So I just scored a beautiful silver Super Artiste 48 alto for $350 on eBay. It belonged to a municipal hall in a town in France, and apparently they are restocking with new instruments and selling old ones. Looks little used; of course I won't know more until I have it in my hands.
That brings my total of Pierrets up to 3, and the more I research Pierrets, the less I understand. They seem to have been made in somebody's garage and put together and named at somebody's whim. For instance, take the modèle 6. I have what must be a late one, with a nailfile G# key (though not clutched to the C# and B key) and with right-side bell keys. Must be from the 30's at the earliest. And yet you have modèle 6s going back at least a decade and probably more earlier with completely different body and keywork (left-side bell keys).
My 6 and the new SA 48 coming have those funny angular art deco keyguards, but most have the more usual rounded Selmer-style guards. So again a material design difference with no indication as to whether is was some sort of option. This is quite a bit different than offering different finishes in one model line...Also funny is the fact that my 6 has only the model number stamped, with the name engraved. Most all the others I have seen have both name and model number stamped.
Necks. Unbelieveable. Some with the faux microtuner and some without (it's just a threaded collar). I've counted at least three different designs of octave keys and three different neck braces (and no neck brace). They seem to appear and disappear throughout the model lines with no rhyme or reason. My 6 has a neck brace that is shaped to and soldered along the underside of the neck. The new SA has no neck brace at all.
Now key design. The right pinky keys on some Super Artistes are rounded, and on others are angular, with no other changes being evident. It's weird.
They play great. The modele 6 has a unique sound IME--not unfocused, but rather "smoky" and "velvety"--a great ballad horn. That being said, it has the most difficult top alt E and F that I have ever encountered--you need an altissimo embouchure to play them. Makes me think the horn is singularly lacking in higher partials, which would also explain the tone.
I also have a nickel plated Super Artiste tenor in beautiful shape, but the assembly is less than ideal. I almost thought that it had been replated after the fact, because the metal under the plating in some places around ribs is quite rough, as if it had not been cleaned up before plating. Some keywork is greviously loose and needs swedging. That all being said, it is a monster of a player, unbelievable, with a big well-balanced sound that I would put up against any tenor you care to name. It certainly gives both my Martin and King Super 20 a run for their money; it just sings.
Will report back when the SA 48 arrives. I can also supply serial numbers although they seem to be arbitrary...
That brings my total of Pierrets up to 3, and the more I research Pierrets, the less I understand. They seem to have been made in somebody's garage and put together and named at somebody's whim. For instance, take the modèle 6. I have what must be a late one, with a nailfile G# key (though not clutched to the C# and B key) and with right-side bell keys. Must be from the 30's at the earliest. And yet you have modèle 6s going back at least a decade and probably more earlier with completely different body and keywork (left-side bell keys).
My 6 and the new SA 48 coming have those funny angular art deco keyguards, but most have the more usual rounded Selmer-style guards. So again a material design difference with no indication as to whether is was some sort of option. This is quite a bit different than offering different finishes in one model line...Also funny is the fact that my 6 has only the model number stamped, with the name engraved. Most all the others I have seen have both name and model number stamped.
Necks. Unbelieveable. Some with the faux microtuner and some without (it's just a threaded collar). I've counted at least three different designs of octave keys and three different neck braces (and no neck brace). They seem to appear and disappear throughout the model lines with no rhyme or reason. My 6 has a neck brace that is shaped to and soldered along the underside of the neck. The new SA has no neck brace at all.
Now key design. The right pinky keys on some Super Artistes are rounded, and on others are angular, with no other changes being evident. It's weird.
They play great. The modele 6 has a unique sound IME--not unfocused, but rather "smoky" and "velvety"--a great ballad horn. That being said, it has the most difficult top alt E and F that I have ever encountered--you need an altissimo embouchure to play them. Makes me think the horn is singularly lacking in higher partials, which would also explain the tone.
I also have a nickel plated Super Artiste tenor in beautiful shape, but the assembly is less than ideal. I almost thought that it had been replated after the fact, because the metal under the plating in some places around ribs is quite rough, as if it had not been cleaned up before plating. Some keywork is greviously loose and needs swedging. That all being said, it is a monster of a player, unbelievable, with a big well-balanced sound that I would put up against any tenor you care to name. It certainly gives both my Martin and King Super 20 a run for their money; it just sings.
Will report back when the SA 48 arrives. I can also supply serial numbers although they seem to be arbitrary...
I've got a huge