Posts Tagged ‘Stencil Saxophone’
A Dörfler & Jörka Information Update
Author: Helen
If you’ve been reading my blog for a while, you might have noticed that I have devoted a fair amount of space to a relatively uncommon vintage German saxophone manufacturer. Dörfler & Jörka was located in Nauheim, and had strong ties to the Julius Keilwerth company.
When I first happened across a De Villiers tenor in February 2009, I had no idea what I had stumbled upon. Nor did I know that this lowly De Villiers would end up becoming the catalyst in a drive for information that ultimately would see the Dörfler & Jörka company’s history being researched and recorded for the first time.
Over the last number of months I have worked with Uwe Ladwig. Uwe is a saxophonist, repair tech, historian, and writer for the German music journal Sonic: sax & brass. A few months ago he got a D&J-stencilled Impala into his shop. This was a stencil name that had been until now unknown to us.
Shortly after that sax was on his work bench, he asked if I could send him the photos of my De Villers. He had decided to write his next article for Sonic on this rather obscure German saxophone manufacturer.
After carefully researching Dörfler & Jörka’s (D&J) history, he wrote an article which was published in the September/October issue of Sonic. Uwe was kind enough to send me his research, and has given me permission to use it on my site.
Yesterday I spent the day updating the Dörfler & Jörka page on the main portion of my website.
What Uwe discovered fundamentally changes what we know about the saxophones that D&J produced, and his information is now included on my site.
Here are a few of the most salient points:
- D&J was very connected to, and interconnected with, the J. Keilwerth company.
- Like the Keilwerth company, D&J’s history is somewhat convoluted and complex.
- D&J produced their own saxophones, and never used Keilwerth body tubes.
- D&J horns are not Keilwerth stencil saxophones. For the most part, they are copies of J. Keilwerth horns.
If you are looking for information about the Dörfler & Jörka company, I suggest you take a look at the newly updated D&J page on my site. I think you might be surprised at what you read.
© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.
A Dörfler & Jörka Impala Tenor Up For Auction
Author: Helen
A few weeks ago German sax tech Uwe Ladwig informed me that he had stumbled across yet another stencil name for Dörfler & Jörka saxophones. Like the brand name Corvair, this sax too shared its name with an American car: Impala.
This morning I was checking out the German eBay site and I happened to come across one of these D&J-made Impala saxophones. This silver plated tenor is in desperate need of an overhaul, and has clearly not been played for quite some time.
Source: eBay.de
The seller describes the sax like this:
(I’ll give you the original German because it’s short, and then the translated version)
TENOR SAXOPHON IMPALA
Marke: “IMPALA”
gemarkt: Nr. 16376 – Made in Western Gemany
L. 83cm
ohne Koffer
ungeprüft und mit Spuren der Zeit, müsste überholt und hergerichtet werden, ansonst ordentlicher original Zustand
The translated version goes like this:
Tenor Saxophone Impala
Brand Name: “Impala”
Marked: No. 16376 – Made in Western German.
83 cm Long
No Case
Has not been tested, and shows its age. It will need an overhaul, but otherwise decent original condition.
Source: eBay.de
Source: eBay.de
I don’t imagine that green growth like this would be on the keys if the sax was being played regularly. 
Source: eBay.de
Source: eBay.de
The decorative pearl is missing on the low C key guard.
Source: eBay.de
I wonder why the stamping Made In Western Germany is so worn looking. Even the numbers look a bit hinky.
Although admittedly the stamping on the back of my lacquered D&J De Villiers isn’t fabulous either, which had lead to someone who only had seen the pictures on-line to speculate that the horn might be a relac. It isn’t.
Since then I’ve noticed this to be a pattern on other D&J horns. Here is the stamping on an Artist #300 alto, on a Clinton alto, a René Dumont Tenor, and finally on a Voss Tenor.
The engraving on this Impala appears to be original—as it does on all the saxes from my D&J Gallery that I’ve linked to above—so perhaps the flaw lies in however D&J applied the stamping on the back of their body tubes.
Source: eBay.de
Source: eBay.de
This is quite possibly the original ligature and cap—and perhaps even mouthpiece—that came with the horn. A Roxy alto that sold on eBay in October ‘09 had the same cap and lig. It came with its original accessories.
Source: eBay.de
The original D&J neck tightening screw has been replaced at some point in time. The round thumb screw is gone, and a conventional one is now in its place.
Source: eBay.de
The private auction for this Dörfler & Jörka Impala Tenor runs until August 26. At the time of writing there were 33 bids on the horn, with the high bid being €181.00. XE.com tells me that that’s $229.40 US at this precise moment in time.
© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.
A Beautiful Looking B&S Tenor Up For Auction
Author: Helen
If you’ve been looking for a B&S tenor sax, there is a beauty on eBay at the moment. It is a black nickel plated tenor with silver plated keys, which was stencilled for the LA Sax company, and sold under the name Chicago Jazz Series.
Source: eBay.com
If you remember these horns from a few years ago, you’ll remember that they were crazy expensive. They were full of engraving, but not done in such a way that they were tacky.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
The seller describes this B&S stencil sax like this:
B&S (aka LA Sax) Tenor Saxophone in Case Excellent Condition
Chicago Jazz Series – Made in Germany
Serial number 014298
CONDITION:
This Sax comes to us Previously Owned
Have played it with my own mouthpiece, easily reaching
all notes in all registers – hard to put down.
Saxaphone Will Show Little Cosmetic Signs of Use / Wear
Can only find the very slightest rub on very base of sax.
See no dents, flawed pads or missing springs.
Comes with two mouthpieces shown – just one working ligature.
Nice hard case is a Cannonball Case in Excellent Condition – not original.
The sax really does appear to be in amazing condition. It looks like it has hardly been played. Black nickel is the hardest finish to keep looking good, since when it scratches, it is quite obvious.
Source: eBay.com
In this photo you can see the slight rub on the bow guard that the seller mentioned in his ad. He claims that this is the only wear on the horn.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
The auction for this B&S stencilled Chicago Jazz Series tenor runs until August 10. The price currently sits at $1,187.00 with 12 bids on this very pretty horn.
© 2010, The Bassic Sax Blog. All rights reserved.
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