[Seasax]

On saxpics it says clearly that SBAs NEVER had the serial number on the bell, well, mine does.
on the 'foot' of brass that is connecting the bell brace to the bell itself mine has the serial number, matching the on on the back of the horn,
also, i recently saw an SBA in Howarths that had a different SN in the same place, the horn had a five digit serial number, but the bell had a four digit serial number?

 

[Adam]

Hmm... Both my bari and tenor have the SN on the bell (brace) as well.

 

[Graysax]

my 49XXX alto has it on the bell guard as well - and only 4 of the 5 digits - oddly it is the "9" above the xxx number - so it almost looks like the "4" is implied

Charlie

 

[Tharruff]

Searjeant,

I think you are misundestanding the meaning of 'SBAs NEVER had the serial number on the bell'.

For example, many of the early Selmer Saxes had the serial number prominently on the side of the bell usually right under the Selmer logo. I have two Modele 22's an SSS and a Balanced Action that all have their serial numbers on the bell like that.

I'm guessing that Balanced Actions were probably the last model that got their main serial numbers on the bell.

Also note that, my 1963 Mark VI has the serial number (less the 1st digit) stamped in small numbers on the bell to body brace pad as you have described.

My take on this is that at some point in the manufacturing process a bell, bow and body were 'meant' to go together to make a Sax but weren't yet soldered or clamped together permanently. So the bell was serialized to indicate which body it went with should they ever get separated somehow. (In the lacquer booth or something like that)

 

[Seasax]

My take on this is that at some point in the manufacturing process a bell, bow and body were 'meant' to go together to make a Sax but weren't yet soldered or clamped together permanently. So the bell was serialized to indicate which body it went with should they ever get separated somehow. (In the lacquer booth or something like that)

then why was there one with a completely different serial number on the bell?

 

[Tharruff]

If you noticed what I said about my Mark VI, it had the serial number less the 1st digit. Also, Graysax says that his only has 4 of the 5 digits.

I would just about be willing to bet that if you went back and looked at the horn you were referring to you would see that is the number that was on the bell brace.

Besides I don't and haven't ever worked for Selmer so I am just giving you my opinion based on what I have observed...believe it, or not...its up to you...

Example: My Mark VI- SN = 123456
Pad SN = 23456

Example: Graysax' Alto - SN = 12345
Pad SN = 2345

If you see a horn that legitimately has two COMPLETELY different numbers then I can only guess that it was 'separated at birth' or was made from a 'train wreck' of two horns.

 

[Seasax]

no, but this one had a totally different set of numbers, not only four of the five digits.

 

[Tharruff]

IMO - two completely different numbers = see below. (which was copied from above)

'If you see a horn that legitimately has two COMPLETELY different numbers then I can only guess that it was 'separated at birth' or was made from a 'train wreck' of two horns.'

 

[AMASAX]

as mentioned above, the early Selmers had the serial prominently stamped(in large font) underneath the Selmer verbiage on the right side of the bell, just above the low B/Bb key guard.

I suspect your serial is smaller font, located elsewhere, and probably either inventory control or some sort of internal use only model number.

The serials on the bell were phased out during the Balanced Action run, with mucho overlap of the serial being on the bell or on the lower back in the currently used location.

The latest bell serial I've ever seen(pics) was a 30,xxx horn. Since the SBA run started at approx 33,2xx range(alto first), I suppose there may be some bell serials up to that point, but I've never seen any that late.

 

[AMASAX]

Quick update:

Interestingly enuf, I just came across some pics of BA tenor #33,187, which is the latest BA tenor I've yet seen. It's a Euro BA, which in my experience, often have the bell serial, when similar serials on the U.S. bound horns do not.

This particular BA tenor has the serial on both the bell and the lower rear.

So, guess one can have it both ways, eh?