Klarinet Archive - Posting 000309.txt from 1999/12

From: LeliaLoban@-----.com
Subj: [kl] Ye Olde Conn Saxamophone
Date: Sat, 11 Dec 1999 00:06:53 -0500

Shouryu Nohe wrote,
[snip] I have heard from several sources that really old Conn altos
(specifically the Chu Berry and Naked Lady models) were really good. I've
spoken with some people who like them better than Mk VIs. Is this the same
case with the tenors? Are they really good? And I know the M designation is
important - it tells you what pitch the horn is, right? Thing is, I don't
know a 6M from a 20M, and whether it's HP, LP, Right Pitch or Left Pitch!
Can someone explain the designations for me?>

For more about the Conn company and Conn saxophones, see Margaret Downie
Banks's web site,

<A HREF@-----.edu/~mbanks/">Margaret Downie Banks Homepage</A>

She curated a major exhibit of vintage Conns for the America's Shrine to
Music museum. On the Deja News archives (www.deja.com), you can search the
alt.music.saxophone newsgroup and find lots more information, from people
like Paul Lindemeyer, author of the book, _Celebrating the Saxophone_, which
I recommend, BTW.

Sax players like to bicker good-naturedly about which of the vintage saxes
are best. My favorite saxes (along with a 1924 King Saxello soprano and a
1930-ish American Selmer alto) are a 1926 Conn "Chu Berry" tenor, a 1928 Conn
"Chu" alto and a 1926 Conn bass (not properly called a "Chu" -- the bass
retained characteristics of older models, such as keywork only to Eb). I'm
an amateur, but FWIW, I think these are killer saxes. The tenor and alto
have keywork to F. All have a powerful, resonant tone. The keywork,
especially the table keys, stretches my small hands to the point of
discomfort, but I'll put up with that for the pleasure of playing these saxes.

"Chu" saxes are nicknamed after the great jazz sax player, "Chu" Berry, who
played this model of tenor. The British called this model the "Big Bore."
It isn't boring, but it does have a wide bore. ;-) The Chus begin in 1925
and end in the early 1930s. There's some overlap between Chus and earlier
and later models. You can spot a "Chu" easily, though, because the G# table
key has a cross-hatched pattern, like a fingernail file, deeply incised into
the flat key-touch for the left pinkie finger. That's the only sax with the
fingernail file G#. Early "Chu" altos have the typical sax neck. Most later
altos and many of the later C Melodies (aka C tenors, not called "Chus"
because they were sold for non-transposing amateurs to play from vocal scores
along with the home piano, but perfectly fine saxes for all that there's no
professional music for them) have the optional tuning neck. It's a great
feature, but according to my repairman, if anything goes wrong with it,
repairing it is a time-consuming hassle.

A modern, thin, extra-long screamer jazz mouthpiece can make a vintage Conn
play flat. To get the best out of a vintage sax, IMHO, it's best to try to
find an old hard rubber mouthpiece of the same vintage (Conn and Buescher
mpcs from the 1920s are great on these saxes), have a replica made, or find a
Rascher or a Caravan mpc. The old mouthpieces are shorter than most modern
ones and have a fat, round inner chamber. The "Chu" has a more mellow tone
than the nasal, "screamer" type of sound some people favor today. Some
people will claim that all vintage saxes have a "muffled" tone. IMHO, if an
old Conn sounds muffled, either there's something the matter with it or
somebody's been sitting in front of the trumpets for too long. The old Conn
sounds plenty loud (the bass makes my ears ring at top volume -- if I played
it that way much, I'd have to wear hearing protection), but the low partials
sound more audible than on a modern sax, while the high partials sound less
shrill.

The "Chu" era Conns may have any of several finishes the company offered as
options: bare brass, lacquered brass, silver plate with gold wash in the bell
(the most common finish), silver plate with gold wash in the bell *and *on
the keys (my bass has this option, which would look very spiffy if it weren't
in such beat-up condition), or brushed gold plate (only on special order).
Engraving cost extra. Most of the "Chu" saxes have decorative engraving,
typically flowers, on the front of the bell. Some have only the Conn logo on
the front ("C.G. Conn Ltd., Elkhart Ind. U.S.A.") with no decorative
engraving. That doesn't mean they're inferior saxes. It just means the
original buyer couldn't afford the artwork. Every now and then, an
extra-special one turns up with engraving all the way around, from neck to
bell.

The "Naked Lady" saxes are a later model, from the 1930s, also highly
sought-after. I've never played one of those. I like the earlier "New
Wonders," too, but they have no front F and some of the early ones have
keywork only to Eb. There's quite a bit of variation and overlap of
specifics and there are a lot of transitional saxes, known as "trannies" and
often very fine horns, between models.

On the back of any vintage Conn sax, there's a series of codes, such as these
from my tenor:

Pat. D. Dec. 8, 1914
1119954
T
M2172xx
L

The first line is the U.S. patent date. The second line is the U.S. patent
number. These two lines will be the same on all Conns of this period. On
the next line, the T stands for tenor. ( S=soprano, A=alto, C=C Melody,
B@-----. The "M" is part of
the serial number and means nothing except that it was the letter Conn chose
to represent saxophones during that period. "L" means "Low Pitch," a new
pitch standard at the time, modern pitch in the U.S.A. today, concert a=440
Hz. To find out what year a Conn sax was made, check out the serial number
on Steve Goodson's site:

<A HREF@-----.com/">Steve Goodson Woodwinds LLC, New
Orleans, LA ...</A>

If you find a "Chu" with an "H" in that last line, it is "High Pitch,"
concert a@-----.
Pulling out the neck won't help, because that will throw the octaves out of
tune with each other, foul up the throat tones and often make the lowest two
notes gurgle or fail to sound. A "High Pitch" sax is good only for playing
with other vintage "High Pitch" instruments and should cost less than a sax
with the "L".

Hope this helps, and good luck finding what you want!

Lelia

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