Engraving Resources

pete

pete

Brassica Oleracea
Staff member
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Re: Engraving: Jason DuMars

Jason did a Buescher 140 for me some years ago. After he did the engraving I ended up having the horn chem stripped (there wasn't much lacquer left anyways) and overhauled. After the overhaul I was finally able to determine that it was a wonderful playing horn. Before that point everything done to it was done on faith.
 
Re: Engraving: Jason DuMars

He's never done any of my horns, but I had some examples of his work in my first calendar. Gotta like the pretty.

I should also mention Sherry Huntley of http://www.artisticengraving.com/.

Oh. I moved this thread and retitled it because a lot of these engravers will do flutes, etc. and not just saxophone. Hey, the Conn 16V Sarrusophone very easily could be available in a Virtuoso Deluxe finish.
 
I'll also check my bookmarks at home and see if I can find a link accessible through archive.org for bill kasper's old "Amazing Grace" engraving website. I had a lot of his saxophones archived on saxpics.com, but there was a bit of other info and other pics that I didn't.
 
Tra-la!

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www ... race2.html

Please note that bill's old domain was taken over TWICE, so only the stuff in 2001 and earlier pertains to the old Amazing Grace website. As further mentioned, you won't see any pictures. Most of the sax ones ended up on saxpics.com. The rest are lost :cry:.
 
SOTSDO said:
My Conn horn used to be on his website, but now all that remains is the basic link to the story page that is no longer there. Sic transit saxophonia...
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If you can give me a general description, I'll try to repost it. As I said, I have a lot of the saxophones from AG archived.
 
It's under my name and the name Helen Willson (the name engraved over the quite ugly 1920's era flapper in the cartouche). One of these days I may take some new, digital photos, as my photographic equipment has advanced quite a bit since the days that those first photos were taken. It still takes a lot of time to set it all up in the sun outdoors (this to minimize flash reflections).

The horn was originally in the second from the top finish level (gold plate, green lined case), but I fell back to silver at the time of the rebuild due to cost concerns.

One other thing: as far as engraving goes, I can do without it without suffering any great regrets. While the technique and end result are admirable (especially when much of it was done freehand), on a lacquered horn it has been nothing but trouble for me in the past. On my Yamaha top end baritone, the only spots of deterioration on the lacquer are where corrosion has started in portions of the engraving.

No problems with that with a silver-plated (or gold-plated) horn, at least not that I have seen. But, silver and gold are the exceptions rather than the rule.
 
Mmmm. Alto? Virtuoso Deluxe (i.e. extra pearls) or Artist's Special (i.e. no extra pearls)? Gold Plate?

I had about 100 or so of these elaborately engraved Conns on saxpics.com.
 
Alto. Low pitch. No pearls on the side keys, Micro-Tuner on the neck. Gold plate (originally), silver plate now. Engraving only on the bell, but a completely custom cartouche, with a flapper girl head (wearing a close-fitting, cloch? hat) looking back over left shoulder, showing her very ugly face in near profile view, with the name "Helen Willson" engraved above. No "Naked Lady" elements in any way shape or form.

I've poked around on the Internets, trying to put some background with the name Helen Willson, but without success. The nearest thing to an identity that has been found is a tennis star back in the relevant era, but no picture or anything else to compare with it.
 
No, I don't think I have that specific one. You can browse in http://www.saxpics.com/the_gallery/conn ... alto/gold/ if you'd like.

The engraving on the Artist's Special horns is not necessarily unique. I've seen multiple copies of the same engraving, so you might find a match, in any event.

Anyhow, the name could be the person who actually engraved the horn. The engraver's name occasionally graced the Conns, as was the case with the Martin Handcrafts.

I did a brief Google search for "Helen Wilson" and there seems to have been a burlesque performer by that name. YMMV.
 
SOTSDO said:
EIther there was a typographical (er, "engravographical") error, or that is a different Helen. The double L in Willson is properly engraved, with proper spacing and all of that.
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I only used one "l", as above. My error -- or it could be an engraving error. Or I still could be correct. Ya never know.

:D
 
I'll try to set things up and take some photos tomorrow of the engraving so that those more familiar with the genre can offer their opinions. We're due to have "wonderful weather" tomorrow, so the glare free conditions should be present outside on the top of the hot tub.
 
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