Elkhart Saxophone Serial Numbers

Elkhart Saxophone Serial NumbersSaxophone

Conn is one of the oldest instrument manufacturers in the United States and first tried its hand at saxophone production in 1888 in Elkhart, Indiana. The Conn New Wonder, introduced in the 1920s, was the brand’s first model of note and was unofficially dubbed “the Chu Berry” after tenor saxophonist Leon ‘Chu’ Berry. Apr 24, 2020 When advertising an instrument for sale, you will often see the serial number referred to as 36xxxx. It is rumoured that there is a scam, by which somebody who acquires your serial number can then claim the instrument is theirs. This may just be paranoia as I have never heard of this happening, nor can I understand how it could happen.

SaxophoneSerial.

Also be aware that the serial numbers below weren't just for C-Melody saxes, each instrument produced was assigned a sequential unique number, so (for example) in Jan-1924, 60993 could have been a Tenor Sax, 60994 a C-Mel, 60995 a Soprano, etc. at least that's how I understand it? Once you have located the saxophone's serial number on the chart, you can locate its corresponding model name and manufacturing year by looking at the respective chart columns. View the manufacturing date ranges on serial numbers for many of our legendary brands. I have an old Elkhart sax. Only lettering on it I can see is 57846 LP on the back. In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number. A vintage buescher elkhart alto saxophone- serial# 71007 20a. The saxophone is a lacquer gold tone color with mother of pearl keys.

Woodwind Serial Number Link List

AKUSTIKSaxophones
ALEXANDRE (SELMER)ClarinetsSee also (serial number drop-down menu)
AMERICAN STANDARDAll Woodwinds
WT ARMSTRONG
ARTLEY

Flutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets
See Also

B&S

Saxophones
Research Link

E BEAUGNIER (see also Vito and Leblanc)SaxophonesNote
F BESSON

All Instruments
See Also

BOOSEY AND HAWKESNote
BUESCHERNote
Saxophones
EVETTE & SCHAEFFER, BUFFET-CRAMPON S.A.

Clarinets
OboesSee also
Saxophones

Note
BUNDY (incl. SIGNET)Note
CANNONBALL SAXOPHONESSaxophones
CLEVELAND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTSAll Woodwinds
CG CONNProfessional Saxophones
COUESNONFor all instruments prior to appx. 1937, there is a grenade fruit with a number inside it stamped on the horn. That number is the year of manufacture.
CUNDY - BETTONEYFlutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets
Henry DISTINAll Instruments
DOLNETSaxophones
Peter EATON
FOXDouble-Reeds
IDA MARIA GRASSI

Saxophones
See Also

Wm. S. HAYNESFlutes and Piccolos
Wilhelm HECKELBassoons
HAMMERSCHMIDTSaxophones
HOHNERSaxophones
Frank HOLTONSaxophones
JUPITERAll Instruments
Brua C. KEEFERSaxophones and ClarinetsNote
Julius KEILWERTH (and H-COUF)SaxophonesNote
KING (HN WHITE)
KOHLERTAll InstrumentsNote
LA SAXAll Instruments
A. LAUBINDouble-Reeds
G. LEBLANCNote
LINTONOboes and Bassoons
F. LORÉE (CABART)Double-Reeds
Louis LOTFlutes
Robert MALERNE
MARIGAUX (see also SML)

Double Reeds
See Also

MARTIN BAND INSTRUMENT COMPANY

Saxophones
See Also

MARTIN FRERESClarinets
See also
MONANZIFlutes
NOBLET
NORMANDYClarinets
FE OLDSAll Instruments
L. PIERRET

Saxophones
See Also

Verne Q. POWELLFlutes
G. PRUEFERClarinets
PUCHNERAll Instruments
FA REYNOLDSAll Instruments
RIGOUTATDouble-Reeds
Luis ROSSIClarinets
RUDALL & ROSEFlutes
A. SAX

All Instruments
See Also

SELMER (PARIS)

Clarinets
Saxophones

SELMER (UK/London)Clarinets
SELMER (USA)Clarinets
SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire)

Saxophones (PDF)
See Also

Note
VITOSaxophonesNote
WELTKLANG
YAMAHASaxophonesNote
YANAGISAWASaxophones
JW YORK

Saxophones
See Also

.
Notes

Beaugnier:

If you decided to play around with the serial numbers on http://www.doctorsax.biz/beaugnier_ser_nos.htm, note that he doesn't differentiate between the Leblanc System (two/three versions), Rationale (whichever spelling you wish) and Semi Rationale (two versions).

Boosey and Hawkes:

1. Boosey and Hawkes is a combination of the Boosey company and the Hawkes company. Hawkes produced their own instruments, for a time, and combined with Boosey in the 1930s. Boosey and Hawkes have been, since that time, sheet music producers and importers.

2. A lot of the saxophones stamped 'Boosey and Hawkes' are stencil instruments. To read more about stencils, please read my article HERE.

Keefer:

The vast majority of saxophones stamped 'Keefer' are stencils.

Buescher:

Horns stamped 'The Buescher Band Instrument Company' from the 1920's are stencils, as are the modern BU-series of horns available from Selmer, and follow different serial number charts.

Buffet-Crampon:

1. A small, but significant, percentage of all Buffet and/or Evette-Schaeffer woodwinds in the 1900-1930 range (or so) were Conn stencils and do not have Buffet serial numbers. In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number.

2. The modern Buffet 400 (and similar) are Asian-made and do not follow these serial number charts.

Bundy:

1. The Bundy in question here is from approximately 1950 to date. Earlier horns were a mixture of Conn and Buescher stencils.

2. For a brief time, Bundy and Bundy Special saxophones were available from Keilwerth and Dörfler & Jörka, are stamped 'Made in Germany' and do not have a Bundy serial number.

Julius Keilwerth:

Except for the ST-90 I and EX-90 I and II, the ST-90 and EX-90 were not made by Keilwerth and probably do not have Keilwerth serial numbers. For a chart of those models, see THIS.

Kohlert:

The modern Kohlert instruments are made in China or Taiwan. Their serial number format is completely different. The serial numbers listed here are for the German/Czech made instruments.

LeBlanc:

Leblanc does not give out serial number charts. If you ask them, EXCESSIVELY NICELY, about a serial number off a horn you own, they might tell you when it was made.

SML:

1. The SML A400/T400 are Asian-made stencils not made under the authority of SML and are not included in this chart.

2. Some very early SML saxophones were stencils. There are also occasional late-model stencils. For further info, click HERE.

Vito:

Vito saxophones have been made by Vito (Wisconsin), Beaugnier, Leblanc, Yamaha, Jupiter and Yanagisawa. Keep this in mind when attempting to date your instrument.

Yamaha:

These serial numbers are probably only for the Vito labeled YAS-21/23/25 stencils. However, these serials might apply to all Yamsaha instruments.

The standard info on Yamaha serial numbers is that they are not sequential and you need to contact Yamaha directly for information.

Elkhart Saxophone Serial Numbers


I'm always looking for more info for this chart. If you have any, please drop me a line at thesaxinfo@gmail.com.

Buescher Elkhart Saxophone Serial Numbers