Dolnet Sax

R10FCB

Hey guys, this is my first post.
Just would like to ask a question about my Dolnet sax and hope someone might be able to answer if for me. The serial number is 30239, on saxpics it has a listing for Dolnets but says series II is number 1,200-3,400 and Bel-air is number 34,000-80,000. Which leaves my sax in the middle of the two so I was wandering if anyone could give me any information on it going by it's serial? Time it was made, price? etc.
Any information you can give me will be greatly appreciated.
Cheers,
Henry.
 
There's a whole section hereon that details what you need to do in order to get help with valuation of a horn. The link to same is at the top level of the site. Go through the steps in the protocol, and you can come up with a decent valuation on your own.
 
I'm the Artist Formerly Known as Saxpics.

I'm sorry, but you read it wrong. Check out my original page: http://saxpics.com/dolnet/index.htm. "Series II (s/n 12xx to 34xxx; 1940 to 1950). Bel Air Series (s/n 34xxx to 80xxx; 1950 to 1970)." No gaps. I no longer own saxpics.com, so I have no control over the content there. Additionally, the newest article on there that I wrote is about 6 years old and I have gotten some more information during that time, such as finding out the official from Dolnet model name of the "Bel Air Series" is "Artist."

Serial number charts are listed on the forum main page. Direct link is http://www.woodwindforum.com/forum/showthread.php?1021-Serial-Number-and-Model-Listing. Note that there is no "official" Dolnet serial number chart, so any guess on age is approximate.

Check out the sticky threads at http://www.woodwindforum.com/forum/index.php?forums/how-much-is-my-horn-worth.1320/. If you need more info, g'head and post. Make sure you've got pics.
 
hi i also have a dolnet paris alto sax.serial number 45499 its similar to selmer .found in a friends drum outsids his home full of water
 
User e-mailed me directly. I didn't know about the water damage. Anyhow, I'll share:

Most of my info about Dolnet is at http://saxpics.com/dolnet/index.htm. I can also say that your horn was made around the mid-1950s.

One of the biggest problems with Dolnet is that they produced horns using the high pitch intonation standard up until the M70 came out around 1970. Without going into tremendous detail, high pitch horns will not play in tune with modern instruments and high pitch woodwinds cannot be made to play in tune. That makes Dolnets a hard sell, unless there’s a guarantee that the horn isn’t high pitch.

There are several levels of “restore”:

Playing Condition. Just replace leaky pads. Make sure that the corks, felts, and springs are in the right place. This can be between shop minimum (say $50 to $75) and thousands.

Mechanically perfect. Replace all pads (and resonators), corks, and felts. Make sure the springs are good or replace ‘em. Swedge (tighten) the keys. Make sure the horn plays with consistent intonation on all notes. Hammer out the dents. Generally around $700.

Restored. Make the horn mechanically perfect and aesthetically perfect. This means that you get the horn chemically stripped and relacquer or replate. I don’t like relacquers. Replating only adds value. Silver is about $1500. Gold is around $4000. If you need parts fabricated or you have splits or holes in the metal or if you have damaged toneholes, you could be hundreds to thousands above that $1500 mark.

At absolute maximum, with the horn in perfect shape – and not high pitch – the horn will be worth around $1500. If you really like the horn and/or it has sentimental value, I’d spend the money to get it in perfect mechanical shape. If not, I’d sell it or trade it in.
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