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E. K. Blessing elkhartind Artist model circa ~1918 is it worth restoring?

kaizer

So this guy I work with was going to throw out this Saxophone while cleaning his basement which I thought was a crime so I got it off him and was wondering if anyone knows what I found. All i know about the sax is how to play it. its marked as a EK Blessing Elkhartind Artist model with a serial number of 10449 and according to what i have it seems to have been made around 1915-1920. While i have no issue restoring it myself (I have done it before on cheaper instruments) if it turns out to be worth spending the money to have it professionally done I would much rather go that route.n Also the puppies name is Zoey
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Going to type this rather quickly, as I'm in NYC for a band trip.
That's definitely not going to go by the Blessing serial chart, it's a lot later than those dates.
Looks rather Conn/Pan-American-esque to me.
 
While there is a small percentage chance that the horn is from EA Couturier, it's more probably a Martin. Handcraft Imperial stencil is my bet (you can also check on my old website). No earlier than 1933, but possibly as late as 1943. Serial numbers mean very little on American-made stencils.

It really depends on how much money you want to spend. These aren't selling for much on eBay, if you look at completed ads. You'd get a bit less because it's a stencil. If you're just going to repad it and such yourself, that's, what, $50 for a set of pads? That's worth it, if you need a hobby. :D
 
I'm pretty sure its a martin also its has the matching serial on the neck and the tone holes are angled which i'm told they did. I will probably end up refinishing it myself I just wanted to make sure I wasn't about to destroy some sort off relic or something before I took it apart. It is missing a handful of pads and the entire inside of the bell is bluegreen.
 
Well I can see the Beveled tone holes now.
Probably a nice horn, hope you like it.
(I really need sleep on this trip ugh.)
 
kaizer said:
I'm pretty sure its a martin also its has the matching serial on the neck and the tone holes are angled which i'm told they did. I will probably end up refinishing it myself I just wanted to make sure I wasn't about to destroy some sort off relic or something before I took it apart. It is missing a handful of pads and the entire inside of the bell is bluegreen.
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Well, it's a relic, just not a necessarily valuable one :).

The blue-green might be a bad thing, though. I'd want to check a bit on that and see how deep it goes, because that's oxidation. Rusted through could = unplayable.
 
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A few months ago, I got an e-mail from someone asking me what the best way to mount a horn on a wall was. His father just died and the sax was an inheritance. He included some pics and s/n of said horn. Minty Selmer Mark VI tenor.

The only problem I have with a garbage horn hanging on the wall is if it smells bad. I would like to get a metal clarinet that can be shined up and string some Christmas lights on and around it. That could be fun.
 
yea i'm gonna end up just fixing it up myself I do like the idea of hanging it on the wall though i thats how i store my guitars at the moment
 
Decorating Your Home With Saxophones

When it comes to decorating your home with saxophones, I know all about that. ;)

As far as hanging them on the wall goes, I have always chosen to go for the conventional neckstrap route. However, and here's the big however, I make sure that the clip on the strap is metal, NOT plastic. Then I just attach a big split ring to that strap and hang the horn on the wall using a picture hook rated for heavy pics (50 lbs or so). At last count we have about 4 horns of various styles and rarities hanging all around the house. For example, here are a couple of vintage Italian-made, mirror image, tenors circa late 1950s.

Mirrored-Tenors.jpg

As for your idea Pete, to use a metal clarinet to string Christmas lights on, I have been doing that for a few years now, only I use an antique soprano of undetermined origin. (With double octave keys and no rollers. It's likely late 1800s.) Over the holiday season it sits on my K&M soprano stand; gets wrapped in a strand of clear pearls that have white LED lights woven through them; and then the horn gets a lit, coloured star on top.

Unfortunately, this is the best pic I have of it. It gives you an idea of what it looks like however...

