Oliver Ditson C-Melody

[Roger Aldridge]

I was at Steve Fowler's shop (repair tech near Baltimore) today picking up one of my clarinets that he overhauled. He showed me a very interesting c-melody. The engraving said that it was made for Oliver Ditson. According to Steve, Ditson was a brass instrument maker. Thus, we think that it's probably a stencil. The c-mel's serial number is 78022. Certain aspects of it appear to be Buescher. However, it's curved neck is of a different style from the Buescher necks I've seen. It was not quite as long. Thus, this c-melody was very comfortable to play. Interestingly, it's a heavier instrument than my Conn. Due to it's weight I first thought that it might be a Martin. But, it didn't have the Martin-style tone holes. Anyway, other than the neck, there were certain features that definitely had that Buescher look.

The horn needs to have some work done on it; but, overall it's in very decent condition. The keywork is amazingly tight. Most importantly, I was EXTREMELY IMPRESSED by it's intonation.

This c-melody has a darker tone than my 1919 Conn. It's a really strong sound.

Does anyone have any historical information about this mystery c-melody?

Anyway, I told Steve that I'd post a note about it on the Forum in case someone might be interested in the horn. If so, please send an email to me at nancyandrog@earthlink.net and I'll send you Steve's phone number.

[StevenW]

8)

[cmelodysax]

Oops - posted in error, see below.....

[cmelodysax]

Roger, I've left a larger post on the 'other C-Mel forum' - Oliver Ditson was a big Music Publishing house in Boston, New York & Philadelphia. I was aware they sold a lot of 'Martin' (not the sax maker) guitars/ukes/banjo's with Ditson's name on them, but this is the first I've heard of a C-Mel.

Regards, Alan.

(Just put 'Oliver Ditson' into Google and you'll have a few weeks reading..... :D

[Roger Aldridge]

I suggested to Steve Fowler that he post some pictures of the c-melody on his website and he said okay. (I'm not sure how long it will take.)

Here's a link: http://fowlermusic.com/

This c-melody is a really interesting horn. Steve determined that it has Buescher screws. In addition, it has the destinctive True Tone-style bow guard. However, as I mentioned in my first message, the horn as other features that I normally don't think of as Buescher. It's a most curious c-melody! I tried it out using my regular set up and found that it's sound is considerably darker and thicker than my Conn c-mel.

[drum/sax-luva]

Ok.... my great granpa Lynn let me use this sax... k? I took it to school and the teach said it was a tennor... i sorta figured having known bout it cuz i played alto a year... so i play it. He wonderd y it wouldn't stay in tune. I brought it back to Piute Jr/Sr high from the weekend, and the optive key was bent open. We had a guy from SummerHays Music Center of St. George come take it and he said he'd look at it and c wat he could do... so i get this call, he sais it will take big bucks to fix, but it is an EXTREMLEY RARE c melody sax. They do not make the parts to fix it so that is why it will be hard to repair, he has to have them custom made... but he says he took one look, and the entire store was gatherd around amazed. They hadn't seen 1 like that in over 50 years... he called and left a message saying he wants to make an offer, i just don't wanna get ripped off, u know what i mean... so what should i do, email me at ixterney@hotmial.com and give me some friken advice, cuz id rather play the drums, cuz the alto bored me pretty quick, and i have tried the drums, so what should i do?
With confusion,
Nick O.

[SearjeantSax]

i know this is an old thread but I came accross this the other day
http://cgi.ebay.com/Antique-1912-Low...QQcmdZViewItem