Klarinet Archive - Posting 000175.txt from 2003/11

From: "Abraham Gamboa" <abraham.gamboa@-----.br>
Subj: Re: [kl] please excuse a saxophone question....
Date: Tue, 11 Nov 2003 19:38:01 -0500

Thanks for sharing your experiences with us Lelia. I had bought some real
nice vintage horns in the early 90s in several cities from Miami, Orlando to
Atlanta to NYC. But as you said most of those days are gone via the internet
which is good and bad.
How about German sax maker Julius Kielwerth, I have a silver plated vintage
soprano of his with "The New King" with a world globe in the background
(engraved) written down on the bell (straight instrument). He seems to have
made horns for lots of companies!!??? I bought this horn in Brasil with the
original case with the crown and JK emblem and all on it (made in Germany).
The guy who sold it to me has about the best repair shop in Brasil, he fixes
horns for Hermeto Paschoal and most of the best pros in the country. His dad
was a genious in repairs and from a very musical italian family.
My good friend and musician Bob Ackerman has some interesting articles (even
Master Classes) in Saxophone Journal about Great USA Horns (March/April
2001; May/June 2000; April/May 2000; Set./Oct 1998; March/April 1997). Lots
of good info in these articles!! Abraham
----- Original Message -----
From: "Lelia Loban" <lelialoban@-----.net>
Subject: [kl] please excuse a saxophone question....

>
> In addition to what Bill Hausmann and others wrote about Martins....
Okay,
> disclaimer first: I'm no expert. I'm nothing but an opinionated amateur.
>
> But, FWIW, I believe that all of the post-WWII Martins, including the pro
> models, have the soldered-on tone holes. Another characteristic of
Martins
> is the striking, Art Deco design of the engraving, key guards and keys.
An
> unusual, patented octave key (several different styles, all distinctive)
> gives away the identity of a Martin stencilled with a house brand --
> something to look for, because these stencil Martins can be first-rate
> saxes, for very little money. I own and love two Martins, both
> silver-plated: a 1951 Committee made for the US Navy (has both "The
Martin"
> and Navy engraving) and an alto made for sale in the Weymann music store
> (Philadelphia) and stencilled Weymann (but not Martin), probably made in
> 1928.
>
> The Committee tenor, $130 (!) at a flea market, was tarnished black when I
> bought it, and the case smelled like a cess pit. That sax cleaned up
> splendidly. It's a monster. Nothing surprising about that. The Navy
> didn't buy junk. The Navy of that era purchased these saxes directly from
> the manufacturers and offered them to Navy musicians at bargain prices, so
> that the performers in the band could afford to upgrade to high-quality
> instruments. Even in dirty, "as is" condition, this 1951 sax looked as if
> it hadn't been played to death, since it still had 1950s-era clutter in
the
> case, so buying it was an easy decision.
>
> The "Weymann" alto was a less-easy decision. It was unmistakably a
Martin,
> because of the patented, Art Deco, "curved peace sign" octave key and
other
> Martin design characteristics. It came with its original Martin
> mouthpiece, a selling point because old saxes often don't play well with
> new mouthpieces. So, despite the stencil brand name, I bought this sax at
> a flea market for $170, more than I usually paid for a no-name, with the
> intention of reselling it to a student who wanted an interesting vintage
> sax but couldn't afford a big name. It just looked like a sax that
> shouldn't end up at the junk yard. I cleaned the instrument and case, and
> decided that before I tried to sell, I should have the necessary minor
> restoration done by a good local repairman, for another $80. He resoldered
> a key post and the leg of a key guard that had popped up on the bell, and
> bumped out a small dent at the same location; and he replaced the upper
> pads and a couple of springs. (Popped posts look terrible to a buyer, and
> hold down the selling price, even though they're usually not a big deal to
> get fixed -- in fact, I eventually learned to solder them myself.) Then,
> naturally, I had to test the repairs, so I tried the sax out, and....
>
> The Weymann probably isn't worth much more money than the $250 I spent on
> it, because no-names are always suspect. Sometimes manufacturers reserved
> their own brand names for the best instruments and put store brand names
on
> the inferior goods. That stigma is why, when I intended to sell the
> Weymann-Martin after reconditioning, in 1997, I planned to ask $325, hope
> for $300 and take $275, at a time when restored Conn altos from the 1920s
> were retailing for around $800-900 --- I'd only make $25 or maybe $50 on
> the deal. The Weymann turned out to be such a honey of a player that I
> never did put it up for sale. Brand name or none, it's one of the best
> bargains I ever found, and it's a keeper. Dollar value doesn't always
tell
> the whole story.
>
> Lately, nothing good has turned up at the flea markets where I prowl.
This
> was a bad summer, with rain nearly every weekend, but even so, I think
eBay
> is hurting the flea markets, a comedown from the golden age in the late
> 1980s through late 1990s, when dealers apparently didn't know about any
> saxes except the Selmer Mark VI. Fine vintage saxes of other types
crawled
> out of the basements and sold "as is" for next to nothing. Condition
> ranged from total wreckage to near- mint, and condition seemed to have
next
> to nothing to do with the price. With a local "buyer beware" auction as a
> safety net where I could dump my mistakes, I bought everything I could
> afford that looked even half-good.
>
> Once I'd played sax long enough to know what I liked best, I decided it
> would make sense to keep nothing but the Conns from the 1920s, but I
> couldn't stand to let go of a King Saxello soprano and these two Martins.
> And, uh, I guess I kept a Buescher or four, and a stencil Conn ("Grand
> Opera") C-melody.... Anyhow, The Martins both have excellent intonation,
> with an especially beautiful, clear-toned upper register. Altissimo is a
> breeze on them both. They're my favorite saxes for music with a lot of
> high tones. Bonus: the keywork on these Martins is comfortable for my
> small hands. That's unusual in vintage saxophones, most of which seem to
> have been made for the Jolly Green Giant.
>
> Lelia Loban
> E-mail: lelialoban@-----.net
> Web site (original music scores as audio or print-out):
> http://members.sibeliusmusic.com/LeliaLoban
>
>
>
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