Since 1967 I have owned an Alto Sax that was given to me via one of my fathers co-workers at the Lockheed Burbank plant which he had stored in his attic. It was my choice over getting a new Sting Ray bike of the day. The sax was in need of a rebuild that was accomplished by a wood wind player with the L.A. Philharmonic. I've recently unpacked my old sax which I played from Jr. High thru High School and have attempted to track its origin but I'm running into conflicting data on the internet sooooo, I'm reaching out here in an attempt to see what I can find out. I have a Silver Sax that has the following information impressed/engraved into the front of the bell body "Pan American Made in Elkhart IN. USA". On the rear under the thumb support it reads "Paid Sept. 14, 1915". Impressed beneath the date info is a second line showing "1153489" and beneath that is another numbering series of "44402" with an "A" above and an "L" below the 5 digits. Any information that anyone has that could point me in the right direction to try and get some firm information on its origin would be appreciated. Thanks very much in advance for your assistance. regorsteed.
Sax Manufacturing History
- Thread starter regorsteed
- Start date
The Pan American was what was called Conn's "second line" instrument. It didn't have all the features of Conn saxophones. The Pan American plant was located next door to the Conn one back in the day. Unfortunately there are no official Pan American serial # charts out there, but some people have collected some data enough to estimate manufacturing dates. I would have to dig some of that out for you.
The date you provide, isn't Paid, it's Pat Sept, 14, 1915, and refers to the date that the patent for making key seats for musical instruments was issued. The 1153489 is the patent #.
44402 is the horn's serial #. A indicates that it is an alto. L means that it is a low pitch (A=440) horn.
I have written an article about the Pan American horns for my website. It will provide you with more background info.
The date you provide, isn't Paid, it's Pat Sept, 14, 1915, and refers to the date that the patent for making key seats for musical instruments was issued. The 1153489 is the patent #.
44402 is the horn's serial #. A indicates that it is an alto. L means that it is a low pitch (A=440) horn.
I have written an article about the Pan American horns for my website. It will provide you with more background info.
This is an awesome article! I liked the fascinating reading.