Showing posts with label C-Melody / C-Tenor Saxophones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label C-Melody / C-Tenor Saxophones. Show all posts

Friday, 20 September 2019

In admiration of Martin (stencil) Handcraft tenor saxophones

A while back I went musically full circle, back to playing my elderly bare-brass 30's Martin (stencil) Handcraft tenor sax, engraved "Melody Master" . At that age, understandably not always 100% reliable even after being treated to a gorgeous full overhaul by Peter Bettle, no-one can predict when metal fatigue will strike - although, like a vintage car, the sound and feel makes up for any creakiness - so when it's silver-plated 'twin' popped up I didn't hesitate to spend a bit of someone else's inheritance ;-)
Like a pair of peas in a pod, the 'new' Lewin, another 30's Martin Handcraft stencil, plays identically. Harmonics in the same place (Jody Jazz Jet + Fibracell reed, really opens up the sound...) - even the necks are identical and interchangeable, which is a bonus as my bare-brass neck has been straightened and patched on both sides (before my time).
(Bonus #2, now have a big solid cardboard box etc. to ship out the B&S silver plated tenor it's replacing, next time eBay has a "only £1 selling fee" promotion...
Anyone need a silver plated B&S 'Blue Label' tenor saxophone ? :-)
Perfect playing companions for my 30's Martin Handcraft C-Melody / C- Tenor

Friday, 1 May 2015

Yet another Martin C Melody saxophone, lovely...

Another of mine, of course - thanks CV !



Photo's from my Dorsetdriftwood flickr page 
Just be patient, and give the slideshow a few seconds to get up good head of steam...

Saturday, 6 December 2014

Chris Potter plays a Selmer Balanced Action c-melody saxophone circa 193...


Yes, Selmer really were still making C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophones as late as 1939 - although I suspect only as a Special Order.

Wonder if it's for sale ?



Tuesday, 2 September 2014

Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor Saxophone - the two generations



On the left,  my early Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophone from the 1920-30's, recently acquired.  On the right, possibly one of the last manufactured Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophones - pictures courtesy of its owner, Kari Riikkilä from Finland, who says it is from 1977, which could give the two C's an age difference of around 50 years.




I was lucky enough to acquire my early Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophone recently - the silver plated one on the left - by 'internet bidding' at a UK auction.  Not on ebay.co.uk, but an actual established UK auction site, Bamfords.  The only downside, apart from the lightning speed of the bidding, which was over less than 20 seconds, was having to arrange my own shipping from the (quite remote) auction site to my home.

The reason I say, somewhat tentatively, 1920-30's, is that I cannot date the sax because it has no serial number that I can find, there is NO information stamped on the back of the body at all...  There is a possibility that it could have been made elsewhere for Kohlert, as a stencil, and some features lead me to the assumption that it was definitely made 'this side of the pond', in Europe.  It has yet to be overhauled to full playing order, some of the current pads are, at best, 'hopeful' (the bow Eb pad is perched on top of the cup...)

As for the 'last' 1977 Kohlert C, the two-tone C on the right, looking at them in side profile the thing that immediately srikes me is how much lower down the 'sling-ring' is and how much higher up the thumb-hook is on the '77.  Other than that, the profiles and proportions of both bodies are quite similar.  The 77's owner,  Kari sent me a photobucket link to his photos of it, so I can offer links to albums, and slideshows, for them both !  Enjoy, click on the links below to enjoy the pictures.


          Early (1920-30's) Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophone pictures

          Late (1977) Kohlert C-Melody / C-Tenor saxophone pictures

          Or as a slideshows - below - scaled to fit both on the same screen....

** Usage hint, hover over each slideshow to see the 'options bar', and click on any of the pictures to see it in a full size window...




                                          1920-30's above, 1977 below....

Tuesday, 26 August 2014

(Test 4) - Embed a SoundCloud mp3 track on Blogger.....

On a King C-Melody sax, with a Jody Jazz (alto) HR* 9M mouthpiece - rather open tip - and a Rico Royal #2 BASS Clarinet reed... Rather eccentric setup, but, apart from the tip opening (.105" ?), quite a bit of similarity to the old 20's setup... The bass clari reed is an excellent fit for the JJ alto mouthpiece table/tip profile.
AS I now play Bb tenor, I could be searching for a slightly more unique and/or individual C-Tenor sound than the normal 'tenor mouthpiece' type !





And now for something completely different - just a bit of a waffle on tenor sax, decades ago, way down in the mix, at a recording session in Wokingham - Peter Howe was the singer. Who dubbed that squeak in ????

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

(Test 2) A bare-brass King C-Melody (C-Tenor) saxophone.

Just a trial of embedding a slideshow from Picasa Web Albums - the horn is a bare-brass King C-Melody (C-Tenor) saxophone.  Enjoy the pictures...

btw, the mouthpiece is a Couf 'slimline' tenor sax ebonite 'jazz' (high step baffle), J10S.



Friday, 30 August 2013

(Test 1 - port topic from old blog) Now that Really IS a leaky tonehole....



... and it's not a Martin  !  (it's not magic, either) Carolyn emailed me, and put some pictures up on Flickr of an interesting C-Melody saxophone she's acquired. It's marked J.R. LAFLEUR & SON LTD, 147 WARDOUR STREET, LONDON. W1

Here's the link to the Flickr photo set (click here)

At a quick glance you'd notice the'Pontiac rings' on the bell/bow joints, and that (partially) soldered tonehole, and say "Ah - Martin or IBI Co".  But then there's both bell toneholes on the same side, and the long soldered 'guard' feet so typical of European design.  So, a little more investigation is called for. I guess more will be added later, as the mystery unravels...  Any suggestions as to the origins ?

Some of the angular bits on the mechanism (and the bow/bell joint rings) are very similar to my recently acquired Kohlert C-Melody  - but only some !

Tuesday, 27 August 2013

My 1931 Martin C-Melody Sax - you've seen it before...


The C-Sax Annexe is slowly rising - like Pheonix - from the ashes... This is just exploring if / how I can integrate pictures from my Flickr sets. Made in the early 30's, and now (mostly) repadded with cheap Chinese reflector pads - they aren't that bad - it's a very useful instrument.

Shame about the 'up-front and close' playing position, but that's the way it was in the Roaring 20's. I do draw the line at 'Dapper Dan' hair gel tho' :-)

Click on this link to view the complete set - http://www.flickr.com/photos/dorsetdriftwood/sets/72157604276618293/
(btw, the pictures were taken before the repad...)