The Bassic Sax Blog

I’m always on the lookout for Hammerschmidt saxophones. This rather obscure, vintage German saxophone brand has held a certain fascination for me, ever since I learned that my full pearl Hüttl was made by Hammerschmidt, in Burgau, Germany.

Yesterday I noticed that there was a tenor Klingsor—that was the brand name the Hammerschmidt saxophones were sold under—for sale in Brussels, Belgium. The seller currently has it listed on eBay.

     Source: eBay.com

Unfortunately the ad is written in French, and I don’t speak or read the language. For those of you that do however, here is how the horn is being described in the original ad:

SUPERBE SAXOPHONE TENOR KLINGSOR, DES ANNEES 1970, N° 4379.

CE SAXOPHONE A UNE TRES BELLE SONORITE. DE CONCEPTION ORIGINALE, AVEC DES CHEMINEES ROULEES, ET UNE ERGONOMIE AGREABLE.

TRACES D’USURE NORMALES POUR SON AGE. PAS DE DEPRESSIONS, VERNIS DORE PRESENT A PLUS OU MOINS 80%.

CE SAXOPHONE NECESSITE QUELQUES REGLAGES ET AJUSTEMENTS.

OK, so the guy is yelling at us in French.

I could make out most of what the seller was saying, but I tried a couple of translation sites to help with the rest. Unfortunately that didn’t help me much. I then asked my friend André, who I bought 2 Klingsors from, to look at the ad for me, and fill in the blanks. So without further adieu, here’s the meaning of the the French ad. (Along with some commentary interjected along the way.)

This eBay seller is selling a Klingsor tenor with the serial number 4379. He says that the sax was made in 1970, but offers nothing to back that up. Since I have not seen any serial number charts for Hammerschmidt horns, perhaps he has been in contact with the company, and they have told him this piece of information. It is possible, since the company made alto and tenor saxophones from approximately 1950 to 1980, so the time-line would fit.

The sax, the seller says, has a beautiful sound, an original design, agreeable ergos, and rolled tone holes. BTW, these Klingsors do have a great sound. My nickel plated tenor (serial number 43XX), which happens to be nearly this horn’s twin, has a unique sound not matched my any of my other tenors. It is a really nice jazz horn.

According to the seller, this lacquered sax on eBay shows normal wear for its age, and has approximately 80% of its finish intact. There are no dents. The Klingsor will need to be regulated though.

     Source: eBay.com

     Source: eBay.com

     Source: eBay.com

     Source: eBay.com

In this photo you can see that the sax has some kind of floral engraving. This is a bit unusual. Normally these Klingsor saxophones are engraved with a blacksmith and an anvil, with musical notes flying through the air.

     Source: eBay.com

The auction for this Klingsor tenor sax runs until March 17. Bids are to start at €350.00, which eBay shows as approximately $477.86 US. At the time of writing, there were no bids on this vintage Hammerschmidt yet.

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

When I saw this on eBay yesterday, I was rather intrigued. I have one of these Crystalite mouthpieces for alto, and it is a very nice piece. My friend Ray has a black plastic Dukoff for tenor, and it too is a very nice sounding mouthpiece.

I’m not sure when these Crystalite Dukoffs were made, but I’ve read on SOTW that it was in the ’80s. I’m just not sure how accurate that is.

     Source: eBay.com

The seller, New York Woodwind and Brass Music, writes the following about this vintage Dukoff tenor piece:

This listing is for a vintage Miami, Florida Dukoff Super Power Chamber Crystalite mouthpiece for tenor sax. Stamped D7. This rare plastic mouthpiece plays beautifully. A bit of an edge and nice full tone. Appears to be in perfect condition except for a couple of tiny cracks forming under the stamp. For this reason it would be best to put a band around the shank. Not cleaned or polished. Acquired in excellent condition. Comes with what appears to be the original ligature and a metal cap. Offered here at a reasonable price considering the quality.

These photos show a mouthpiece that appears to have been very well looked after:

        Source: eBay.com

The auction for this rare Bobby Dukoff Crystalite tenor mouthpiece, runs until March 31. The Buy It Now price is $275.00. At the time of writing there were 2 offers on this vintage piece.

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.

Since the golden era of rock and roll—when the saxophone was included in 50% or more of rock and roll bands—our instrument has arguably fallen out of favour with the rock music world. While some bands still utilize a sax player, that person is often tasked with playing keys as well, or even being a guitar player.

Sometimes however, the saxophone makes a special guest appearance. Such was the case with David Sanborn, when he appeared live with Sheryl Crowe and Eric Clapton for a performance of the Jimi Hendrix song, Little Wing.

Sanborn’s solo starts around 2:35, and goes for over a minute and a half. These 90 seconds are filled with what is an amazing rock saxophone solo/duet with Eric Clapton.

Sanborn fills his solo with his signature altissimo and split tones, which are instantly recognizable, even if you’re not watching the video.  

Some say that playing rock and roll is easy. It’s not. You still have to know what you’re doing, and you still have to have a great number of skills to pull it off well. While very few of us will ever play like David Sanborn does, he shows us just what a rock and roll saxophone solo can look like.

So for all of you who think that rock is a cop out genre for saxophonists, I urge you to upload your own videos of this solo to YouTube. I suspect you’ll find it’s not as easy as you thought.

© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.