Student Prince “Modern Sound” alto sax identification?

[sax-o-potatoes]

I bought this alto sax a few years ago when I wanted to try playing one... (I am a trombone and piano player).

It is labeled “Student Prince Modern Sound Taiwan”

Anyone have any idea of it’s age or company history, quality, or any other info?

Also, I am not sure if the neck is original to it, but it fits.

I’ve attached some pics. Any info would be greatly appreciated...

Thanks!

 

[pete]

There's a guy on SOTW that had or has one. I'm not getting anything else.

The bell-to-body brace is rather distinctive. I haven't seen anything like it.

* It's probable that this isn't the original neck, as the horn looks like it's bare brass and the neck looks silver plated. That's not to say that the neck isn't for the same make/model.
* I don't think this is a KHS horn -- that's the company that manufactures Jupiter saxophones and bunches of other things. The horn just looks too old.
* I like the idea of calling this a Chinese horn and just stamped "Taiwan." There are a bunch of posts on SOTW that talk about the Chinese brand called Lark, such as:

https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?228038-What-is-this-horn
https://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?236076-Mystery-silver-tenor

... and that could be a good reading on those horns, at least. I think your horn looks too different, but I still consider the possibility of this horn being a Chinese-produced one rather high.

Age? 1970s, I think, based on the fact that it doesn't look like it has completely Selmer-style keywork.

Value? Probably less than $300. It's a student horn. Quality? If you can play it or snag someone who can, you can tell me .

 

[TrueTone]

That case looks like it's from a pre ww2 horn. (I.e. maybe Buescher, Martin, or Conn.)
Perhaps the neck is from around then too?
Does the neck have any numbers or anything on it?
Edit: of course, it could be that that was the only type of case the Taiwanese maker knew how to make...

 

[pete]

I really hate trying to determine what a horn is from things that can bee easily changed or replaced. Case? Easy to replace. Neck? One that both fits and plays in tune can be a problem replace, but it can be done. You run into this when you're dealing with a company like Yanagisawa where the most obvious difference between (say) the 900 and 990 is an underslung or an "over the top" octave key on the neck.

This isn't to say you're wrong, though, TT .

An interesting thing is that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of patents for musical instrument cases. I really enjoy looking at A. Sax cases.

 

[pete]

Yes, there are way too many horns in Helens/my gallery. Here's one marked "De Viller." There really isn't a good shot of the neck, but I'd say the profile looks close. Also, it's obvious that whomever actually made these horns made them for a while because this De Viller has slightly different keywork from OP's.

Hey, a tenor, too!

Oh. Sorry. Don't confuse these horns with the ones made by Dorfler and Jorka ("De Villers").

 

[TrueTone]

I really hate trying to determine what a horn is from things that can bee easily changed or replaced. Case? Easy to replace. Neck? One that both fits and plays in tune can be a problem replace, but it can be done. You run into this when you're dealing with a company like Yanagisawa where the most obvious difference between (say) the 900 and 990 is an underslung or an "over the top" octave key on the neck.

This isn't to say you're wrong, though, TT .

An interesting thing is that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of patents for musical instrument cases. I really enjoy looking at A. Sax cases.

Sorry if this wasn't clear, I was just trying to figure out what the neck was, as you did pretty well for an idea of what the horn is just from the first reply.

 

[pete]

No problem, TT. I was just adding a little extra.

FWIW, and especially because I don't have a good pic of the neck on the horns I linked to, you could be exactly right.

I've done extremely little research on East Asian horns except for Yanagisawa and Yamaha. I've mentioned some and looked at some I'd be very happy to try, like the Antigua Winds ProOne that Peter Ponzol designed. In this particular case, if the horn's in playing condition and OP isn't a sax player, it'd be nice to have someone play it and give their opinion. If the horn's not in playing condition and a tech quotes over $300 to get it in that condition, I'm pretty sure it's not worth it.