first time on site, I have questions

[Sean S. of New Jersey]

I found my great-great Uncle's music instruments and am trying to identify them to sell. One is a Sax marked Velvetone, Elkhart Ind. With a date of 1915. Is this a Martin, or something else? How do I tell what type of Sax it is, tenor or the other styles listed? Also any clues on a Clarinet marked A. Vion Paris, same vintage? Thanks Sean

[Blackwolf42]

saxpics.com should have answers. The sax is most likely a tenor if the neck has an extra hump in it. On alto, it is more of one curve, rather than multiple.

[Ruediger Kramer]

as said, saxpics, hope you sell your old saxes...

[stitch]

One is a Sax marked Velvetone, Elkhart Ind. With a date of 1915. Is this a Martin, or something else?

It's definitely a stencil (made by one of the major makers with someone else's name/brand on) and could be a Martin, or equally likely a Buescher or Conn. As others have said: saxpics should point you in the right direction.

Also any clues on a Clarinet marked A. Vion Paris, same vintage? Thanks Sean

There was a couple of A. Vions in Paris in the late 19th/early 20th century, but that's about all I can tell you. If you're wanting to sell, you'll need to establish whether it's a modern Boehm key system or the older Albert or simple system - a Google Image search should help. If it's that old I suspect it'll be Albert. It's probably wood rather than ebonite, and you'll have to check for cracks and splits. It may well be high pitch, and so out of tune with today's instruments (there's still a market for them though). Measure the total length with the mouthpiece on: about 26 1/2" for low pitch, inch or so shorter for high.

[Grumps]

A great site for identifying stencil horns:

http://drrick.com/stencil.html