate to the other...
Despite the obstacles, it seems to me that there must be some way to determine approximate build dates.