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Adolphe Edouard Sax Model Breakdown

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
Administrator
AE Sax Saxophones, pre-Selmer buyout.
Adolphe Sax model, by Selmer.

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Broken down by feature set, of course. AE Sax didn't have model names, as far as I'm aware.

It looks like AE Sax had the reduced-keywork, no roller horns available from about 1907 until around when Selmer bought them in 1928. From what I can see, there was a menu of available options:

* A "starter" model that had a keyed range from low B to altissimo F and no rollers or chromatic F#. Dual octave keys. No pearls.
* Pearl key touches.
* Range extended to low Bb to altissimo F or F#. (Might be D#. Hey, I can't see where the rods go.)
* Automatic octave key.
* G# trill, forked Eb fingering, and either an altissimo D# trill or an altissimo F#.

This is similar to what Couesnon and other folks did.

Also, as far as I can tell, the straight soprano, sopranino, and bass were "custom built" and based (heh) on older tooling, such as this one with a very late serial number (21032).

Oh. Speaking of serials, the highest recorded number is 21392. The latest I have is 23127. I'm sure someone has a later horn from 1927 or 1928.

Fixed links: April 27, 2019
 
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Did I send you the pics of the C pitched tenor? I didn't see them in your gallery.
 
Yup. I've got them. Thanks!

On a related topic, there's the question of which "generation" of AE Sax horns had the most features. It's obviously 3rd or 4th, but you'd have to decide if the octave key mechanism is more important than the G#/C#/B/Bb cluster. I also don't know how much the bore design changed.

I also could try to make a provisional serial number chart. There's at least one hard and fast date: when AE moved from 51 rue Blanche to 84 rue Myrha.
 
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