A now obsolete member of the saxophone family, from one of America's premier horns builders in the mid 1900's - and perhaps one of the very last examples of Martin's run of C Melody horns. I have to say that what you're looking at here is quite possibly one of the finest examples of a C Melody as you're ever likely to see. Serial Number Ranges By Model; •; Full Serial Number Chart. Martin Serial Number Ranges By Model. Model, Start #, End #. Stencils, unknown, unknown. Handcraft, 1, (1905), 95,000, (1929). Handcraft Master ('Typewriter'), 95,000, (1929), 100,000, (1930). Handcraft Troubador, 100,000, (1930), 110,000, (1933).

Just acquired a Couesnon Monopole Conservatoire tenor sax, s/no 149xx behind the pinkie table - I keep seeing 'II' mentioned on reviews etc. But can't find anything on the engraving (apart from two pigeons?) that would suggest that. Certainly has 'Couesnon Monopole Conservatoire' in the bell engraving. (the case didn't come with the sax, I've had that R&C case here for a while waiting for a suitable resident ) Plays like a dream - having been used to the more 'spread' Martin sound, I can now appreciate a more focussed sound. A lot is down to the choice of mouthpiece, but with my high-baffle Couf J10*S (far right in the picture below) it has all the presence you could ever wish for when pushed, subtones, harmonics, the lot - and backing off the airstream produces a more conventional sound acceptable to anyone.

I did disable the linked G#/C# (etc.) on the 'pinkie table', made it a little too much of a workout for my smallest digit. Speaking of which - I was doubtful about those shaped palm keys, but for my smaller hands the palm keys fit like a dream, as does everything else. Normally the frst thing I'd have to do is fit a riser to the palm D. All for under $1000 (fitted case wasn't included), and I'm told it had been given a recent $500 repad by DG Music in Exmouth, nice job Griff. It was a UK sale, but I've put the figures in US$ 'cos I know how much you colonial readers get confused with foreign currencies More pics (the sellers), I'll be taking some pictures of my own very soon. No official serial numbers lists exist - the factory was burnt down, which also brought production to an end in the 70's - but I'd suggest that this was hand-built (as were all their horns) near the end of production.

Stephen Howard did a great review of the same model tenor. Hello - just in case you think it's a little quiet here lately, I seem to have migrated most of my online activity to Facebook, where I'm known as (variously) Alan Tucker, Tucks and I've also started a C Saxophone Archive page over there, early days, but my C's are getting a touch neglected at the moment. Auto Paint Color Software more. Seem to be back on tenor sax, also enjoying a new friend - a bass clarinet - and I've also gone all 'baroque', playing tenor and great-bass recorders and music from centuries past ( well, they are in C.) Again. Hopefully, these links will also encourage Google search engines to include my Facebook witterings in normal searches - who knows?

I was lucky enough to acquire my early Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophone recently - the silver plated one on the left - by 'internet bidding' at a UK auction. Not on ebay.co.uk, but an actual established UK auction site, Bamfords. The only downside, apart from the lightning speed of the bidding, which was over less than 20 seconds, was having to arrange my own shipping from the (quite remote) auction site to my home. The reason I say, somewhat tentatively, 1920-30's, is that I cannot date the sax because it has no serial number that I can find, there is NO information stamped on the back of the body at all. There is a possibility that it could have been made elsewhere for Kohlert, as a stencil, and some features lead me to the assumption that it was definitely made 'this side of the pond', in Europe.

It has yet to be overhauled to full playing order, some of the current pads are, at best, 'hopeful' (the bow Eb pad is perched on top of the cup. Odeon Acoustics Cracker on this page. ) As for the 'last' 1977 Kohlert C, the two-tone C on the right, looking at them in side profile the thing that immediately srikes me is how much lower down the 'sling-ring' is and how much higher up the thumb-hook is on the '77. Other than that, the profiles and proportions of both bodies are quite similar. The 77's owner, Kari sent me a photobucket link to his photos of it, so I can offer links to albums, and slideshows, for them both! Enjoy, click on the links below to enjoy the pictures. Or as a slideshows - below - scaled to fit both on the same screen. ** Usage hint, hover over each slideshow to see the 'options bar', and click on any of the pictures to see it in a full size window.

1920-30's above, 1977 below. 1) Welcome, this blog/website covers a few diverse topics, not just C Saxophones. If you'd like to just view (e.g.) just 'C' related posts, look to your right for a Section titled ' Select which type of Posts to view.' , and click on ' C-Melody / C-Tenor Saxophones' - and only those posts will be shown. Click on ' Home' in the top LH corner, or ' Show all Posts' at the top of the page, to show everything. Check out the 'tabs' above too. 2) You can still read the old posts etc.

On the - but new posts will be on this blog. I'm working on all the 'returns' to come back here, but in the interim you may have to use your browser 'back' key. 3) To be able to comment on any of the Posts or Pages here, you will need a Google login (or an associated account, i.e. Wordpress, Yahoo, Flickr, myspace, OpenID etc.) -. That's about it, scroll down the screen to continue, enjoy! On a King C-Melody sax, with a Jody Jazz (alto) HR* 9M mouthpiece - rather open tip - and a Rico Royal BASS Clarinet reed. Rather eccentric setup, but, apart from the tip opening (.105'?), quite a bit of similarity to the old 20's setup.

The bass clari reed is an excellent fit for the JJ alto mouthpiece table/tip profile. AS I now play Bb tenor, I could be searching for a slightly more unique and/or individual C-Tenor sound than the normal 'tenor mouthpiece' type! And now for something completely different - just a bit of a waffle on tenor sax, decades ago, way down in the mix, at a recording session in Wokingham - Peter Howe was the singer. Who dubbed that squeak in????

And it's not a Martin! ( it's not magic, either) Carolyn emailed me, and put some pictures up on Flickr of an interesting C-Melody saxophone she's acquired. It's marked J.R. LAFLEUR & SON LTD, 147 WARDOUR STREET, LONDON. W1 At a quick glance you'd notice the'Pontiac rings' on the bell/bow joints, and that (partially) soldered tonehole, and say ' Ah - Martin or IBI Co'. But then there's both bell toneholes on the same side, and the long soldered 'guard' feet so typical of European design. So, a little more investigation is called for.

I guess more will be added later, as the mystery unravels. Any suggestions as to the origins? Some of the angular bits on the mechanism (and the bow/bell joint rings) are very similar to - but only some!