Vito=Keilwerth?

[Audrey]

Hello All. Well, I got into an arguement with my band teacher. One of us said that Vito modles were owned by Keilwerth , like Bundy/Selmer. The other claimed that Vito is actually owned by Selmer. What one is right? thanks. Audrey

[CodyW]

I might be wrong, but I think the answer is neither, vito is distributed by leblanc, and made in wisconsin? At least the older ones were.

[CodyW]

But then again ive seen sole that say japan on back suggesting a yamaha connection. I'm still pretty sure they not from selmer or keilwerth. Someone lay down the facts.

[Russ]

I thought Vito were made by Yamaha.............

[Morry]

I believe the current Vito horns are Yanagisawa stencils. In fact, I think you'll find the little Yani logo on the bell bracing of some of the horns.

[Harri Rautiainen]

I thought Vito were made by Yamaha.............
According to a forth-coming SOTW article by Pete "saxpics", Yamaha made Vitos "notably the 1980’s". This does not necessarily mean that all Vitos were made by Yamaha.
-Harri

[Audrey]

well you see the cases of the Vitos say Leblanc, wich suggest some kind of connection, but so does the resident Keilwerth- and the two look very similar ( as saxophones go lol). On this one site I looked this up on, it said that Vito has been (sometime in the past) owned by Yamaha, Selmer, Kielwerth, and Yanagisawa. We just really aren't sure which one is the current owner. Thanks for all the replies. Any more ideas?

[shmuelyosef]

At the music store where my son worked until recently, they have sold and rented Vitos for a long time. Their impression was that the only thing consistent about Vitos was the basic design. The 'brand' has been traded around for a while...currently held by Leblanc. They say they have always come from Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, but they believe that this is just assembly, that the parts have come from various factories over the years, including yamaha and yanagizawa. The old guy there also thought that they were originally Bundy stencils (in the 60s).

[Audrey]

wow vito gets around lol. That could explain their cheap quality...lol. By the way I play a Vito and hate it lol. Saving for a nice Selmer. Thanks for all the comments. Anyone want an old vito LOLOL

[singlereed]

Until the 1970s-ish they were a model of Leblanc, made in France, and of good quality, including some pro models. These days they are Japanese made student horns (I have heard Yamaha and Yanagisawa mentioned) making them a cut above most of the Taiwanese stuff produced recently. They are Leblanc's student model, Leblanc themselves no longer making saxophones, they also own the Yanagisawa business so they have most bases covered, sax-wise.

[Gaijin-san]

Does Leblanc OWN Yanagisawa or are Yanagisawas merely DISTRIBUTED in the states by Leblanc? I've heard both.

[Hurling Frootmig]

LeBlanc only distributes Yanagisawa in the U.S.

The only Vito's that were made and are still made by Yanagisawa is their VSP line. These days I think we are only talking VSP Bari's.

The rest of the Vito's that are made in Japan are Yamaha's.

[katysax]

Actually Yamaha stopped making Vitos some time ago. Vito is owned by LeBlanc. I believe the current generation of Vitos are either made by contract with some unbranded makers in Japan or come from Taiwan. Many of the vitos, particularly the Yamaha made ones, are actually quite decent student horns.

[Sigmund451]

I owned a non yamaha vito alto once for a short time. It was nothing to brag about, Yamaha is certainly better but realistically it was a decent playing horn that sounded ok for a non discriminating student. It was sturdy and actually had a pretty ok feel. I think that they get a bad rap....but I still dont want one.

[smitty]

For all of you un-Vito-educated folk out there, I have some interesting FACTS about VITO straight from the horses mouth at Leblanc from their archivists as well as quite a few years of painstaking research.

1st of all, Vitos were originally made by a small sax manufacturer in Paris called Beaugnier. Beau. was a small high quality operation across the street from the Selmer factory. They turned out hand made saxes of very high quality that were in some ways ahead of the times. They had different " improvements on them that not even the MARK VI's had or were improved upon later. (email me if you wish for specifics). They were named Vito as a compliment to Vito Pascucci,(Leblancs recent US distributer). They were made of heavy, high quality French brass and had a bigger bore, bigger bell than nearly everything else at the time.

2nd , Leblanc bought Beaugnier to be there sax manufacturer, but the saxes were of such high quality and craftsmanship that they cost too much to make couldnt be sold competitively. ( The 1953 professional alto I own was documented to have had a retail price for $700 in 1953. That is about the equivalent of a $5000 horn today.), so you can see that they were a hard sell.

3rd, Leblanc later in the 60's started back up the Vito line as a high end student model and for quite a few years were made by Yanagisawa, but became too expensive for Leblanc who wanted a more economically made/priced horn and went to Yamaha for several years . Sinc the early nineties, unfortunately, in order to keep up with the economy, Leblanc started allowing them to be made by low bidding Taiwanese, Japanese and Chinese manufacturers.

So as you can see, vitos have had no affiliation to JK, only Leblanc
If you are fotunate enough to have an early 50's model like mine, You own an underappreciated Pro horn and because of the cheapness of the modern horns, you could never get a good trade on one,so if you do own an older one, I would be interested in sharing the nuggets of info I have and hope to someday greaten the appreciation for these littleknown classics.

[smitty]

OOPS fogot to leave my email address for anyone to get a hold of me.
smittysax53@hotmail.com

[knighttrain]

Guys - Try this link: http://www.gleblanc.com/history/index.cfm

[SQ Spike]

well, you seem to have it right; vito is owned by leblanc. JK is part of Boosey and Hawkes, which i think has split or something, and now it's part of the music group. tmg also includes some big names like besson, buffett, and rico:!: distribution for the various parts is done seperately though.


oh, by the by, i'm spike, i play an sx90r tenor, and you may know me as (drumroll, please) spike, from saxquest

[SaxPlayer1004]

from my knowlegde the bottom of the line vitos are produced with the yamaha 23 series, and the higher end (i.e. vito vsp bari) are identical to the yanagisawa 901 series. its all convoluted. its like the car industry, you can barely tell if you toyota camry has a chevy engine in it anymore, much like the sax industry. but the vitos are distributed by leblanc, and basically yanagisawa stencils, and the low ends come out of the same factory and mold as the yamaha 23.

[Jerry K.]

Smitty, as you seem quite knowledgable of things Vito I have to ask, where do you think this horn was made:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=3725850273&sspagename= STRK%3AMESC%3AIT&rd=1

This is my horn and is currently listed on Ebay. It has the carmel colored rollers so I was thinking it was produced in the 1950-1960 range. What do you know about the Vito horns marked Kenosha?