B&S Blue Label Tenor on eBay
Author: Helen
This very pretty, pre-unification, German, Blue Label B&S tenor caught my eye the other day while I was checking out eBay. The term Blue Label is not actually the real model name, it is rather the nickname that the on-line saxophone community seems to have developed to describe this pro model horn.
Blue Label saxes were B&S’s top model from circa 1960-1990, while the Weltklang was their intermediate level sax. It was only after the reunification of Germany in 1989, that B&S began manufacturing the 2001, Medusa, and other pro stencil horns that they made until 2005.
Source: eBay.com
Here is how the seller describes this pretty B&S tenor:
Ladies and gents, we are pleased to offer this week, from a private collection, rare vintage German B&S Blue Label tenor saxophone with original box. Silver-plate brass made in GDR circa 1970, excellent quality. Makers mark and serial number. No damages ready to play with it.
condition: Excellent
The photos show a lovely horn, complete with the original metal mouthpiece, that is marked B&S. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen a complete set like this before.
Source: eBay.com
The Buy It Now price for this B&S tenor is $1,200. There is no clearly defined end date for this auction. The sax has been on eBay since at least September 9. At the time of writing there have been 9 offers on this horn.
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Update: This pretty B&S Blue Label tenor sold for the Buy It Now price of $1,200.00.
Oh wow — this is just like mine only a little older. I had been hanging onto it in case my children wanted to try tenor sax, but right now when I play they get all teary and say it’s too loud :-( I was thinking of selling it, actually. I have to have a shop see if it needs any new pads, probably, first.
Shetha,
You had this on ebay and pulled it off correct? I emailed you and was interested. I am local so let me know.
Tony
Thanks, Tony, for your interest. Sadly I sold the horn two weeks ago, but happily it is in good hands now. Sorry I missed your note.
Shetha
Hi Tony,
I have a blue label B & S Tenor Saxophone for sale if you are still interested.
£350.00 and in excellent condition with original case, reeds and strap.
Hello Shetha. Welcome to my site!
Are you sure you want to sell your sax? How long has it been since you played?
These old B&S saxes have quite a loyal following in certain circles. If you did decide to sell it, you likely wouldn’t have too much trouble doing so.
However, if you do decide you really want to sell it, you might consider just taking it to a tech and getting an estimate of what work needs to be done. Most vintage sax players, myself included, are quite particular about how their horns are set up. If for example, the horn needs a total repad, you’d be better off just selling it as it is, for a little less, and letting the new owner take it to the tech of his/her own choice. This way they can choose the pads and resos they want. They might very well also get a complete overhaul at the same time.
If, on the other hand, the sax only needs 1 or 2 pads, and a bit of regulation, you won’t get any more money for it when you go to sell it if you get the work done. You might as well sell it as it is, and let the new owner get the work done. (That is if you’re selling the sax on-line, without the would be new owner’s ability to play test the horn.)
The horn will most likely fetch the most money if you market it directly towards the collector/player of vintage saxophones. You might hit it lucky and find such a person locally, but the local Joe who is looking for a used sax, isn’t going to appreciate it for what it is, nor necessarily pay what the sax is worth.
I don’t know if what I’ve written has been of any value to you. I hope it has given you something to think about anyway.
I hope you drop in for a visit again.
Also, let us know what you decide to do about your horn.
Regards,
Helen
Is there a chance that someone could estimate which year was mine B&S BlueLabel made it has 36xx serial number (It looks exactly like this one but with key guard on c# key).
Thanks
Hi Nikola. Welcome to my site.
I have done some checking, and can’t find any published serial number listings for B&S saxophones. I was going to check a little deeper into the Sax On The Web (SOTW) sub forum on B&S horns, and I saw your post there.
I was going to suggest that you try that, because to my knowledge, that site has the greatest concentration of vintage B&S players of any saxophone site on the Internet.
I haven’t yet had the chance to check on the German saxophone forums. Sometimes they can provide information on these older and vintage German brands as well. However, as you said on SOTW, this particular brand is not really considered an especially good sax in Europe, so there may not be a lot of information about them.
I’ll do a bit more checking, and if I find anything, I’ll post it here, and on SOTW if I can remember.
Good luck in your search for answers. If you do find anyting out, please post the info here, as others will be looking for it as well. Thanks!
Hope to see you back again sometime.
Regards,
Helen
Hi,
I have mailed B&S and they say my horn was made in October 1989. But there are few people claiming they have B&S blue labels with 36xx numbers since seventies, so I do not know who to believe.
As Germany reunited on October 1990, if this horn was made on 1989. that means that factory made 3600 instruments in 20 or 30 years and over 400 in the last year of DDR existence (assuming this one on pictures here is the very last one made, and it is not, there are pictures of some with SN 41xx on net). Having the best production year in factory history in the collapsing communist state!? With absolutely no production errors?!?
It does not matter too much anyway, as this sax plays really good whenever it was made.
Best regards
Hi Nikola.
It’s interesting that B&S records would be so inaccurate, since as a rule Germans are quite precise. You would think that a company with a history such as B&S would want to preserve it, therefore they would keep quite accurate records.
Very strange.
It would be nice if B&S published an “official” list of serial numbers, since they must get quite a few enquiries about not only their old saxophones, but all their vintage instruments. With a 250 year company history, it would be a large undertaking, but one that would contribute a great deal to the history of musical instruments from that part of Europe. Compiling this list would also force the company to take a look at all the various lists that they have, and ensure that they are indeed correct.
I’m wondering if sometimes the person responding to an email enquiry isn’t accidentally looking at the wrong list. Since B&S made many kinds of instruments, under quite a few different names, perhaps the person checked the serial number of the sax against the trumpet or tuba list, instead of the saxophone list. Or it’s possible that when the paper lists were entered into a computer data base of some kind, there was an error made. This to me seems like one possible explanation why people have have had 36XX horns since the 70s, yet B&S says your horn was built in ‘89.
In any event, thanks for reporting back what B&S wrote to you. And as you say: It really doesn’t matter when your sax was made. Since it plays well, that’s really all that counts.
Regards,
Helen
Here is a photo of the famous blue badge, which is why they’ve been nicknamed “Blue Label” horns by players.