Straight alto

[saxtek]

Does anybody own one of the early (1920s) Buescher straight altos with low B and Bb keys that are NOT side by side? Do you have photos available?

[Bootman]

Sorry no, but would love to see any pics and or further information on the subject.

[StevenW]

8)

[hammer]

yup, would be interesting to compare it with the current straight saxes

[saxgourmet]

I've owned a Keilwerth straight alto (nice horn) and currently have a Buescher straight alto in my collection. The Buescher sounds, well, like a Buescher! The Keilwerth was indistinguishable from their standard alto (to my ear at least), but the Bueascher has a sweetness not unlike a C melody.

[saxtek]

It's been a point of conjecture that the oddball saxes of the 1920s, including Buescher's straight alto, were marketed in the late 20s to improve sales in a declining market.

Yet the Saxello was introduced earlier, when saxophone sales were strong. I've also heard reports (but have no proof) of Buescher straight altos with serial numbers from 1925, not a bad year for saxophone sales.

There is even a Conn brochure showing a prototype of the Conn-O-Sax, quite unlike its final version with keywork typical of the early 1920s. The Conn-O-Sax was definitely marketed after the unstable economy and market saturation had slowed saxophone sales. Yet this prototype would indicate that development of Conn's new saxes was driven by record profits during the saxophone boom, not by desperation in the late 20s.

I'm wondering if the "unusual" layout of low B and Bb keys is found on the earliest Buescher straight altos. If so, what year of manufacture does the serial number indicate? Does anyone have a straight alto from 1925 or 1926 or even earlier?

[BigDaddyJ]

These are pretty rare horns, right? Here's one for you Buescher nuts.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=2506125065&category=35 9

The price seems a whole lot less than the one I saw on ebay a couple of months ago.

[OldBuesherKen]

I inherited an old Buesher Alto that has considerable engraving work. I was told that it was designed for someone on the Jimmy Dorsey band. Can anyone help me confirm it's heritage and potential value?

Some identifying Characteristics on the bell:

"The Buescher"
ELKHART INDIANA
True-Tone
Trade Mark
Low Pitch
Ser. No 192###

Thanks

[paulwl]

Well, it wasn't made for the JD band, as the serial dates it to 1925, long before JD even had a band. (He was in the Jean Goldkette band in Detroit at the time.)

JD was an early Selmer adopter thanks to his prominence in the radio and record business (it was really their first stronghold in the USA). He did get Selmer to make a special model for his sax section in the mid-late 1930s. It was a Balanced-Action body tube with the old style Super-Sax keywork.

Given this, and the fact that very few (if any) name bands in the JD era were still using True-Tones, it's unlikely that any of JD's sidemen played this horn while in his employ.

As for the engraving on your alto, how "considerable" is it? If it covers almost all of the bell front, or more still, you probably have a gold-plated (or ex-gold-plated) horn. If it's just a roughly triangular area that stops about halfway down, that's the standard pattern.

[OldBuesherKen]

I don't have the horn with me right now. The engraving covers all of the bell and even goes up the back of the horn. There is a picture of an woman in one spot, on the bell I think, and an Ehgret (bird) somewhere else.

1925 huh? Is there another source I can pursue? I think it probably is gold platted and it has some wierd keys that I don't think are standard.

The engraving looks hand done.

thanks

[saxtek]

I've finally found the source of the photo of the straight alto with the unusual low keys. It is a Buescher straight alto with a low B only (no low Bb), and it belongs to Leo Van Oostrom, the wonderful saxophone artist from the Netherlands. He is trying to find a Buescher straight alto with both low B and Bb keys to add to his fantastic collection of historic saxes.

[Bootman]

Steve Goodson had one for sale. I really enjoy Leo Van Oostroms playing, Such a wondeful and articulate player.