I realized this AM that I never actually wrote a post that wraps up the discussion about the sources of all these mystery stencil bass saxophones with subtle variations that I’ve been writing about for months.
We’ve been discussing these American-designed, Asian-made bass saxophones now and again on the Bass Sax Co-operative as well. However, the only member of the Co-op who owned one, only had it for a brief period of time (<3 weeks) because it was not of the quality he wanted. He ended up returning it, and IIRC, bought the Keilwerth bass that was on eBay a few months ago. He is much happier now, proving once again: You get what you pay for.
A member of the Bass Co-op noted that, to his knowledge, there were only 2 factories that produced the Asian horns. These companies, while making bass saxophones under their own name, also produced the various stencil saxophones that we are currently seeing.
Jinbao is the factory that makes the Selmer S80 copy, and the variety of stencils, including the IW 661.
The Jinbao bass saxophone is a Selmer S80 copy.
Source: eBay.com
Whereas the vintage American style basses are made by Jinyin.
The Jinyin bass saxophone is a copy of the vintage American bass saxophones.
Source: eBay.com
Steve Goodson, who has been working extensively with Asian factories for years in the production of his own lines of saxophones, actually confirmed this in a comment on my blog a few weeks ago, although he doesn’t mention the names of the parent companies.
The one question that no one has been able to answer though is: Where does Canex fit into the equation? When I posed this question on the Co-op, no one seemed to know the answer. Since Canex presents themselves as an OEM, it makes sense that they would make the common instruments, but a bass? Really? However, their prices on a bass sax can’t be explained either unless they do in fact make it themselves.
So perhaps we do still have a wee bit of a mystery with regards to Canex, but for the most part, we now know that if you’re looking at a new, American-designed, Asian-made, American vintage-style bass saxophone, it is made in the Jinyin factory. If on the other hand, you’re looking to buy a Selmer copy made in Asia, then the manufacturer is Jinbao.
Hope you took notes. There’s a test later. 😉
