What do you suppose.....????

[JayeSF]

Interesting....

http://cgi.ebay.com/TENOR-SAXOPHONE-BEAUTIFUL-SHAPE-SATIN-SILVER_W0QQitemZ120414661269QQihZ002QQcategoryZ162 34QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

silver, gold wash bell...pretty.....an old one, no ?

[FremontSax]

Jaye,

You b##tard, pointing me towards that lovely silver and gold harlot. Excuse me I need to play a few notes on my other tenor.

Ok, it is very pretty. I am good now. Bon appetite.

[jmoen3]

Very pretty :). I dunno what to suppose though...

Other than wishing i had money........

[JayeSF]

Jaye,

You b##tard...


Whew, OK....for a minute there I thought you were tracking it and I had blown your secret ;)

My guess is it won't get much attention....

I am just curious as to its age...looks like an old one in some respects; has that extra key at the bow....

[FremontSax]

Jaye,

The real issue is would I dare annoy my wife with buying yet another sax..... The good news is I just helped her buy a long arm sewing machine for her quilting... I am good and clean for buying toys that I want for a long long long while. :)

I hope this is a good find for some SOWer. Me I am going to be working on playing my Leblanc semi rational tenor and my Buesher C-melody and my vito Model 35. But to turn this another direction maybe we should have an sf area SOW gathering?

[FremontSax]

ok left to right top to bottom in picture 4 of the 5 pictures, you are asking about the small tone hole furthest to the right.

On my 1950 era saxes this doesn't exist. For the C melody Gabe mentioned something about an extra worthless tone hole that he suggested just making it shut. Then later he said he had it working.

On the c melody, it shuts when I press the second key with my right hand. an e or an f sharp.

Now you have me wondering, because I was measuring the intonation key by key earlier tonight and the low f sharp is where my cheap equipment measured the most off sharp sharpest.

[Walter Webb]

Not sure which "worthless" tone holes you are talking about, but there are 3 on this tenor. 1. Eb trill, or forked Eb, a small key around the back linked to the middle RH finger. Most all 1920's saxes have it. Many people reverse the spring to hold em shut, or jam a cork in the guard. They are a bit lame, as the key is so small that it sounds stuffy, but it's OK for a trill. 2. That tenor has a vent linked to the low C. It's for intonation and tone quality, and I think it helps a little. Try playing a low E, and open the C# key. Sounds better with more venting? Like the the Rudy Wiedoeft model, Holtons sometimes have this vent key. 3. A high D trill key, actuated by the RH by a lever near the RH side keys, which runs a rod all the way up to another hole by the palm key D. Very cool, actually.

This tenor is from the mid to late 20s, probably a pre Rudy, and it has the older pinky table where the G# is not linked to the bell keys like a Rudy has. It's hard to see, but I think I can see the corked metal sliding sleeve on the end of the neck, another Rudy feature. I cannot tell if there is a front F key, either, nor can I see the RH side G# trill lever.

$600 seems like a lotta bucks to start bidding for this, and the pictures are a bit weak.
I would like to find a C melody like this, or a Rudy C mel.

(FremontSax: someday ya gotta post on the Vito forum your analysis of the LeBlanc System vs Vito 35. How are they similar, and different.)

[jazzbug1]

The low C vent key adds a richer sound to the low notes and the side key is handy for C to D, and D to Eb. That backside Eb trill key was scrapped by everybody by the early 1930s, as it was very prone to leak and was not very useful. I reverse spring all my Eb keys shut. Some companies like Martin and York had a much better Eb trill key built right in the botton stack, which works very well. Non-Rudys with Rudy features were built from around late 1930-32(?), using up the last of the Rudy chassis, as they had probably run out of $$ to pay him, and by 1930, he was no longer famous. As we enter another depression, Rudy's name and Holtons horns are struggling again. Being a Studebaker owner and driver, I have applied to our government for a bail-out for Studebaker. I am expecting a check for 8 Billion $$ to start. Perhaps we can apply on behalf of Holton for a saxophone bail-out.

[JayeSF]

...you are just gonna take that $ and give yourself a big year-end bonus, aren't you....??????

[NissanMarkVII]

I saw an old Vito Bari w/the same tone hole by the low C. Confused the crap out of me!

[jazzbug1]

I have pointed out a few times that those Holton features were copied off some ca. 1910 French horns. Vitos have been made by many makers (some foreign), so thoses "funny" keys probably pop up on European-made stencils here and there.

Jaye-- If I get my $$, I will buy all the Holtons in the world, have them restored, and give them to deserving owners.

[soybean]

If I get my $$, I will buy all the Holtons in the world, have them restored, and give them to deserving owners.Wow, Mr Bug. I sure hope you get your money!

[jazzbug1]

Jazzbug will infest the world.

[Walter Webb]

Regarding that low C vent key: It's not just Holton who did this. There were some early French saxes that had extra keys and vents. Here is an early 70s Vito/Beuagnier French Bari that seems to have it. http://cgi.ebay.com/GOOD-FRENCH-BARITONE-SAX-LEBLANC-VITO-LOW-A-NEW-PADS_W0QQitemZ320368139335QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_De faultDomain_0?hash=item4a976ddc47&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A1205%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12%7C39%3A1%7C 240%3A1318%7C301%3A0%7C293%3A1%7C294%3A50

[NissanMarkVII]

Ok, That's the 2nd Vito Bari I've seen now w/that Low C vent. 1st time I saw it I was wtf?

The other example I saw was much earlier though. About 50s or 60s.

[JayeSF]

It's back (the silver HOLTON, that is) on a relist, starting bid dropped $50 to $550, now....

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120418869633

[jazzbug1]

"No dents"-- I see what looks like a dent about 3 inches up the bell from the bow joint. If it is a dent, that one is easy to get out with the proper tool. This has the Rudy low C vent key, so it's probably 1930-31. Should be a fine player with a surprising top end. My Rudy tenor has a brilliant top, with a respectable bottom. (hey- I remember a singer like that who... ) Looks like it has been kept in a case or recently polished. That will save considerable work. Depending on where the buyer lives, a tenor re-pad goes for $175--$400.00. Go for it.