Who made Bass Saxes

Ed

Ed

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I've seen Buescher and Conn made Bass saxes (although I have been told they came off the same line for the bodies). I've seen photos of the Keilwerth's and Selmer's. I've played an odd eastern European horn. The new Asian horns from IW are on eBay all the time. Of course you have Orsi and Eppy. Have I missed anyone?
 
Kohlert. They made contras, too. Pre-WWII.
Beaugnier. No contras, but the basses were nice looking.
WA Stowasser. German. Contras, too.
A. Sax. :) In C, too.
Almost forgot (duh): Evette-Schaeffer, Buffet-Crampon. Contras, too.

Pleisson (I think). Couesnon, maybe. Pierret, probably not. Leblanc didn't. SML didn't. Dolnet didn't.

Martin basses were almost always Conn stencils. I'm still not ruling out that there MAY be one or two actual Martin-made basses out there, but I think it unlikely. King (HN White) definitely didn't, although they may have had at least one prototype (they did have that sopranissimo). Holton did have basses, as well, but I believe all those were Conn and/or Buescher stencils, as were Lyon and Healy, York and others.

BTB, and just for sake of completeness, the recent Orsi contras were sold in the US under the LA Sax label.
 
you missed some other european ones: J.GRAS (France) Rampone&Cazzani(Italy)
 
You're right with Gras. I happen to have had a pic of one. Missed it! (There's one for sale HERE.)

I don't think R&C makes/made a bass. If you're thinking 1920ish, that'd be Rampone, IIRC, not R&C. I admit that my knowledge of Italian makes is very thin, tho.

Neil Sharpe, of Sax-on-the-Web columnist fame, was going to do an interview with R&C and Ed asked Neil to ask them if they ever made a bass. I helped Neil with some of the questions, so I threw in a bit about the R&C merger. I don't know when or if the interview will be done or published.
 
That bass has been sold. Got my hopes up for a second.
 
Ed said:
That bass has been sold. Got my hopes up for a second.
Click to expand...
Sorry, dude.

Dave's got a Wurlitzer Buescher stencil for sale at http://www.junkdude.com, if that helps (no pics, tho). You could always send Gayle at http://www.vintagesax.com an e-mail saying that you're looking. She never has too many basses, but they're generally the best I've ever seen. And rarest. She even had one of the Buescher basses from 1960 -- a True Tone in Aristocrat clothing.
 
I'll take your word for it. There aren't any pics up on the website.

I had a very old -- no pearl keys -- Wurlitzer alto. They're pretty horns.
 
I'd hate to see what Dave wants.

Jim is correct that I'm looking for a project horn. It fits my budget better to bring one back from the dead over time than to buy one straight away.
 
Well, you can always call up SUNYC Fredonia and see if they'll part with that Conn New Wonder. Works. It was intact -- 20 years ago. And it had a case.
 
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