1867 Adolphe Sax Alto Saxophone
1867 Adolphe Sax alto saxophone, s/n 30,xxx. Here is an extraordinarily rare Adolphe Sax alto saxophone in Eb, which will celebrate its 150th birthday next year. This is a remarkable instrument that still plays well after all of these years. The tone quality has a beautifully delicate, lyrical quality to it. It has a subtle dynamic range. The saxophone is performance ready for those who wish to perform on a period instrument.
The horn just received a full overhaul and restoration by the same repairman who repairs saxophones and other rare instruments for the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. He also owns several Adolphe Sax saxophones himself, and he did a wonderful job with this one. He used a light touch aimed at keeping the horn in its original shape and design. The sax has been well played, and the very old nickel plating has preserved the horn quite well.
There are some extra keys on this saxophone which one rarely sees in Adolphe Sax saxophones of this vintage. It has a side C key, which is actually positioned lower than the side Bb. There is also an extra alternate trill key on the RH stack which may be a C-D trill key. If anyone knows for sure what this key was original meant for, please contact me!
The saxophone plays in tune at A=440, so it can be played with other modern instruments. I have tried several modern mouthpieces with it, and it seems to do best with a softer reed setup (Vandoren 2.5 reeds seem to do well for me).
The sax comes with what we believe is the original case. Local pickup is encouraged. If shipped, the saxophone will be extremely well packaged.
