jenseman
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User ID: 0373644 |
Nov 23rd 4:02 AM
Take a look at some pictures of my
fully engraved gold plated Buescher Alto made in 1926.
www.steinhorst.net/buescher1.jpg
www.steinhorst.net/buescher2.jpg
www.steinhorst.net/buescher3.jpg
www.steinhorst.net/buescher4.jpg
Sorry for the poor picture quality!
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Warren
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User ID: 1355924 |
Nov 23rd 9:54 AM
Very nice finish, kept the engraver
rather busy! Your finish according to the Buescher 1926 catalog is the
"Finish L - De Luxe Finish". The catalog description is "Beautifully
engraved designs all over instrument from mouthpiece to bell, quadruple
gold plate over silver plate, entire instrument burnished to mirror
finish, ivory rollers for little finger of each hand. This is a beautiful
finish, especially designed for those who want something distinctive and
elaborate, and which will instantly attract favorable attention." The
price is listed as $350 for the alto in this finish, quite a sum in those
days!
The basic silver plate "Finish E" TT alto was $125 as a
comparison. The next step up from that was the "Finish G" which was silver
with the gold plate keys, like the C Melody Buescher stencil I currently
have on eBay. The price on the C Melody "Finish G" was $165. I have a 1924
gold plate TT in original case same as this without the engraving and
ivory rollers called a "Finish J" that I just finished up restoring that
goes on eBay very soon. Does yours have the snap in pads? I know some of
the gold plates had them and others like mine didn't come with them
originally. I also have a gold plated Buescher stencil tenor that I'm
finishing up, it is a "Finish J" and cost $215 originally. I also have an
in house restored silver TT alto with the snaps and it was an interesting
contrast to play the gold plate without the snaps (with Mark VI resos
instead) compared to the silver plate with the snaps. The silver horn
seems to have more overtones and is a little louder, but the gold plate
was very smooth and seemed to have a little less of a "distorted edge" to
it. Very interesting differences! |
ToreH
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User
ID: 8032783 |
Nov 23rd 11:46 AM
Great details Warren. What is the
"Finish letter" for my 1926 202k TT alto with bright burnished gold body
,silver keys, black rollers and snaps ? |
Warren
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User ID: 1355924 |
Nov 23rd 7:59 PM
Interesting combination. I don't see
that in the 1926 catalog. It could have been a 1927 new option not in this
literature since your serial could creep into 1927. If it doesn't have the
elaborate engraving it would probably be close to the "Finish G" but
perhaps a little higher in cost maybe between that and the "Finish J". I
see conflicting serial information from different sources around this
year. Steve G's site says 175xxx is 1926. Another site I look at says
175xxx is 1925. Also who knows when the year changed over in the fall
perhaps, like new cars or at new year? Also since I haven't ever seen that
combination in the 1920's it may be quite rare and maybe was only around a
couple years like a fad that came and went until it became so common in
later years starting with Martin in the thirties. Or another possibility
is yours isn't a factory option and someone took silver keys off a silver
horn and put them on an all gold horn, though that seems a little far
fetched I admit, ha ha. Maybe some of the original gold plate keys got
damaged or lost prompting the silver replacement. Sometimes I think the
detective work involved in identifying horns is never ending. Are the
snaps silver or gold? |
paulwl
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User ID: 8437443 |
Nov 24th 10:31 AM
What do you bet the keys were
replated silver at some point as a lower cost option?
BTW: a
thought on vintage "artist engraved" horns...AFAIK, Conn had the only real
artistic engraving shop in the industry. So any other maker's instruments
would have had to go to Conn. This meant that to compete in price, they'd
have had to sell them at a lower margin. This would have been a
disincentive to offer such horns, even as special orders.
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MusicMedic
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User ID: 7301983 |
Nov 24th 10:35 AM
What does AFAIK mean?
|
LTB
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User
ID: 8673953 |
Nov 25th 8:13 AM
MusicMedic
AFAIK
=
As far
as I know.
Are conn style res-o-pad available in kangaroo leather
and in sizes for tenor and alto? |
