Rarest Sax on eBay this Week

[SOTSDO]

Well...

As a major accomplished fact of the Twentieth Century, Nazism is hard to avoid in some shape or form on any wide ranging discussion involving history. So, Mr. Goodwin's "law" is really nothing more than stating that reality usually prevails. Still, it got him on Wikipedia.

(Also, bear in mind that I did not attribute adherence to the Nazi creed (whatever that was - it's quite hard to pin down when you think about it) by any individual, only referring to an artifact that was an exception to the normal saxophonic way of things, in keeping with the topic of this folder. )

And, Nazism, when reflected through the very convoluted mind of Fat Hermann, turns out to be quite a different beast altogether. I have no doubt in my mind that there were Luftwaffe bands with full saxophone sections, simply because the Number 2 man in 1940's Germany was notorious for wanting to have a good time.

(I note here with some pleasure that the Luftwaffe was the first arm of the Wehrmacht that added the bass clarinet to its instrumentation (this in 1939, per The Clarinet, the authoritative history of the horn in German). If the bass clarinet was allowed in Luftwaffe field bands, I submit that anything, even a five horn sax section, was possible.

 

[SOTSDO]

And, if you are looking for old reeds, eBay is the obvious source. I note that many of the ads mention the presence of old reeds, as if that was a plus for the purchase of their horns.

As Paul used to say to Ringo, "Ew, that's grotty."

 

[Gary51]

Anyhow, I think this is more rare.

It's a Bueschner Chu Berry saprano. In silver tone. (Admittedly, the 1912 business card and vintage reeds/reed holder from 1942 are interesting, even though I generally say that people selling used reeds should be shot.)

Nice horn! I like the old card !

 

[tjontheroad]

Weird and rare;

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PARIS-C...&ps=63&clkid=6912485156954366348#ht_500wt_928

 

[DavidW]

Wow. The business card is advertising an authentic Friday Night Fish Fry in Harlem! "We're all bums when the wagon comes." Don't give your real name!!! That's what Louis Jordan said.

And I spy an old Vibrator reed in the holder, the reed on the right with the grooves cut into the back. Anybody old enough to remember them? Or at least willing to admit to being old enough?

Julian

I have 2 blister packs (I guess that is what you would call them) for tenor, 1 unopened. I bought them in high school and loved the way they played. I guess they were already 20 years old at the time I got them.

 

[pete]

Weird and rare;

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PARIS-C...&ps=63&clkid=6912485156954366348#ht_500wt_928

That's a Saxie, IIRC. It's a toy. Rare in the sense of "uncommon and valuable"? Possibly for a toy collector. I don't generally follow those, but it's good enough for this thread!

 

[Helen]

Weird and rare;

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PARIS-C...&ps=63&clkid=6912485156954366348#ht_500wt_928

I did a blog post about this Goofus, a nickname for the Couesnophone, yesterday. I also have a page about the Goofus on my main site.

Here's an interesting piece of trivia: The Goofus was popular for a little while in the early days of jazz. The instrument’s most notable player was bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini. Rollini was featured on the couesnophone in a band signed to Okeh Records called The Goofus Five.

 

[tjontheroad]

Interesting idea. I wonder if it plays in tune?

 

[pete]

I did a blog post about this Goofus, a nickname for the Couesnophone, yesterday. I also have a page about the Goofus on my main site.

Here's an interesting piece of trivia: The Goofus was popular for a little while in the early days of jazz. The instrument’s most notable player was bass saxophonist Adrian Rollini. Rollini was featured on the couesnophone in a band signed to Okeh Records called The Goofus Five.

I sit corrected .

The Saxie was also made by Couesnon. Hey, I got the maker right!

Google has bunches of hits for sax-like toys. Check out this, for instance.

 

[sideC]

Thanks for the Vibrator reed info Ed, and DavidW. They just seemed to disappear from the musical landscape sometime during the 1960's. I have an original balanced action alto in the original case which contains some old reeds that seem to be from the 1930's or '40's. When I get the time to check them out, I'll try to post the brand names of these reeds.

Julian

 

[Helen]

I sit corrected .

The Saxie was also made by Couesnon. Hey, I got the maker right!

Google has bunches of hits for sax-like toys. Check out this, for instance.

Wow, I corrected you. That's a first. It's usually the other way around. Must have been time for your pain meds or something. ;-) Seriously, I had never heard of a Saxie before, so I just assumed it was yet another nickname for the Couesnophone, AKA Goofus, Aka Queenophone, AKA ?. Great, thanks for pointing out even more sax-like toys I need to keep an eye out for. ;-)

 

[pete]

Regarding sax-related toys, it's a bit difficult for me to determine which ones are held in high regard. I do a lot of patent searches and you'll see dozens of patents for "conical wind instrument" from Buescher and/or Conn. Some made it into production (Conn Clar-O-Sax comes to mind), but many didn't.

