G.H. Hüller Saxophones

Helen

Helen

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In my ongoing work of making German saxophonist, historian, writer, and repair tech Uwe Ladwig's research accessible to English audiences, last night I added 2 new pages on my bassic-sax.ca website.

The G.H. Hüller company, that was head-quartered in Schöneck, Germany, built some very interesting saxophones beginning in the 1920s. Some of their designs were decades ahead of what other companies were doing. For example, this early alto of theirs had a D resonance key similar to those found on the Rudy Wiedoeft models from Holton. The key was intended to reduce the stuffiness of the D2. Also check out the eyebrow key guards. It would be decades before King, Hammerschmidt, or Hohner would use this style. To see some of its other interesting features, check out the G.H. Hüller Gallery I managed to put together.

G.H. Hüller went through a number of transitions before becoming absorbed into the company that built the B&S Blue Label horns. When that company became B&S/VMI in '91, the G.H. Hüller name was discontinued.
 
Just something I was told in the past: GH Huller != FX Huller.

I was under the impression, which may be mistaken, that GH Huller was absorbed into Weltklang, which eventually became B&S.
 
The F.X. Hüller company was completely unrelated. It was founded by Frax Xaver Hüller who, in the 1920s, was building saxophones under the guidance of Max Keilwerth (Julius' brother, and eventual designer of the Hohner Presidents) in Graslitz. Frax died in 1936, after which his 2 daughter ran the business. After the WWII F.X. Hüller was one of the companies that was integrated into the collective that became Amati.

I'll have to do more research on what, if any, connection there was to Weltklang. I'm just on my way out the door. I'll check into that later and post if I find anything.
 
I think for the rest of us mere mortals, the universally accepted and used ≠ indicates "not equal to".
 
... although I don't remember the key codes for "does not equal", as in Not Layne Francis' post. But, considering she posted it, I can copy and paste:

≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠≠
 
Story time:

About a year ago, a gentleman that worked in my department died and I was "promoted" ("side-moted"?) to his position. Because that also meant that I could no longer be a techie boy 100% of the time, the lady that worked in our receivables "warehouse" for many years (where we get all the computers 'n' stuff form my company) was moved into a "junior tech" position.

She keeps insisting that she's *not* a geek. Suuuure she isn't. The other techs and I keep reminding he that she is, when she calls up users and tells them how to connect cables 'n' things. The final straw was when we gave her a notebook PC to take apart and reassemble. She mostly did.

Your journey to the Dark Side is complete!
 
Happily, I have a G.H. Huller alto saxophone! Serial 363xx. The horn was GIVEN to me by a friend. It belonged to her uncle who had been a professional musician in the Washington, DC area in the 50's and 60's. She has no family information about how he acquired the German saxophone. The horn was in unplayable condition when I received it; however, I had a good hunch about it. Eric Beach, at Chuck Levin's in Maryland, did a truly superb job restoring the Huller to prime condition.

I've found the Huller to be unlike any alto that I've played over the years -- including Buescher, Selmer, Conn, etc. It has a naturally dark and focused sound (more so than a late model Buescher True Tone), along with an extremely powerful low range. With the Huller's big sound and heavier weight, it does not feel like a smaller horn when I switch to it from tenor.

One thing that's important to know about GH Huller saxophones is they will have either a 870 or 880 number stamped on the upper part of the body. 870 = 435 tuning and 880 = 440 tuning. It's my understanding that 435 was used in Europe prior to 1939. When I discovered this, I was worred that I'd have intonation problems. However, I have no problems at all in having good 440 intonation. In fact, I'd be so bold to say that my Huller's intonation is better than that of some Selmer (Paris) saxes I've played in the past. At some point in the horn's history shims were installed in the palm key tone holes. Eric considered the work to be a high quality repair and left them in.

For the dark, resonant sound I want on alto, I've found a Morgan 6C mouthpiece to be a good match for my Huller.

Roger
 
PS... I forgot to mention that my Huller is the Imperial model.
 
Roger Aldridge said:
One thing that's important to know about GH Huller saxophones is they will have either a 870 or 880 number stamped on the upper part of the body. 870 = 435 tuning and 880 = 440 tuning. It's my understanding that 435 was used in Europe prior to 1939.
Click to expand...
Yep. That's "French Standard Pitch". Adopted in 1859. Officially discarded in 1939. We had some comments on that in the past. Definitely something to note!
 
Hi Roger. I knew you had a Hüller, I didn't know if it was a G.H. or F.X.

There is a G.H. tenor currently available at Junkdude. Dave told me he was getting it in when I asked him about the Hohner President he had on his site. (I was asking permission to use the images on my site at the time.) If you're interested in adding a tenor to your arsenal, he just finished doing the restoration on it... And no Pete, I'm not buying it... :tongue: I don't buy every vintage tenor I come across, just every 2nd one. ;-)

I was wondering Roger, where did you get the information about the 870/880 on the body tube? I take it by your comment that yours is stamped 880?
 
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