VMI Manufaktur

Jacques5646

Jacques5646

Dear all,
A friend gave me a sax to try on his sister has been owning and wanted to sell. It's a "VMI Manufaktur" tenor s/n 68xxx "Made in Germany" (written longitudinally after the s/n no), with a very German eagle head engraving - http://www.trademarkia.com/vmi-manufaktur-75182917.html -. Very nice piece, spatula LH, strong action, nice darkish tone.
Any hint about this make and model ?
Tks in advance
J
 
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Hello Jacques. The association that I draw with VMI and saxophones is Vogtländische Musikinstrumentenfabrik, who were the manufacturers of the B&S Medusa et al saxophones. That said, neither the serial no. you provide, nor the engraving would fit any of the VMI horns that I've seen--although I've seen the eagle before. I have a Medusa bari that I bought new, with all the original accessories. I think the cleaning cloth and the neck strap mention VMI. IIRC, an eagle might be on those, but I'm not sure it's not the same eagle--but it sure does look familiar.

If you could provide some photos of the sax, then we could possibly provide some more info based on its construction. In the meantime, I'll take a look in the German saxophone history book that I have. Perhaps Uwe Ladwig mentions something like it.
 
oh, I always thought that would be an acronym for "Verily Mediocre Instruments". ;-)
 
Frankly not so mediocre after the little playing I did with the beast. Keywork is firm, mechanically very sound, not bad.
Helen, thanks for these first infos. I'll come back with some pics asap.
J
 
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Manufaktur :
 

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Interesting Jacques. The left pinkie cluster and the bell to body brace indicate that this saxophone was made by VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik--the VEB that built the B&S "blue label" horns. With regards to this one, it is a stencil of their Weltklang. (The left pinkie cluster and bell to body brace are different on the blue label and Weltklangs.)

Yes, it was this VEB that after Germany's reunification became the Vogtländische Musikinstrumentenfabrik GmbH (VMI), which of course produced the Medusa saxophones and all their various stencils until circa 2005.

I have written extensively about VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik for my website, and have provided heavily illustrated pages of all their models. You might find it interesting. I also have a quite an extensive vintage B&S gallery on Bassic Sax Pix to which you can compare the horn you're currrently testing.

I'm not surprised that you are impressed by the the horn Jacques. They are reportedly very solid horns, and very reliable ones. The latter ones suffer from some quality control issues--TTT can attest to that--but the bodies and mechanisms are all very solid and very well made. These Weltklangs have stood the test of time.

Are you thinking of buying the horn Jacques?
 
Here's the Weltklang-branded alto version. It's called a "Solist model." No, I have no idea where the other "O" went to come up with "Solist." Anyhow, I just look to that bell-to-body brace. It's rather unique. I wouldn't pay too much, though. They don't sell for much on eBay.

Helen's webpage on the Weltklang/B&S stuff is excellent.
 
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Helen said:
Interesting Jacques. The left pinkie cluster and the bell to body brace indicate that this saxophone was made by VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik--the VEB that built the B&S "blue label" horns. With regards to this one, it is a stencil of their Weltklang. (The left pinkie cluster and bell to body brace are different on the blue label and Weltklangs.)
(...)
I'm not surprised that you are impressed by the the horn Jacques. They are reportedly very solid horns, and very reliable ones. The latter ones suffer from some quality control issues--TTT can attest to that--but the bodies and mechanisms are all very solid and very well made. These Weltklangs have stood the test of time.

Are you thinking of buying the horn Jacques?
Click to expand...

Helen,
Many thanks for this very elaborate answer. Thanks to Pete too. Frankly I'd love to grab this teutonic sax but I'm waiting for a totally revamped late 10M that Bruno Waltersbacher, one of the best vintage specialists this side of the Pond, is due to deliver within days. It was from the stable of one of my best friends who recently passed and I got it mainly for sentimental reasons. However, the beast roars and is another proof of the absurdity of the doctrinal rejection of the post-rolled tones Conns. But it's another story. Nevertheless, my cash situation restricts my GAS pressure to a moderate level...
J
 
pete said:
Here's the Weltklang-branded alto version. It's called a "Solist model." No, I have no idea where the other "O" went to come up with "Solist." Anyhow, I just look to that bell-to-body brace. It's rather unique. I wouldn't pay too much, though. They don't sell for much on eBay.
.
Click to expand...

Pete, I'm not able to able to get to any actual photos using that link. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Oh, I was going to ask, why do you have Weltklang listed separately from B&S in your gallery Pete? I was under the impression you divided your gallery into manufacturers.
 
Helen said:
Pete, I'm not able to able to get to any actual photos using that link. Maybe I'm doing something wrong.

Oh, I was going to ask, why do you have Weltklang listed separately from B&S in your gallery Pete? I was under the impression you divided your gallery into manufacturers.
Click to expand...
I think I fixed the link. I was positive it worked yesterday. Odd.

The separation of Weltklang from B&S has a couple reasons. Administrivia:

* On my old picture gallery, I was able to make aliases to different manufacturers, so, as an example, I could have a menu item such as "CG Conn" and another one called "Conn." I haven't found a way to do that in Piwigo. Yet.
* I had the thought that if someone comes to my picture gallery, he might look for, say, Weltklang, rather than B&S. Piwigo has a better search engine, so this isn't too much of an issue, now.
* I did very little in the way of re-categorizing things when I transferred from Gallery 3 to Piwigo. I might have decided I just want B&S separate. Well, maybe :D.
* Having a category title that incorporates the full B&S, VMI, VEB, etc. names would take up a half page. A little too long ....
 
I sometimes wonder how confused people are about the B&S/Weltklang connection. Yesterday I happened across an eBay auction for a Weltklang in which the seller quoted my website, but said that it was a stencil of B&S. What? I never said that. I don't know where people get this stuff.

On the other hand, this is the same seller who also has a D&J horn for sale and again quotes me as saying that the body tubes are made by JK.

I would write the guy and try to set the record straight, but I've learned over time that those emails are usually ignored, or changes made are often worse than what's originally there, making me look even stupider. :emoji_imp:
 
Helen said:
I sometimes wonder how confused people are about the B&S/Weltklang connection. Yesterday I happened across an eBay auction for a Weltklang in which the seller quoted my website, but said that it was a stencil of B&S. What? I never said that. I don't know where people get this stuff.

On the other hand, this is the same seller who also has a D&J horn for sale and again quotes me as saying that the body tubes are made by JK.

I would write the guy and try to set the record straight, but I've learned over time that those emails are usually ignored, or changes made are often worse than what's originally there, making me look even stupider. :emoji_imp:
Click to expand...
"Layne Francis says that the horn was made by Keilwerth!"

It's gotten more and more rare, but I still often get e-mails in the form of, "X on your website is wrong! Fix it!" Usually these e-mails have no more content than that. I tend to ignore them. And you're right, Helen, corrections I make are generally either misquoted or you have to sit back and say, "The only way someone would construe my correction that way is if he was on some serious drugs -- I mean, Yellow Submarine-level -- drugs."
 
Everybody makes mistakes. If someone maintains that they don't, they're either a) hidebound and incapable of change, or b) lying through their teeth.

The trick is to realize what mistakes you make (and the good folks do this routinely) and then take steps to ensure that they don't happen again.
 
Helen said:
(...) indicate that this saxophone was made by VEB Blechblas- und Signal-Instrumenten-Fabrik--the VEB that built the B&S "blue label" horns. With regards to this one, it is a stencil of their Weltklang. (The left pinkie cluster and bell to body brace are different on the blue label and Weltklangs.)
Click to expand...

I forgot : any idea about the age of this tenor ?
J
 
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