Old Holton for re-build?

[AlanU]

Hello, I've seen an advert for a Holton alto low pitch, the serial number is 23669. It seems this must date from about 1914.

It seems like a complete rebuild is needed.
That's no problem as I've just re-built a Martin Handcraft stencil, and I love the satisfaction of doing it.

The problem is that I don't really want to lavish a lot of time and care on an instrument I'll be disappointed with.
I'm not really bothered by ergonomics, it is whether it has a great sound, as my Martin does.

I can get it for £100, by the way.

Thanks for any thoughts, Alan

[bruce bailey]

They are good but I still prefer the Martins. Does it have all the extra keys?

[jazzbug1]

Your Holton horn dates from 1925 or so. It may have the front F. If it does, it should be a good buy if it does not have many dents. I like the Martins too. I have a rebuilt C Melody on EBay, under "Glittercatzz". The Martin plays with a big sound, but it lacks the front F, and I find the assembly of Martin horns from the 1920s to be less than the best, as sometimes keys are not well aligned front to back (side to side is easy to adjust) but forward and backward is difficult to fix. Furthermore, I've seen some sloppy factory solder jobs on those persnickety toneholes, which do seal beatifully, however. The Wiedoeft model Holton C Melody is my favorite, but they are quite rare. Oddly, Rudy much preferred his Selmer and never played the Holton, as I suspect it was too jazzy for him. Furthermore, I have read that Rudy was never paid for the use of his name, as Holton came on hard times in 1930 and Wiedoeft was a rather inconsistant character who didn't look after his business matters, due to his severe alcoholism which ultimately took his life. Its a shame that so many creative "artsy" people are also creative with substances foreign to the human body.

[AlanU]

Thanks for the replies.
I've only seen one (not very good) picture. It is on a site called www.gumtree.com the London version, listed under alto saxophone, 'two alto saxophones for sale'.
It does have a front F and a few keys I'm not familiar with.

Thanks for the date, a list I saw indicated 1914, but I know some lists are not very reliable.

[DavyRay]

If you check with the Holton forum here, you will see that the Holton serial number lists on the Internet are incorrect.

Some Holtons are great instruments.