Looking For Some King (Non-HN White) Bari Sax Info

[Helen]

A friend of mine (pro player from Vancouver) is selling off some gear & called me tonight for some help. He asked me to track down some info on a couple of instruments he has, that he doesn't have much history on (other than his personal knowledge of having owned & used them professionally for years). He was hoping I might be able help him out. Well this has turned out to be anything but straight forward...

As I mentioned in the thread's title, the horn in question is a baritone sax, but not from the HN White era of the company's history. The serial number is 117XXX, which according to the Conn-Selmer website, seems to make it about a 1985-86 era horn.

What's unusual about the sax is that has Japan engraved on it. I have not been able to track down anywhere, any information that tells me anything about when the production of King saxophones would have been moved to Japan. Does anyone know anything about when this would have occurred? Also, do we know what factory made them? Were they stencils by any chance?

Also, I am assuming, that this would be an intermediate horn at best. Am I correct in that assumption? Since to my knowledge, King gave up the production of pro models when the ceased making the Super 20s. Or am I forgetting some piece of my saxophone history?

Any info anyone could share with me would be greatly appreciated!

BTW, the other instrument I am looking into for my friend, is an Armstrong alto flute.

 

[pete]

That's a Yanagisawa.

It's not an HN White/King and shouldn't follow King's serial numbers. It should follow Yani's, which would be 1983 and would be a B880 or B800, I'd think (Ed's the Yani guy).

Compare it to pics of the Yani B901. Betcha if you got a shot of that neck brace it'd have the Yani lyre symbol on it. Or above the serial number.

Hey. Also looks very similar to the Yani-made Vitos I've played -- made a few generations earlier than this, of course.

HN White/King did import a variety of horns: the King Lemaire from Amati, the King Marigaux from SML and the King Tempo from Keilwerth, but just because the sax is engraved "King" doesn't mean that it was associated with HN White/King in any way. Keilwerth had three models with "King" in their name: King, The New King and Toneking (and several submodels).

HN White was purchased by Seeburg around 1967 and production moved from Cleveland to Eastlake. In the early 1980s, King was "amlagamated into" UMI, but continued producing the Super 20 (and Super 21, briefly). The newest Super 20 I've seen was s/n 788xxx, which would be produced around 1998. Production of UMI's student instruments was in Nogales for awhile, at the Best Instrument Company, IIRC.

 

[Helen]

Thanks for that info Pete! I had a funny feeling it might be a Yani, (hence my question about it maybe being a stencil) but I wasn't sure.

I must admit, Japanese saxes are not my forte, (as a matter of fact, they are the ones I know the least about) and I haven't seen this horn in a few months, so my memory isn't totally fresh.

In any event, mystery solved. I bow at the feet of the saxophone-trivia, knowledge-meister.

 

[pete]

Hey, you know more German than I do. That'd be helpful for dealing with Keilwerth and Hammerschmidt .

Happy to be of service!