This La Monte tenor (serial # D83XX) is the first saxophone I ever owned. My parents bought it for me in the late seventies. At the time, the horn was likely about 10 years old (at least).

My horn looks like no other student model sax that I've ever come across. It is made in Italy and is quite heavy. It has a fairly large bell, left-sided bell keys, and lacks an articulated G# key.

Until recently, I had never found any information about the makers of the sax. No one seemed to know anything definite about the horns. However, another SOTW member had a Henri Lavalle that looked the same as a La Monte.

Pete from saxpics.com believes that La Monte is a name that was used by different manufacturers at different times. He says that he has seen at least one Martin stencil with the La Monte name.

Yet another member of SOTW also has a La Monte tenor, that is approximately the same vintage as mine. He has sent inquiries to the Borgani, Rampone, and Orsi companies. The manager of Borgani replied that he had never heard of the La Monte brand. It took a bit of time, but Orsi has now confirmed that they were indeed the makers of the La Monte saxophone. They do not have more information than that however, but at least we now know that the Italian-made La Monte saxes were actually Orsi stencils.

Photos by M. Margison, Copyright 2005

In early spring 2005, I took my horn off the wall and played it for about 15 minutes. For a horn that has endured 2 cross country moves in a poorly fitting case, and has been hanging on a wall for almost 15 years, it plays amazingly well. It has a big sound with an even scale.

In early spring 2005, I took my horn off the wall and played it for about 15 minutes. For a horn that has endured 2 cross country moves in a poorly fitting case, and has been hanging on a wall for almost 15 years, it plays amazingly well. It has a big sound with an even scale.

It is a decent student model horn: one that would very easily hold its own against its contemporaries. I wouldn't play it over my Mark VI, or even my Martin Handcraft, but if I needed a back-up horn because both my tenors had been run over by a truck, I would certainly use it.

Over the years I have come to discover that most "vintage" student model horns, like the La Monte, King Cleveland, and so on, have a fuller sound than today's student model horns. The older horns seem to be heavier, and are capable of producing a more "professional" type sound compared to their contemporaries.