View Full Version : Olds Parisian - who was the maker?
Can anyone please tell me who made the Olds Parisian saxes ? I have now seen 2 or 3 and they look very,very similar to my DABICO alto (which I've been trying to id for a while!).
If anyone can shed any light..
MMM
Tharruff
03-05-2003, 05:36 PM
Why...they were made by Oldsmobile...of course...
(Just kidding - Hi Manlio !!!!!)
David Spiegelthal
03-14-2003, 03:02 PM
From what I've read, there is still some uncertainty but the general consensus is that the Olds Parisian Ambassador saxes were made by Beaugnier (not sure of the spelling, might be "Beauginer").
I have just received an Olds Ambassador bari sax. It says that it was made in France for Olds but it does not say by who. It looks to be a 1950s vintage horn with no serial number that I can locate. I am having it rebuilt but what notes did play sounded pretty good. Anyone have any info on this horn?
mostly alto guy
04-14-2003, 09:17 PM
The Olds "Opera" models were made by Buffet (a la Dynaction) if I recall my reading correctly. Maybe the Ambassadors and Parisians were as well. I suspect these could pretty good horns, sturdily built, in tune, and generally quite playable in terms of keywork. They may well lean toward a dark, somewhat throaty sound that works perfectly for ballads. Pre-S1 Buffets seem to have that sound.
Well,I got the Olds Ambassador bari sax back and it plays. It plays good and in tune but not as good as my 12M for tone.It is however in tune from top to bottom. I still do not know for sure who made it however. It needed some pads and adjustments to play well. My tech said it has soft keys and rods and to take it easy om the horn. If anyone knows more about this horn let me know. Thanks..DAN
Stencilman
04-25-2003, 01:54 PM
I did some digging on these horns. In the sax newgroup someone posted that the Parisian was made by a couple of manufacturers, one of them being Noblet (can't remember the other). He satated that the Noblet horns were wothless horns but the other French manufacturer made a decent sax. Sorry but that is all I remember.
From looking at pictures of other Ambassador's (not the Parisian), I believe that there were at least two manufactuers for these as well. A couple of them looked very much like Martins with similar but not identical key guards as the Committee II and bevelled tone holes. There's an Ambassador tenor up on Ebay that looks identical to the alto I saw except it doesn't appear to have Martin's tone holes. Weird.
mostly alto guy
04-25-2003, 04:27 PM
Ah, the world of sax stencils--sort of like the X-files meets Mystery Theatre 3000. Will we ever really know....?
I played the Olds bari last night and I noticed one thing. the low D is a bit resistant and stuffy. The notes above and below are fine. Anyone have an idea what might cause that? I just got it back from my tech sou it shouldn't be a leak problem. :?:
mostly alto guy
04-25-2003, 08:19 PM
One likely suspect is a too-thick felt on low-C, making that key too closed. Another possibility is your mouthpiece selection, affecting the overall bore. Is it stuffy with all pieces?
MAG, I will check out the low C key felt to see whats up. I will try a different mouthpiece lated today and see if that makes a difference. The E key seems to need to be pressed pretty hard to seal so I suspect that may have something to do with it. The horn played great except for that darn low D. I will fix it for sure.
As for my problem with the low D it was a combo problem. I had an E key leak and I changed to a larger chamber mouthpiece and the combination of factors seemed to fix the problem. I still have no clue as to who made this sax.
cfile
05-14-2003, 03:50 PM
I have played an Ambassador Parisian alto since 1963 when my parents bought it for me new. My research suggests it was made by Beauginer in Mantes France. Great intonation and a decent sound. For the last year or so I have been playing the same horn in Tenor. Just bought a '47 Conn 10m and while the intonation isn't as good, the sound is better. Earlier Ambassadors were made in America and look a lot like Martins with the soldered tone holes. There was also a Parisian that predated the Ambassador Parisian. I don't think the latter came out until the early 60's. Regarding the stuffy D, I've never experienced this on the alto, but have on the tenor. These horns play better with slightly bigger key heights to get the fullest sound, especially on the lower stack, low C and bell keys, but so does my 10m. Key metal is a little soft but I never had a problem with it staying regulated and if a key got bent it was easy to fix. I'll keep the tenor as my backup horn. Hope this helps.
BrianG
05-23-2003, 01:24 AM
I know this is an older topic, but I have an Olds Ambassador (does not say Parisian, but only "made in France expressly for F.E. Olds & Sons")Alto that is all gold lacquer, and is almost identical to the horns marked "Parisian Ambassador" as far as keywork. The only difference i've noticed in comparing it to pictures of Parisian Ambassadors is the G# spatula, which is a very large fingernail file style key on my horn, and that every Parisian Ambassador i've seen has had nickel plated keys. My Alto is in very poor condition, it needs a complete overhaul and a repair made to the RH high E key to reattach the touchpiece.
