USQMC Soprano Sax

[deblcooper]

Hope someone out there can help. Pictures or info will be greatly appreciated.

A customer came in with a old silver soprano sax with the USQMC stamp on the bell. The engraving is the flower style and is very worn but appears to be made in Illinois.

Above the serial number is Bb and below are the letters L P.

I took some pictures before he took it home again if anyone needs to see what I'm referring to.

deb

[Dave Dolson]

Deb: United States Quartermaster Corp?

Anyway, the Bb and LP stampings are a good thing. As I recall, Buescher didn't stamp the key on their saxophones and they wrote out LP as Low Pitch.

Maybe it was a Conn or Martin, or a stencil from those companies? DAVE

[Dave dix]

Conn has this style on the serial numbers but slightly different
eg

1234567 =patent no
S = soprano (or letter C for C sop)
M123456= serial number (stencil horns usually start with letter P but not all)
L =low pitch (or H for high pitch)
later conns after the RTH models had a letter B for all Bb instruments and E for Eb instruments
Dave

[paulwl]

"L P" stamping to me suggests a Holton product.

Yes, USQMC was the Quartermaster Corps - of the Army. Some mistake it for a branch of the Marine Corps ("USMC").

I've never seen an instrument engraved "USMC", but quite a few engraved "USN" for the Navy bands, and "USQMC" or later just "U.S." for the Army bands.

[gary]

Deb: United States Quartermaster Corp?

Wow, Dave. That way exactly my first reaction. Guess that's not an answer for the under-40 crowd, wot?

Regarding the letter designations, I think the LP means you can play your sax for an extended length of time. Otherwise it would be stamped 78 and then you would have to turn your horn over in order to get completely through a tune.

[Dave Dolson]

All the kids are wondering what an LP and a 78 are. DAVE

[stevesklar]

kids are wondering what an LP and a 78 are

unfortunately I guess I'm not a kid.

but luckily enough I didn't know what USQMC meant.

[deblcooper]

Well, guys, I did know what the USQMC stood for since I was an Army brat.... plus I'm way over 40.

I suspect it is a Conn stencil but still am not quite convinced. There are two keys broken on this one and he wants it fixed to look as original as possible so it's not just a matter of welding on an old one one.

Other things point out that it might not be a Conn stencil...

If you know of other USQMC pictures, let me know.

Here's some of the one we'll be working on..
http://f1.pg.briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/...ase.yahoo.com/

[deblcooper]

Nobody else have one of these?

I can't find anything, no pictures, no info, nada. I already knew what USQMC was but is it a Conn or a Buescher?

Anyone own a Conn or a Buescher that looks similiar to this?

Here's a pic of the engraving....Any idea who made this?
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/64351a85...uAdKDBaP3ZYCa3

A unique feature...??
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/64351a85...uAdKDBCkwZjf_R

and a broken off key will need repaired....
http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/bc/64351a85...uAdKDBv2qCUvS2

[paulwl]

Links are coming back as "server not found." It reads yahoofs.com, which is probably not a real domain at Yahoo!.

[deblcooper]

Well, just click on the original link that is in the previous post...

http://briefcase.yahoo.com/bc/deblco...+Album&.view=l

and then click on one of the picture files which will open the yahoof picture.

I have no idea why it will work one way, yet not the other.

Thanks,
deb

[paulwl]

(Bad news) The link just above didn't work.

[Good news] The link in the original post worked. Based on picture #002, I can state with confidence that your soprano is a Holton. Engraved in tiny lettering inside the leaf design is "ELKHORN / WIS." That was the home of the Holton company, who often engraved in those very flattened-out, nearly-illegible script letters I see just above "ELKHORN."

That, and there's some crazy extra key for the right hand, which is the sort of thing Holton was known for. (They were not, however, known for building great saxes, altho the sopranos and basses are said to be better than the others.)

[deblcooper]

Thanks Paul.

Started taking it apart. It's slightly bent like a banana and close inspection shows signs of someone else's repairs.

Now to put in some time searching for old Holton soprano photos.

Anyone know of any?

deb

[paulwl]

http://www.saxpics.com would be my first stop. However, the server seems not to be responding at the moment.