[Larsgot]

Hi there, I have recently aquired an Adolphe Sax tenor, but I have difficulties finding information on it. Maybe someone can help. The sax has this inscription: "1er grand prix de la facture instrumentale medaille d'or 1900, Adolphe Sax, 84, Rue Myrha, Paris, No. 399". I have attached 3 photos; 1 of the inscription, 1 of the special high F key and a complete image of the sax. As you can see on the photo the instrument has the typical Adolphe Sax symbol - the S over the A, but instead of stating "Paris" on the A is says "Fils" (I think, as it is not 100% clear anymore). This indicates that the instrument was made in Adolphe Edouard Sax's workshop, the son of Antoine-Joseph "Adolphe" Sax, the inventor of the saxophone. However, I cannot find any list of his production and cannot date my instrument via the serial#. Edouard's workshop worked from 1894 (when his father died) to 1928, when it was sold to Selmer. By #399 I suppose it must be from a relatively early period - maybe 1905-1915. It has a quite modern key technique apart from the high F key and is easy to play. It has a beautiful rich sound. I am having it restored during December by the best sax instrument maker in my country and it should become in fantastic condition. Can anyone date this instrument and maybe lead me to a list of Adolphe Edouard Sax's production? Can you price it based on the assumption that it will be in a very good condition. It seems to have been relacquered, unfortunately, but ages ago. Hope to hear from one of you. Best rgds Lars

 

[jazzsax07]

Does it have 2 octave keys? I can't tell from the photos. I have an 1889 Boosey bari. that looks much more "old school" than yours.
Is it high pitch? I added a removable extension to make mine closer to low pitch.
Pictures of bari here:

http://entertainment.webshots.com/album/558901897ktsVIG

Have fun with finding the history of your horn

 

[daigle65]

It's surprising how "modern" it looks.
Congratulations.
Is this basically the same sax as the Selmer "Série 22" or the "Modèle 22" ?

 

[Jazzbrass]

List of Adolphe Sax ( and son) Instruments

However, I cannot find any list of his production and cannot date my instrument via the serial#. Edouard's workshop worked from 1894 (when his father died) to 1928, when it was sold to Selmer. By #399 I suppose it must be from a relatively early period - maybe 1905-1915. It has a quite modern key technique apart from the high F key and is easy to play. It has a beautiful rich sound. I am having it restored during December by the best sax instrument maker in my country and it should become in fantastic condition. Can anyone date this instrument and maybe lead me to a list of Adolphe Edouard Sax's production?

Look at :
http://www.music.ed.ac.uk/euchmi/galpin/gdsl.html#p
and
http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?t=53971&highlight=Lyrist

And see also in my Gallery
http://gallery.mac.com/mjean2
E.A.Sax and Lyrist 65 picts

 

[saxtek]

Your Adolphe Sax tenor was actually made at the Selmer factory after Selmer purchased the Adolphe Sax name from Adolphe Edouard Sax.

A few years after Selmer took over the Sax factory, they re-introduced the Adolphe Sax name on a second line of instruments. Some of the first ones had parts left over from the Sax factory, but gradually the Adolphe Sax line became more and more like the Selmer New Largebore or Super saxes.

I have one of these tenors, and mine looks identical to yours, right down to the engraving. Yours is a bit older because my tenor has a serial number in the 900s. Most of these instruments have 3 digit serial numbers, but there are a few with numbers larger than 1000. The Adolphe Sax line was discontinued in the mid 1930s. Yours was probably made around 1930.

They were available in silver plated finish or a gold emulsion finish, which was more like a paint than a plating. I don't think the gold ones had engraving, so yours was probably originally silver plated.

All of these horns played very well, and can be used in a modern ensemble. It's also fun to pull out an Adolphe Sax instrument on the bandstand.

My MYSPACE page:

http://www.myspace.com/saxpsychosis

 

[Larsgot]

Thanks for your comments to my thread

Hi everybody and thanks for your valuable comments. My sax has only 1 octave key and it is quite modern - so more up-to-date than Selmer's Módele 22. What Saxtek writes totally makes sense and seems correct. I have in the meantime been in contact with Arno Bornkamp - maybe you know him. He is a Dutch musician, who has specialized in Adolphe Sax instruments. You should check out his site: www.arnobornkamp.nl. He has made a CD "Adolphe Sax Revisited", which I highly recommend. He plays on a 1876 AS alto and the sound is beautiful. I also recommend his CD Metropolis Berlin 1925-1933, where he also plays an AS tenor sax comparable to mine.

I asked Arno about my sax and he replied:

Very interesting! Your instrument is the same type as the one I used for the Cd. Just mine is the cheapest version: it doesn't have the nice engraving on the bell and also doesn't have a protector above the trill-f-key and a connection G#-C#. This sax is made by Selmer (and very comparable to 'Cigarcutter' from the same epoque) and launched as honor-serie to Adolphe Sax-son, from which Selmer bought the factory in 1928 (in fact Selmer started to built saxophones in 1922). The low serial number refers to this serie, the high one is a general Selmer number. The Rue Myrha refers to the last address of the Sax factory in Paris. Selmer was already located at the Place Dancourt.

I congratulate you with your sax. Do you have a nice old mouthpiece for it? When it fits, it could open some '[new' worlds of sound to you.

SAXTEK : which mouthpiece are you using for your AS sax? Can you recommend a mouthpiece from the old times, which would get me close to the original sound?

By the way there are no signs on my sax that it was born as a silver plated sax.

Thanks again for your comments.

Best rgds
Lars

 

[stitch]

By the way there are no signs on my sax that it was born as a silver plated sax.

Best rgds
Lars

Nor mine, I have number 665.