I also originally thought it to have no serial number, but i actually found it stamped into the alternate F# keyguard, that on my horn has come unsoldered but I still have it.
In it's current condition it still plays, though only from low C# and up, due to a leak being caused by the lower post holding the low C# key rod being slightly out of place (no idea how, but it's about 4mm from where it should be to properly seat the low C# key). One day I plan to get it fixed up, because the intonation of the horn even in its present state is nothing short of spectacular, and it sounds darn good too.
BrianG,
would you have pics of this horn to send me? I'm still trying to establish which factory my DABICO (made in france) alto came from. Interesting about the nailfile G# key: I have the same on the DABICO. Another unique of my horn are the posts for the keyguards: the keyguards screw in perpendicular to the body, rather than horizontally into the post like all other saxes...if that makes sense! The thing is that this system is so well designed, I'm staggered they would go that far on a student sax.
If you can email pics, I'm at miles61@fsmail.net.
Thanks mmm
BrianG
05-23-2003, 03:08 PM
BrianG,
would you have pics of this horn to send me? I'm still trying to establish which factory my DABICO (made in france) alto came from. Interesting about the nailfile G# key: I have the same on the DABICO. Another unique of my horn are the posts for the keyguards: the keyguards screw in perpendicular to the body, rather than horizontally into the post like all other saxes...if that makes sense! The thing is that this system is so well designed, I'm staggered they would go that far on a student sax.
If you can email pics, I'm at miles61@fsmail.net.
Thanks mmm
I don't have any pictures of the horn at the moment, but I have a trusty digital camera so I'll take a few for you this evening after I get home from work. I can email them to you, or upload them to a webpage, whichever you like. Also, what is your internet connection? I can better optimize them for you depending on if you want larger/high quality or smaller/lower quality so you dont have to spend years downloading them.
barelytone
05-23-2003, 04:55 PM
I have a tenor Ambassador, not Parisian. Looks exactly like a Pierret that sold on Ebay - also, saxpics.com has photos under 'Pierret' that confirm this. Does anyone have info on Pierret???
BrianG
05-25-2003, 03:05 AM
Here are some pictures of my alto that i took earlier today. I've shrunk these a bit and lowered the quality so the download wouldn't be as long for those of you who haven't yet been blessed with broadband connections. I have much higher quality ones if anyone needs them for any reason.
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsupperstacksm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsspatulaclustersm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldslowerstacksm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsbellsm.jpg
LBAjazz
05-29-2003, 01:45 PM
I recently purchased a Pierrett tenor. I have not received it yet but the pics look just like every Olds Parisian I have ever seen. The keywork and posts on these horns look very different than any other horn.
Alain_G
10-15-2003, 07:22 PM
I have a tenor Ambassador, not Parisian. Looks exactly like a Pierret that sold on Ebay - also, saxpics.com has photos under 'Pierret' that confirm this. Does anyone have info on Pierret???
First excuse for my poor english as my mother tongue is French. I old à F.E OLDS & SON made in france a tenor "Parisian Ambassador", the serial number is 047107, I have no idea of the year of manufacturing of this saxo. But I know theses saxos has been made by Pierret at least until 1970, because Pierret stop all production this year when OLDS began to work with South East asia manufacturer. Pierret's staff was fire and immediatly hire by Selmer. I hope this will help.
Owner_of_Artemis_R_Sax
12-27-2003, 12:11 AM
I have a Parisian Ambassador alto (Artemis Reginald Sax, lol), serial number 39673....mine has a very stuffy high D. Could it be the same problem as the one with the stuffy low D?
bruce bailey
03-26-2004, 07:52 AM
I have an Ambassador Alto just like the one in the above photo and I suspect that it is a Buescher form around 1950.
pigskin1
01-01-2005, 02:32 AM
I have an alto with identical engraving on the bell. It looks the same in every way except the keys are nickel plated and it has a "normal" G# key.
The serial number is also on the f# key guard.
This sax was purchased new around 1955 and has been in my family all these years. I have two brothers and we all played it in school and my
nephews played it as well.
It has excellent tuning and tone.
I was thinking of restoring it because of its personal significance to the family.
Here are some pictures of my alto that i took earlier today. I've shrunk these a bit and lowered the quality so the download wouldn't be as long for those of you who haven't yet been blessed with broadband connections. I have much higher quality ones if anyone needs them for any reason.
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsupperstacksm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsspatulaclustersm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldslowerstacksm.jpg
http://users.chartertn.net/sbgib/olds/oldsbellsm.jpg
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