I'm curious about a very old soprano. Seller says it is a COUTURIER PELISSON FRERES & Cie. I asked a few questions and found out there is no serial number, nor H or P to designate pitch. Its length is 59.5 cm / 23.4 inches. Does anyone have any info that can help determine its age, and whether or not it is high or low pitch?
Edit 2: I think this sax only goes down to B so its being shorter does not indicate a high pitch horn. For an approximate datation I'd say
1890-1910 -does it have a double octave key ?
Thank-you. I had found one of those links but not the others. And yes, looks like only to low B, which indicates (from what I've read), a second-line / discontinued model. The owner said he doesn't know enough about the octave key(s) so has offered to send more photos.
Pretty much a collector item and not worth a whole lot. Very early horn to low B only, no extra keys, non-articulated G#. Even if it is Low Pitch, I doubt anyone would use it and the cost of redoing it would probably be 2-3 times the value. If you like to tinker with old horns, maybe $50 or so would do it. Bb horns are usually a little shorter than 26" so with no Bb, that would make it in the 23: range.
Thanks Bruce. Yes, I was thinking along the lines of using it to tinker and see if I could restore (more or less) something that otherwise doesn't have much value. And if I did get it working then added bonus. Or it becomes an objet d'art or a lamp… (I know I could also do this with a banged up student horn found locally, but the idea of exploring an ancient one seems, for some perverse reason, more of a challenge). And yeah, $50 would be my maximum!
With that simple keywork, it will be easy to access the pads when redoing. It does appear to be a double octave key model where you change to the side key for A2 and above.
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