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What sax is this? Kohlert pre WWII?

Hi there. Welcome to the WF.

Well there, I can see why you were told it may have been been made by Kohlert of Keilwerth before WWII. It certainly has that look to it.

That said, there are 2 things that don't quite fit: 1. The serial #, and 2. The left pinkie cluster.

In European stencil horns the serial #s generally followed the conventions of the those of the parent company, meaning that a brand-name horn can have serial # 123456, while the stencil horn that was made next could be 123457. Kohlert did not have 4 digit serial #s before or after WWII--only before WWI, and the horn isn't that old. Depending on what the serial # is, it could be JK's but you'd have to check it against this chart. It is the most complete and accurate anywhere.

Furthermore, the left pinkie cluster doesn't look like any that I can remember seeing on any Kohlert saxophones. However, you can compare them against these in my gallery just to be sure. I have more in my computer that I haven't had a chance to upload yet though, so when I get a chance I will do so.

The left pinkie cluster also doesn't look like that of any of the pre-WWII JK saxophones. You'd have to be looking at the King models.

I will have to do some digging and get back to you. In the meantime, Pete might chime in as well, since he has a wealth of knowledge in this area as well.

Sometimes saying his name 3 names in a row brings him out of hiding: Pete, Pete, Pete... ;)
 
* Chime *

Well, it's pretty. Nickel plate. I agree with Helen that it's not a Kohlert. It doesn't look like any Julius Keilwerth horn I've seen. Max Keilwerth, maybe. Helen could confirm if she's seen any MK horns without the "Pure Tone" logo. I also think the keywork is a bit too dissimilar, particularly that chromatic F#. (You'll notice that the examples I mention below don't even have chromatic F# keys.)

It bears a strong resemblance to the Oscar Adler horns, particularly the "Rasco" model. The thing that bothers me about that identification is that I haven't ever seen a split bell-key Adler. Helen may be able to confirm or deny the existence of them. They did build a lot of horns and they did build stencils, so we're good on those fronts. The shape of that low C key almost matches.

Another horn I was looking at was the one and only Wenzel Fried horn on my website. This time, we have a matching bell-to-body brace, low C key and the shape of the G# key. It's also a split bell-key horn. However, they're very uncommon so I don't have other examples to look at.

Pics of the neck might help.
 
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Hi there,
thank you very much for these very interesting infos about this horn.
I just uploaded two additional pictures of the neck as you asked. Hoping it will help identifying this horn.
I can also add that this sax sounds very very good, pretty unexpected, way better than I guessed before playing it.

Serial [HASHTAG]#10xx[/HASHTAG]
 
Yup. Necks help. That little "wattle" hanging down on the neck isn't on the Adlers and Max Keilwerth horns. It's an exact match (well, I dunno about dimensions, of course) for a Kohlert. It doesn't quite look like the one on the afore-mentioned Wenzel Fried, but I've only got one example, so that doesn't discount them ...

I think I'm going to say that's probably about the closest I can get to a manufacturer. It's very possible that it's something new. I'd love to call it a Kohlert, but there are too many other things that look different.

Hey, I like stumpers!
 
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