CR Kessler Solid Bronze Tenor Sax

[DaveKessler]

I own 3 music stores in Las Vegas and also buy horns and have them private labelled out of Taiwan for me.

We just got in out 1st Production Bronze tenor sax. It features a solid bronze neck, body, bow & bell with Brass mechanisms and keys. Clear lacquer coat on the entire horn.

The label I use is CR Kessler. I will be selling them new at $1495.00. I currently only have the one since I wanted to make sure that the factory could do it exactly how we wanted it. This was their 3rd attempt and I guess 3rd time is the charm!

More Large Bell brozne tenors & altos are on the way. If anyone is looking for a great sounding but still inexspensive horn, let me know.

Dave Kessler
Kessler & Sons Music
Las Vegas, Nevada USA
http://www.kesslermusic.com

[DaveKessler]

Here is a link where you can find pictures and details about the horns.

http://www.kesslermusic.com/html/sax/kessler.htm

[mark_m]

Curious how these are formed. Isn't bronze quite stiff/brittle compared to brass? Would seem an excellent material...

[DaveKessler]

Curious how these are formed. Isn't bronze quite stiff/brittle compared to brass? Would seem an excellent material...

It appearantly isnt much more difficult to do then with brass. The Taiwanese refer to it as "Red Brass" where everyone else calls it Bronze. They cost me a little more to have done with the Bronze but I attribute that to the fact that I am the only Dealer/Private Labeller asking for them in the Bronze.

The main difference is tone. The typically give a darker tone. We love the Bronze Yanagisawa's tone versus the same models in Brass so we wanted to see if our maker could do the same.

It took them 3 tries to get it exactly right. The first one, I asked for a solid Bronze body horn. So they took me quite literally and sent me a tenor that had a solid bronze body, but had brass nec, bell & bow with brass keys, all un-polished with no lacquer. While it played Great, it wasnt what I was looking for. The 3rd one they send me an all brass horn , un ploished with a clear lacquer coat. This one we picked up at the NAMM show so we were able to take them over to the LeBlanc booth and show them a Yani and sya, "do this".

I have several more tenors and also some altos now on order. The alto is one we are really anxious to play since we actually like the altos a little more then we like the tenors.

[1saxman]

I bought an earlier model Kessler gold-plated bari for the bari player in our band, and the horn was OK. It got knocked off it's stand on New Year's Eve by an over-exuburant woman (she was dealt with later :) and I just knew it was a goner. Put it in the shop and found out it was NOT bent! No dents at all. Just needed some keys reset. This is probably the best-looking bari you've ever seen, and it has a deep, vintage sound. The only fault with it was the RH thumbrest (Selmer-style) which had the threaded stud soft-soldered in. The first time the thumbrest was adjusted, the stud just turned. I epoxied the thumbrest into position and it's been fine. Hopefully they have revised this detail, but everything else has been fine. I'm interested in a bronze tenor for a back-up to my Mk VI, but I need to sell a Martin first. Dave Kessler is a straight-up businessman and sends his horns in excellent packing.

[torzn]

the bronze alto only seems to be availabe in one finish (please correct me if i am wrong), will this be the casev with the tenor? and if so, would it be possible to custom order a bronze tenor in black nickel?

[DaveKessler]

the bronze alto only seems to be availabe in one finish (please correct me if i am wrong), will this be the casev with the tenor? and if so, would it be possible to custom order a bronze tenor in black nickel?

Thats correct that we only offer the bronze in a regular lacquer. We are now out of the tenors completely and almost out on the altos.

We are reviewing what we want made so if you really wanted a bronze horn in black nickel, that can be special ordered... but needs to be done soon.

I am probably also going to order the bronze horn with the body tube unlacquered (bare bronze) and the keys lacquered (made of brass).

[torzn]

how soon would i need to order it? it will take me a few weeks to put together the money for another sax.

[DaveKessler]

how soon would i need to order it? it will take me a few weeks to put together the money for another sax.

Give me a call to discuss specifics.

Toll Free 1-888-385-4559 Mon-Sat 9:30-6:00 Pacific Time.

Dave Kessler