A New Sub-species?

[innerear]

Anyone want to hazard some guesses about this beasty?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2546699412

The keywork has Keilwerth/Kohlert elements, it has straight tone holes, Conn- like table keys, and the engraving script is the same as a "The Martin". I have a feeling the guy may be in the ballpark as to the vintage.

[Hornlip]

There was a similar "The Martin" alto on eBay some time ago. I speculated then that perhaps during the time Martin was winding down its saxophone production, it had a european maker stencil some horns for it. I suspect it was a little later than 1960, though, because I don't think Martin completely stopped making pro-level horns until the mid-60's.

[Pete]

Nice catch. It's a Malerne (http://www.saxpics.com/the_gallery/malerne/) stencil. R. (Robert) Malerne was a French company that is mainly known for having been purchased by SML in 1975.

Why this horn is intriguing: Martin was owned by Reynolds Music Company from 1961 to 1964. After 1964, Reynolds stenciled another horn from SML, called the Contempra (http://www.saxpics.com/sml/sml_stencils.htm).

Martin was purchased by Leblanc in 1971 and stopped making pro horns then, in favor of importing Yanagisawa stencils (the Martin Galaxy).

I dunno if the serial number given should correspond to Martin's serial number chart: European stencils usually use the serial number from the company of origin (i.e. "it should have a Malerne serial number"). Unfortunately, there's no Malerne serial number chart.

[Jack W.]

Now this is interesting to me as I posted a while ago about a tenor I saw for sale locally. I thought it might be a Keilwerth stencil, but it might just as well be considered a Martin stencil. Here's a pared-down version of my original post, which describes the horn. It has BOTH thick soldered tone holes AND the JK "Best In The World" stamp, but is NOT stamped "Made in Germany". I have since seen a somewhat similar crosshatched G# key on pics of a Keilwerth "New King" model.

One of my techs has a tenor that he may eventually sell after fixing it up, and I'm stumped by it. The only engraving on the bell is "Whitehall" in script, followed by "Instruments of Quality" in a ribbon motif. There are no other decorations engraved on the bell.

The keys are nickelplated, with some wear to the plating. The key guards are wide and ribbon-shaped, and the G# key is crosshatched but looks cruder than a Chu Berry G# key.

If this is a Keilwerth (which is not certain, from the posts I read here), and if the serial numbers on the stencils are sequential (which is apparently even less certain), then the serial number of 209xx means a build date of 1951, according to the Keilwerth web page.

The horn has had a rough life -- one key pearl missing, one burned, strap ring nearly broken, a few lousy solders -- but even in its current semiplayable shape with many new pads, it actually sounds pretty good, not unlike a ... Keilwerth.... 8)

I don't know if I'm computer-savvy enough to make a website, although I do have some pics of the horn here. I have seen where people have done it at Geocities, so I may give it a try. I have decided that I am no longer interested in this horn, but it is still a curiosity in my opinion. If I had to hazard a guess, it would appear that someone in Europe got hold of a Martin tenor body, made keywork for it (Amati? Kohlert?), and sent the result through the JK factory. Any other ideas?

[Pete]

Remember that Keilwerth did make a limited amount of horns with bevelled tone holes, just like a Martin. This was their first series of horns after they were moved from Czechoslovakia to Germany.

Additionally, the forst Amati-made Tonekings did have the "JK Best in the World" logo.

I eagerly await the pics.

[Jack W.]

Bingo, that must be it then. I was assuming that it had to be a Martin if the tone holes were soldered and bevelled. So the horn could still very well be a Keilwerth -- or perhaps an Amati. Not altogether surprising.

I will go to Geocities next and investigate getting the pics up, and then continue on the thread in the Keilwerth area.

[Jack W.]

Saga (such as it is) continues here:

http://saxontheweb.myforums.net/viewtopic.php?t=5779