About my Kohlert Tenor

botygarcia

HI you all, I play on a Kohlert Tenor sax according to my search in the web my serial number locate this saxophone made on 1909-1910.
For obviously I am not going to post the serial number on the forum, my question is, where I can verify this information ?
Any one can help.
The sax is in good shape, very well maintain and I play regularly on it.
Every time I perform I got people asking me all kind of questions about this horn , I got always good compliments about it .
Can any one help ?
Thanks
send email to botygarcia@gmail.com
 
Good or bad, I'm one of the very few non-German authorities on Kohlert.

* My old website: http://saxpics.com/kohlert/ (note that it's no longer owned by me)
* The serial number list I created: http://saxpics.com/kohlert/serials.htm

Biggest thing to note about Kohlert is the fact that there is a pre-WWII Kohlert and a post-WWII Kohlert and they are completely different and have different serial number charts (there are also some Amatis made with Kohlert tooling).

If you'd like me to help you more, check out my "Help ME Help YOU" thread.

And welcome to the Forum!
 
old Kohlerts

ask Lost Lamb, lol, she has a bunch of em........or did the last time I was at her house for dinner. I meant to play one of those Kohlert tenors too but got side-tracked. so many horns, so little time.
 
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I've actually "talked" with LL about her horns. She's got quite a few Kohlerts and rather likes them. If you read the hyperbole on Cybersax.com, the 55/57 competes well with the Selmer Mark VI as an excellent all-around horn.

IMO, the pre-WWII VKS models -- that's the one with the interesting VKS keyguards -- are some of the prettiest horns I've evar seen. And the VKS bari has some unusual keywork ....
 
next time I talk to her I'll ask about the Kohlerts, don't know how many she has left or which ones, but I'll find out; I really like the tone on some of those old German horns, and I agree....the VKS models are pretty horns. I saw LL a few weeks ago at our mutual tech's lookin 20 yrs younger than she has any right to, I had a couple of Bueschers to be tweaked & she a VI tenor & 62 Yamaha alto.....but no time for any real socializing as usual. Her oldest boy, unless I'm mistaken, is an assist. teacher to Kenneth Tse now, played Carnegie Hall recently....I think that kid was born with a sax. do you have any Kohlerts? I sure wouldn't mind having a good one.......(yeah, like I need another horn)
 
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I, personally, no longer own any instruments of any kind. My wife's got a 1981-vintage Selmer Omega alto, a 1981-vintage Selmer Signet 100, some flute that probably cost $50 new and a 1954-vintage spinet piano (odd I can remember how old it is, but not the make).

The other thing I generally say about most Germanic horns from pre-WWII (Adler, Huller, Keilwerth, Kohlert) is that they are variation on a Conn design. If you want Conn tone, but a better quality horn with better intonation, g'head and look at these. Some have quite ardent followers.
 
that Selmer Omega is a really nice horn, 'bout as close to a VI as Selmer USA ever made IMO. LL says she has two tenors (a the Kohlert & a 57...same model? I dunno) 2 altos (a 55 & a 57) and one 58 bari. just 5 now, lol. probably been down-sizing; next time I get a chance I'm gonna play that 57 tenor.
 
The early 1980's Omega was the first professional-level horn out of Selmer USA (sort of; let's not talk about stencils). In my opinion, the Omega is a darker VI, but not as dark as the VII, and as nimble as the original S80.

Later Omegas were, allegedly, not as good. Then Selmer USA started that 100/200/300 (etc.) numbering scheme.

I think it's a nicer horn than the VII or S80. It's also cheap: it originally listed for $1500 (alto) and ... it still commands about $1500.
 
well, I've had three Selmer Paris altos in my day; a '64 MKVI, a '76 MKVII & a later SA80. I much prefer the VII to the others. (sold them other two) In fact, my VII alto blows the other two away.....for me anyway. YMMV, lol. I use a Buescher 140 Aristocrat as a back up alto, especially in the community concert band. my only tenor (as I play alto mainly) is a Buescher Super 400. I'd ask LL to leave me one of those Kohlerts in her will, but she'll no doubt outlive me by years.

sigh
 
I rather liked the Mark VIIs that I've played. IIRC, I've only played two: an alto and a tenor. They were disappointing in terms of "a successor to the Mark VI" but not bad. In terms of the Omega compared to the VII, the VII didn't feel "dark", it felt "heavy". I don't need the "heavy". In other words, condition and price being equal, I'd pick the Omega over a VII. I'd pick the S80 over the Omega if the price was equal, because I'd sell the S80 for more cash and use that to buy some Yamahas :).
 
ok, I know I won't convert you to VII altos over a VI, lol, but here's something you might find interesting.........

ck out Masato Honda on a Mark VII alto

http://de.youtube.com/watch?v=Z51Bz8sIZyU

I prefer a VI tenor over a VII any day, but when it comes to altos the only way I'll give up my VII is when they pry it from my cold, dead hands.
 
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I had a friend once who swore by his Mark VII alto (which had a lot of intonation issues, forcing him to keep an electronic tuner on his stand while he played lest he end up on a long note on one of the offending tones and boot same). Then he got a deal on a Yamaha high end alto and that was the end of that.

(Since that time, he got a deal on a Selmer Hummingbird, and that has become his new holy grail. There's nought like folk...)
 
maybe he had a bad one........there are dogs even among VI's, I've seen & played a few. my VII has perfect intonation, never have any problem at all unlike some of the Yamahas I've heard (could be who was playin em too). there use to be this old joke way back when I was in school..."oh, you've got a Yamahahahaha" I thought it terrible and not funny at all, but it was back in their earlier production days...(their horns are much better now) most people who put down VII's never played a really good one, they've been indoctrinated by the VI hype into mindless zombies, lol...MKVI, MKVI, MKVI, MKVI, and they are very fine horns without a doubt...but, been there, done that....M119XXX, sold it & never regretted it. I'll keep my VII, thank you, over any Yamaha; played a Reference 54 alto, beautiful horn, really nice sound, but it sounded so much like my VII (this from the folks at the Selmer dealer too who heard both horns) that I didn't buy it, had my check book with me too. go figure, I guess, as they say, you sound pretty much the same on most any horn to a large degree to others. I still think the VII (mine anyway) one of the best altos Selmer ever made, IMHO, but were I to lose the particular one I have or it be stolen & un-recoverable I would probably get a Reference 54 alto.
 
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