The interesting thing about the Couesnophone is that there's a major name behind it: Adrian Rollini. That also may mean that one can find a recording or two. Good info find, Helen!

 

[pete]

As promised (or threatened): http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=adrian+rollini+goofus&aq=f

 

[Steve]

Thanks for the Vibrator reed info Ed, and DavidW. They just seemed to disappear from the musical landscape sometime during the 1960's. I have an original balanced action alto in the original case which contains some old reeds that seem to be from the 1930's or '40's. When I get the time to check them out, I'll try to post the brand names of these reeds.

Julian

I've got a bunch of vintage reeds and pics
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/Reeds.htm

 

[sideC]

I've got a bunch of vintage reeds and pics
http://www.ClarinetPerfection.com/Reeds.htm

Steve, thanks for posting that treasure trove of old reed info. It prompted me to actually dig the old case out from under piles of stuff, a cheap bari stand and mounds of big band arrangements and some cd's.

Most of the reeds seem to be early '70s(?) Rico. One is in the paper envelope thingy that has the shiny paper with the fancy Rico logo, a reed orbiting and above the earth. I seem to remember that logo from around the early '70s, about the same time the Rico Royal line was introduced. The Rico reeds are V2. Interesting. I'll have to check to see if I have any modern Rico's around here to see if they still use the V designation. Years ago, I remember that Rico sold reeds in either an A or V cut. I believe that A cut reeds resembled an 'A' at the bottom of the cut, and the 'V' reed, the one we usually use today, looks more like a 'V' at the end of the cut. I don't remember ever seeing an 'A' cut reed.

Julian

 

[sideC]

Sorry for two posts, but my internet connection has been a little shakey of late.

So the other reeds are mostly Chiron Vibrator. The previous owner, who bought the horn new, had an old reed wallet in the case and here's where things get a little more interesting. There's room for six reeds, four are Vibrator, one is made by Alexandre Paris, and the other is marked Pichard. The back of the reed is signed with the same hand written skrawl as the E Pichard reed on the old reed site, but is missing the E. Cool. I've always wondered about this reed.

I figure that the reeds in the wallet were this guy's players from back in the day. The horn dates from 1936 or '37. When the horn is in the case, it's really like checking out a time capsule, it's so original. He has an I.D. card in the reed wallet indentifying himself with his name, his address in Haddonfield NJ, and his phone number is listed as 2419J. So the phone number indicates that the reed wallet is some old stuff.

All the reeds are #2 strength, and the original mouthpiece is also in the case, a Selmer Table B. I guess a B is like a 2 opening. When I bought the horn, back in '97, I tried this mouthpiece with my reed, a Vandoren 3, and I could barely get a sound out of it, it was so closed. I guess those oldtimers knew how to blow those little set ups.

And there's an old pencil in the case. The guy was a pro!

Julian

 

[DavidW]

I dug out my old Chiron Vibrator reeds as well. I have 2 packs, both #3, 1 unopened, other had 2 unused reeds in it. I seem to recall them playing pretty well 20 years ago though

 

[pete]

Behold, the Antique Time-Travelling Saxophone

Linky.

I believe this is a soprano saxiphone.

This is a family heirloom and I know that it was my father's saxiphone when he was a child, which was in the 1930's.

Needs to be cleaned up and pads may need to be replaced among other possible repairs.

Nevertheless this is an antique collectible and quite rare.

Stamped: Low Pitch License 1914

Serial number engraved 108774 according to http://tamingthesaxophone.com/saxophone-serial-numbers.html this places the year of this saxiphone between 1905 and 1910.

Of course, in an ad like this, you also have to have:

I am not an expert in saxophones so please send any questions or comments and I will post them. There is no guarantee on pitch, tone or whether this instument can be played. I believe it can be played but no guarantee.

 

[Steve]

s/he may not be an expert in saxophones but what about saxiphones such as the one s/he is selling ?

 

[pete]

Well,

Note that he owner knows "this is an antique collectible and quite rare." Even though the owner "... [is] not an expert in saxophones" and "... There is no guarantee on pitch, tone or whether this instument can be played."

Y'know, he should have put a higher reserve. There are very few "instuments" out there, let alone "instuments" that are "saxiphones." And he didn't even mention that this horn was manufactured with techniques invented IN THE FUTURE (i.e. the horn is stamped "Pat'd 1914" and the owner has a serial number chart saying it was made "between 1905 and 1910").

The MORE amusing thing about this is that the owner e-mailed me to let me know that it was for sale. I should have responded with something like, "No, I'm not really interested in buying, but I promise to mock your ad online."

As many of you have seen, I'm planning on putting my iPhone up on eBay, so I have some idea of the costs involved. I can't believe that someone would post an ad like this when you consider the cost and the time. Well, if the guy gets lots of response, I might say that I have an iFone 4 sale.