E.K. Blessing

[robmish]

Hi to all;

I just found out that my old sax is made by E.K. Blessing, a company that still exist today. The serial number is 14592. The company is based in Indiana ( Elkhart ).
Is this a good make? How is it considered in the industry ? Just curious :D

Thanks in advance for any feedback :)

Robert M.

[Pete]

The newer Blessing horns I've seen are student junk (sorry). I think that they're Chinese or Taiwanese. It's been awhile since I've seen one, so I'm not sure.

[stitch]

There was an old Blessing on US eBay recently that was a Martin stencil (do a search - you should be able to find it), and as such should be a pretty good horn. Look for bevelled (angled edges) toneholes to positively ID it as Martin; also the sn might be repeated on the neck.

[popsax]

I too have heard that Blessing saxes were made at one time by Martin. I own one that is stamped "Elkhart, Indiana". Today they are made in Taiwan. I've have owned mine for 31 years. I use it now as a backup horn. I call it "old reliable". This is an excellant sax and is very much underrated. To bad the Blessing name is connected with all the other Chinese junk.

[frankbiff]

I have a blessing tenor that was made by Martin, looks just like a Handcraft.
It was my first horn, my dad bought it from my uncle in '67, I think the horn is from the late '30s or '40s.

[popsax]

Frankbiff, How does it play for you? I see that you still have it.

[frankbiff]

popsax: I learned on that horn, then got a new one on the advise of my teacher (acutaly my teachers teacher) bought a new MKVI in '72. As I recall the Blessing had poor intonation and the bell notes where not easy. Recently I got the Blessing out, looked it over and determined it was a Maritn, checked some more on Saxpics and found it look just like a Handcraft. When I was learning on this horn I played a Brilhart 3*, then 4*. I never played it with anything else. Now I play links, so I put a HR link on and was amazed a the sound, my wife came running in to find out what I did to sound so good!
A big fat sound, my first thought was this horn is perfict for R & R. There are a few broken springs and it leaks like a sive but I think I will have it repaded and the springs fixed. Right now it does not have resonators, just plain pads. The intonation does not seem that bad, but I haven't played it enough to realy tell. It was a mess when I first got it, my dad had it refinished.

[popsax]

You know Frank, we all remember our first horns and how crappy they sounded. Was it the horns that were crappy or was it us? My first sax was an old used Conn 6M. I sounded so bad that my parents would only let me practice in the garage. I don't even remember what brand of mouthpiece it had, it came with the horn used. I wonder how I would sound on a 6M today, with over fifty years of playing and my favorite Vandoren Jave mpc with a #3 Java reed. For many years after I got rid of that old sax, I thought that all old Conns were junk. Wish I had a 6M today.

[Pete]

Just a note: the modern Blessing horns do still have "Elkhart, Indiana" engraved on them and they're definitely not Martins.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2538214099&category=16 232

So, in other words, if you're rushing out to buy a Blessing on the off chance it might be a Martin Handcraft stencil, I'd recommend going to my website to check out what a Handcraft looks like :).

[popsax]

saxpics, The picture of the Blessing sax from ebay is neither a Martin nor is it Asian. Granted in the last few years, Blessings have been made in Taiwan and look the same as the one in the photo. Yet the markings for Taiwanese horns are different. The sax in the photo is marked; "Blessing" with "Elkhart, Indiana" below it. Asian horns are marked; "Blessing" with an "arrow" through the name and nothing below it. It's a violation of FTC regulations to mark an item made in one country, when it is made in another. This is very misleading to the consumer. For example; "Stanley Tools" and "Nike" footwear are US companies and their products where once manufactured here. Now they have both moved operations to China. If you buy these products today, you will see they are marked "Made in China". Even though their company headquarters are still located within CONUS. The sax in the photo must have been made by another US company. Maybe Selmer USA or Conn USA. I believe that Blessing is still located in Indiana and still make brass wind instruments. Their major line.

[Kuik]

After reading this thread, I'm almost sure that the sax I bought today is made by Martin. I've made some pictures, and put them on my homepage:

http://ftp.alwaysaccess.nl/~kuik/sax/ (all the pics are clickable)

can anyone give me some information about the age, the origin and the value of this sax?

[Stencilman]

I thought I'd tack onto this thread that I've found a Blessing made by Buescher. The serial number charts indicate that it was made sometime prior to 1935, my guess is between 1932 and 1934 since it has features of both the New Aristocrat and the Aristocrat I models. To see the discussion, click here (saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=10630).