Klarinet Archive - Posting 000492.txt from 2005/06

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] OT (sax) question
Date: Sat, 25 Jun 2005 02:53:38 -0400

At 09:53 AM 6/24/2005 -0400, Lelia Loban wrote:
>Bill Hausmann wrote,
> >The Yamahas are still OK, but avoid Selmer's
> >Elkhart products.
>
>I agree, but maybe it's worth noting that, for someone looking for an old
>sax instead of a new one, some of Selmer's early New York and Elkhart
>instruments are good instruments. I own a gold-plated Elkhart Selmer alto
>sax, with the split bell design (keys on both sides of the bell). It has
>keywork to high F, with no front F. There are no reliable serial number
>lists for early Elkhart Selmers, but the split bell design probably dates
>mine to the mid-1920s, and no later than about 1934.

Saxes marked "Selmer New York" or "Selmer American" were stencils, and
could have been made by Conn, Martin, or Buescher. It is pretty easy to
tell the difference, since they maintain the basic design features of each
company.

>...They're both "bottom-heavy" saxes, with an unusually booming, resonant tone
>in the low range. I happen to like that sound a lot, but the Weyman-Martin
>has a clearer, more beautiful tone for playing high-pitched passages--and
>the same is true of that later Martin Committee tenor.

I like the low end on MY Martin tenor, although the old Typewriter alto
could be stronger down there.

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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