I picked up a vintage tenor sax yesterday that is stamped Made In Italy. The horn is obviously a stencil, and carries the name Gallotone.
All the research I've done on the name ties back to a record label from South Africa, which is where this horn came from. Gallotone did have guitars made that carried their name, and it seems that the only reason the name is known as a guitar, is because John Lennon once owned one. His Gallotone was sold at auction a number of years ago.
So my question is: have any of you heard of this brand in the sax world. SOTW doesn't have it mentioned at all, and as I said, the 'Net doesn't bring up any results related to saxophone. I thought perhaps some of you techs might have seen something come across your work benches.
I'm going to take some photos and get them posted. The horn is quirky. It is hybrid of a number of different things. Eg: It has the octave key shaped exactly like that of a Chu, along with a pearl thumb rest, but the sax right sided bell keys.
It doesn't have the build of a pro horn, but was used as such for many years in South Africa before the seller bought it from a musician 25 years ago. It has no damage at all: No dings, dents, bent rods, evidence of previous neck damage, or any other signs of misuse. One post has been resoldered, but that's it. The sax was obviously well looked after.
The horn has a really great patina where the lacquer is worn off. I'm not planning on restoring it. I bought it specifically to hang in my studio.
So does this sound familiar to anyone? I'll take some photos a little later in the day, and get them posted.
All the research I've done on the name ties back to a record label from South Africa, which is where this horn came from. Gallotone did have guitars made that carried their name, and it seems that the only reason the name is known as a guitar, is because John Lennon once owned one. His Gallotone was sold at auction a number of years ago.
So my question is: have any of you heard of this brand in the sax world. SOTW doesn't have it mentioned at all, and as I said, the 'Net doesn't bring up any results related to saxophone. I thought perhaps some of you techs might have seen something come across your work benches.
I'm going to take some photos and get them posted. The horn is quirky. It is hybrid of a number of different things. Eg: It has the octave key shaped exactly like that of a Chu, along with a pearl thumb rest, but the sax right sided bell keys.
It doesn't have the build of a pro horn, but was used as such for many years in South Africa before the seller bought it from a musician 25 years ago. It has no damage at all: No dings, dents, bent rods, evidence of previous neck damage, or any other signs of misuse. One post has been resoldered, but that's it. The sax was obviously well looked after.
The horn has a really great patina where the lacquer is worn off. I'm not planning on restoring it. I bought it specifically to hang in my studio.
So does this sound familiar to anyone? I'll take some photos a little later in the day, and get them posted.