Sop_tree-ws.jpg
 
Helen said:
As for your idea Pete, to use a metal clarinet to string Christmas lights on, I have been doing that for a few years now, only I use an antique soprano of undetermined origin. (With double octave keys and no rollers. It's likely late 1800s.) Over the holiday season it sits on my K&M soprano stand; gets wrapped in a strand of clear pearls that have white LED lights woven through them; and then the horn gets a lit, coloured star on top.
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Hey, that looks pretty good!

I mentioned the metal clarinet because I know I could probably find one for $25 or less on eBay. Soprano sax? Those are generally more expensive. (Besides, I'd probably try to make the soprano work :.)
 
pete said:
Hey, that looks pretty good!

I mentioned the metal clarinet because I know I could probably find one for $25 or less on eBay. Soprano sax? Those are generally more expensive. (Besides, I'd probably try to make the soprano work :.)
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You wouldn't want to make that soprano work. :p I pass it around at educational presenations so people can handle a saxophone. I should take a picture of the seal some day and send it to you. Perhaps you can figure out what it is.

The price was perfect. I paid exactly $0.00 for it--probably about what it's worth. ;) Where I got it from will remain a secret however. It was a gift from someone who had inherited it.
 
I've been given at least four horns. One I had overhauled, so it was "free" in name only. Another needed minor repair. The others I rarely used: hmmm. Use my minty Buffet Dynaction alto or the early Conn New Wonder stencil? Should I take along that C melody on the off chance I'll use it on one chart?

I sort of hint elsewhere that I'm interested in early clarinets. I like the look. I would like to try one, sometime, just for kicks. Even an early Boehm System horn. That's kind of how I feel with reduced key range, double octave key saxophones. I guess the 1908ish Couesnon bari I had for about two weeks didn't wash that out of my system.
 
I also think that a lot of earlier key systems are very interesting, although the only non-Boehm clarinet I have is sitting in its case still sans overhaul. (of course I'm mostly sure it's HP but oh well-It's an old "M. LeMaire")
Only musical instrument I've been straight up given is a Conn Director Cornet, which plays fairly well.
(I also just so happen to have a POS metal Clarinet without a name on it even that I got very cheaply for the mouthpiece with it, an old Selmer Table C*, I don't care at all about the Clarinet, though it's got a bit of a stench to it.)
Also [MENTION=156]Helen[/MENTION] I'd be interested in seeing what the seal says, though I doubt I could be of much help in determining who made it.
 
I wonder what it is about Pete and I (there's that brother and sister thing again ;) ) that we end up with horns for free... Ah gee sweetie... It followed me home, can't I keep it. :D

I think I've received 4 horns as well. (Although I may be forgetting one or another.)

My Martin Handcraft tenor that was in pieces, and that I rebuilt by my tech in Halifax. It was the best back-up horn I had for a decade. As a matter of fact, when I first got it back from its restoration, my Mark VI sat at home for over a year or more. I still love that Martin, but my neuro problem don't allow me to play the left pinkie cluster as fluently as on my other tenors. Come to think of it, it needs tweaking, so I should get my tech to see if he can do something about the spring tension.

A Martin Handcraft C mel... Hangs in my studio as decor.
A Kohlert regent that is totally stock down to its pads. It had never been to the shop for anything.
And of course the mystery soprano that doubles as a Xmas tree/teaching tool when not laying around in the sunroom in a shelving unit.

This last horn is rather interesting. It has no MOP key touches; does have rollers; and has a soldered on badge like we saw on some early Mahillon and Kohlert saxophones. I'm not sure it's actually silver plated, since it doesn't tarnish, but it is silver coloured. Once the holidays are over and it is de-frocked, I will take a few pics and post them for you to see. Maybe someone can ID it. Neither my tech nor I can ID what it is, or where it might have come from. Its features--or lack of them--suggest late 19th century or early 20th though.
 
Sopranos are generally hard to identify because they look unlike the alto and tenor of the same make/model. As a somewhat modern example, look at a Selmer Mark VI soprano. That G#/C#/B/Bb cluster doesn't look anything like what's on the alto. Then you have companies that only made altos and tenors and farmed out production of sopranos (and higher) and baritones (and lower).
 
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