Two prima Keilwerth tenor saxes

Couf Superba 1

Toneking Special

Comparison Chart

Research

Thanks

Update: Both these excellent tenors are sold. At this point this article is being kept here solely for reference.

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If I was looking for a tenor sax right now, I wouldn’t know which to choose. Right now my colleague Brian, over at getasax.com, has two of the finest Keilwerth tenor saxes I have seen in a very, very long time. Both happen to be silver plated, and both are freshly overhauled—or will be prior to the new owner receiving them.

Couf Superba 1 

The first that caught my eye is  Couf Superba 1 tenor  # 65988. According to the Keilwerth serial number chart, that makes this Couf a 1970 horn. But what makes this horn exceedingly rare, is its silver plate. Honestly, I have seen more Blackgold and gold plated Coufs than silver ones, but I digress. 

Here is how the Couf tenor is described on getasax.com:

This is one of the first Couf Superba 1 tenors made, and it was picked out by a guy who worked with Herb Couf to make the Superba 1 a reality. It was used on a Philip Glass recording along the way, and then played a bunch of jazz. It has original lacquer over the original silver plate (very rare finish for a Keilwerth), and where the lacquer is flaking off, the silver is tarnishing. This thing is/was a big player on old pads, but I am now getting it completely overhauled, which is now included in the price.  You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger sounding tenor for the money. The tone of the Superba 1 is dark like an SBA, but wider like a Conn, and it stays fat in the palm keys unlike a Selmer. Plus it has modern keywork. This tenor was on consignment, but I bought it so I could overhaul it. These horns are so good that Tyler, who does the GetASax YouTube channel, picked his Superba 1 out of all the horns that came through the shop over a period of years, as being the best one. You can hear Tyler’s Couf Superba 1 on the GetASax YouTube channel in several of the videos. The Superba 1 is one of those sleeper tenors that you don’t hear as much about for how good it is. Definitely recommended! Vintage tone + modern keywork + top build quality = what everybody wants.

What does it look like? Pretty damn nice even as is. Clearly it has been extremely well taken care of. 

NB. Check getasax.com for new photos. Brian says a whole new set will be uploaded once the overhaul is completed. I will update this page as well once the horn is completed, but until then, these show this lovely tenor extremely well. 

The price of this lovely Keilwerth-made Couf tenor Superba 1 is $4250 US. That is a good price. These horns are seriously under-rated, and will smoke any Selmer. (And yes, I write that as Selmer and a Couf owner.)

Toneking Special

The second Keilwerth that caught my eye on Brian’s site is Toneking Special #49373. Based on its serial #, this Keilwerth tenor was made in 1964. Given that this horn is nearly 60 years old, its condition is remarkable! 

On getasax.com the description of this tenor reads:

Keilwerth ToneKing Special Tenor
Original Silver Rare!
Recent Overhaul! 49375
$ 4,500

In 1964, the Toneking Special was Keilwerth’s top model, and was the platform that Herb Couf chose for his Superba 1 saxophones. I have a brochure from Keilwerth on my website that illustrates and describes the Toneking Special. This horn is a beautiful example of the Toneking Special that Keilwerth built back in the day, and was advertised in the brochure.

 

Comparison chart of these Keilwerth tenor saxes

If you compare the following features on the Toneking Special and the Couf, it makes it easy to see the Superba 1’s pedigree:

Feature	Toneking Special # 49373	Couf Superba 1 # 65988
bell to body brace	circle & 1/2 oval	identical circle & half oval
lyre holder	attached to socket opposite neck fastening screw	attached to socket opposite neck fastening screw
octave key lever button	round mother of pearl	round mother of pearl
octave mechanism	the original	do you see a difference?
key guards	screws with felts to allow for key height adjustment	screws with felts to allow for key height adjustment
right pinkie keys	rounder (than older versions of JKs)	rounder
high F# key shape	small key shaped like right palm keys	small key shaped like right palm keys
chromatic F# key shape & location	on side of body; small key shaped like right palm keys	on side of body; small key shaped like right palm keys
metal thumb rest	adjustable	adjustable
bell to bow	soldered directly	soldered directly
bow to body tube soldered directly	no connecting ring	no connecting ring
key touches	oversized MOP	oversized MOP
strap ring	thick, flat ring	thick, flat ring
construction	post to body	post to body
post shape	2 trapezoids stacked on top of each other	2 trapezoids stacked on top of each other
tone holes	rolled	rolled
bell engraving	the original	note the similarities
bow engraving	the original	note the similarities
logo area on bell	the original	note the similarities

Couf research and where these two Keilwerth tenors fit in

I am currently doing research into Couf saxophones for the website portion of Bassic Sax. My goal is to have separate pages for Couf soprano, alto, tenor, bari, and even bass saxophones. To date I only have the soprano page completed—and even it needs to be updated already.

One of the things I am tracking is when the different Couf Superba 1 and 2 SATB features’ changed vis-à-vis their serial numbers. The goal is an attempt to track when these different horns moved from one Phase to another in their design. This is a constant work in progress, and as noted above, even the published soprano page already needs an edit. 

In the Couf Superba 1 tenor category, what I have discovered is that what I’m calling Phase 1 horns, were identical in all aspects to the Phase 2 horns except in 1 aspect: the clothes guard. The very earliest Couf Superba 1 tenors—and altos for that matter—had a Lucite clothes guard like this Toneking Special. The Phase 2 horns had metal clothes guards like the one on this 1970 silver tenor. 

So far the earliest Phase 1 Superba 1 tenor serial # I have seen is 54XXX, which would make it circa 1965. That makes it one of the earliest Coufs on record.

The earliest Phase 2 Superba 1 tenor I have seen is #62436, which makes it a 1968 production. As I collect data from more Couf saxophones, my hope is to fill in the blanks, and hopefully be able to narrow down more closely when design features changed.

Thank you to Get-A-Sax

As per usual, I want to thank Brian at getasax.com for generously allowing me to continue to use his photos in my research and on my website. He is one of the most honest and straight-up guys you will ever meet in the vintage sax world. Brian is one of my go-to-folks when it comes to horns, horn sales, and gear, such as mouthpieces, ligatures, and cases for vintage saxes of all stripes.