<\/p>\n
Introduced:<\/strong> 1965\/1966 For the next ten years the company continued to produce alto and tenor saxophones but did not produce any new models. However, as the company motto, \u201cYanagisawa pursues technology\u201d suggests, they were by no means dormant.<\/p>\n The company, endeavoring to become a saxophone specialist, remodeled the existing two saxophones [the A3 and T3] and plans were on the drawing board to produce a full range of saxophones for the domestic market. (Source.)<\/a><\/p>\n In [1965\/1966], the A-4 and T-4 [were] released as entry-level pro model[s] based on the 5-series instruments, similar to how the current 901 models are entry level [professional] versions of the 990 instruments. (Sources HERE<\/a> and HERE.<\/a>)<\/p>\n The 4 series of horns have a very centered tone and shows a major amount of influence from the Selmer Mark VI without being a true copy. It has a similar bore as well as many keywork and design elements that evoke the memory of the VI. The left pinky table is of a different design [than on the 5-series,] but shows Selmer influence. It is a non-floating mechanism that appears to be \u201cSelmer-like\u201d but on steroids, as it is quite a bit larger than your standard modern left pinky table. (Source: Ed Svoboda\u2019s original Yanagisawa article.)<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n From what I can see, most of the 4 series are marked with the model name next to the serial number. That instantly tells you whether the horn you have is a 4-series or 5-series. Interestingly, I\u2019ve come across several A-40s and T-40s that had \u201cA-40\u201d or \u201cT-40\u201d engraved on the bell, but are stamped \u201cA-4,\u201d \u201cT-4,\u201d or just \u201c4\u201d by the serial number.<\/p>\n There were at least four versions of the 4 Series horns:<\/p>\n * Left side bell keys.<\/a> In other words, looks pretty much like a 3 Series. It\u2019s possible that the first 4 Series horns have a bore identical to the newest version of the 3 Series horns. This is a similar strategy to what SML used to do: release the old model under a different name. As far as the other 4 Series models, I don\u2019t know. Obviously the bell is different \u2014 switching from left side bell keys to right \u2014 but it may be that the rest of the body tube is unchanged. I\u2019d have to do a bit more research to conclusively say that the 4 Series really is \u201cthe same as\u201d a 5 Series, but just scaled down a little. I also know this semi-contradicts the quote I have above from the Barnes & Mullins website.<\/p>\n Last, but definitely not least, Yanagisawa prototyped a low A alto version of the A-4<\/a>, making Yanagisawa the fourth manufacturer I know of to make low A altos, behind A. Sax, Selmer, and Cousenon.<\/p>\n The 4 Series horns have a six or seven-digit serial number. The form is essentially,<\/p>\n mm<\/span>yy<\/span>nnn<\/p>\n Examples: Further serial number research can be found in my thread on the Woodwind Forum<\/a>.<\/p>\n Occasionally, you’ll see a three or four digit number stamped above the serial number. So far, I’ve seen 300, 400, 600, 700, 800, 900, 1000, 1100, and 1200 stamped on 3, 4, and 5 Series horns. These numbers may be arbitrary, refer to the region\/country the horn was sold, or could be a lot number.<\/p>\n Please take a look at these<\/a> two<\/a> Japanese articles for more information.<\/p>\n The horns engraved “Prima” were sold to the Japanese market through Prima Gakki<\/a>. Horns without the \u201cPrima\u201d engraving were sold through Zen-On.<\/a> (Source.)<\/a><\/p>\n TheSax.Info<\/a>
\nDiscontinued:<\/strong> 1974\/5 (possibly as late as 1977\/1980)
\nAvailable Pitches:<\/strong> Eb alto, Bb tenor.
\nAvailable Finishes:<\/strong> Lacquer, lacquer with nickel keywork, silver plate.<\/p>\n
\nBrief Model Notes<\/h2>\n
\n
\n* Small \u201cO\u201d bell-to-body brace, right side bell keys.<\/a>
\n* Large \u201cO\u201d bell-to-body brace, right side bell keys.<\/a>
\n* Stamped bell-to-body brace, right side bell keys.<\/a> This one looks very much like the bell-to-body brace on the Yamaha 23 series.<\/a><\/p>\n
\nSerial Number Information<\/h2>\n
\n12<\/span>66<\/span>123 = December<\/span>, 1966<\/span>.
\n2<\/span>66<\/span>313 = February<\/span>, 1966<\/span>.<\/p>\n
\nWhat’s That Extra Number?<\/h2>\n
\nPrima Engraving<\/h2>\n
\nAdditional Pictures<\/h2>\n
\nSaxpics.com (2 examples)<\/a>
\nSaxophone.org (1 example)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":976,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"iawp_total_views":171,"footnotes":""},"categories":[230,231],"tags":[55,56,249,245,238,246,250,248,252,247,251,170,234],"class_list":["post-975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-japanese","category-yanagisawa","tag-1960s","tag-1970s","tag-249","tag-60s","tag-70s","tag-a-4","tag-a4","tag-dorado","tag-japanese","tag-t-4","tag-t4","tag-yanagisawa","tag-yani","excerpt","zoom","full-without-featured","even","excerpt-0"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=975"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1708,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/975\/revisions\/1708"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/976"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=975"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=975"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/Pete\/makesandmodelslist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=975"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}