[Ixthusdan]

I am working from home and have too much time to look at this stuff! So, I did not find any indication of when my horn was actually produced. It is a Cannonball Vintage Reborn tenor. In the case I found the engraver's signature card and the serial number matches the one on the horn. So I emailed Cannonball with the question.

(Foreigner, Too Much Time on My Hands) Being impatient, I called Cannonball yesterday afternoon Eastern time. I just wanted to see if anyone was there. A very nice lady answered the phone and I asked her my question about my horn. She looked it up and told me it was a Vintage Reborn Alto. I told her that it was not an Alto, but a tenor. She asked me to send her pictures and she would research and call me back. Now the fun part. Turns out I was speaking with Sheryl Laukat, CEO of Cannonball! She said there were limited people working because of COVID-19. She called me back after 5 minutes and shared that my horn was manufactured in late 2016, available for sale in early 2017. I shared how much I enjoy the horn, and she was appreciative of that.

So what is the turn around time from production to sale? My horn had been at Qinlan and Fabish for about a year, according to my clerk. Anyone else ever checked into it?

 

[saxoclese]

The saxophones are manufactured in Taiwan and shipped to Cannonball in the U.S. There they are checked and adjusted and the pro models are then "acoustically customized", have stones are put in the keys, and engraved in the engraving department. When one of their dealers places an order, the instruments are shipped. They are then put in the dealers stock and the time till they are sold is anyone's guess. Someone at Cannonball can probably give an estimate as to how long it takes for a sax to go through the procedure mentioned above.

 

[Arundo Donax]

A rough chronology of their sax series with serial numbers for each:

http://www.cannonballmusic.com/chronology.php

 

[tedtelle1]

I ordered a Vintage Reborn alto through a local music store and had it in less than a week. He phoned Cannonball and they had it in stock and was shipped the next day.

 

[Ixthusdan]

I ordered a Vintage Reborn alto through a local music store and had it in less than a week. He phoned Cannonball and they had it in stock and was shipped the next day.

I am certain that they have horns available for sale. I think the reason I found it curios is I live next to Elkhart, Indiana, and remember when saxes were actually being made there. When you made a purchase, that horn had been produced just a few months prior. It is not really a negative, more of an observation. It certainly does not affect the quality of the horns. And it is impressive to find a CEO answering phones from outside lines!

A rep finally emailed me with the information about my horn. She indicated that my Roadster engraving was the current image for their limited edition VR tenors.

saxocles, I think your run-down of the production flow is a good assumption. Saxophones are not tomatoes; they are not going to spoil if they are not fresh! LOL