I put a page up on my website a number of years ago about my Italian-made La Monte tenor sax, because I had answered questions about the brand many times on SOTW. Back then, I seemed to be the only person who had any first-hand playing experience with the brand. Another SOTW member, after he purchased a La Monte, contacted Orsi, and they confirmed that they had made the La Monte saxophones.
Over the past few years I have watched with interest, how the La Monte saxophones that have appeared on eBay oftentimes linked to my website. It seems that my website page is still the main source of info for this obscure Orsi stencil.
This week I took my La Monte off the wall and took some photos of it. In part, because I wanted to compare it to the Gallotone that I just bought, which I believe is most likely an Orsi stencil as well.
Because I get so many people looking for information on La Monte saxophones, I thought it was time to put up some better, more detailed photos of the sax. Now please pardon the dust. This poor thing has been hanging on a wall for probably close to 20 years. And while yes, we do dust, it is obviously not as clean as if it were living in a case. 🙂
I like this old horn. It saw me through Jr. and Sr. High School, until it was replaced with a pro horn just before I entered university. It still has a big, fat sound that will easily blow away any new student model and many so-called intermediate models on the market.
I have a La Monte alto sax with the serial number of A5988. I am trying to find out a gooda aproximation of how old it is? I have what I believe to be the original case with it. Any help would be appriciated. Thank you.
Hi Paula.
I’m sorry I can’t be of any real help. Orsi has never published any serial number charts for their saxophones. Given it has the letter “A”, it likely is an earlier one than those with letters later in the alphabet.
Mine starts with the letter “D”. I got mine used in the late 1970s, and was told by the owner that it was from the 1960s. My guess, and this is a guess only, would be that the “A” horns are from the late 1950s, or early 1960s. But as I say, this is only an educated guess based on how long I have had mine.
If you like you could contact the Orsi company and ask, but from what I understand, they don’t reply to emails—at least not to the ones that people have sent in English. If you know Italian, you could try and write to them in that language, but that is a long shot at best. I’m not even sure that they still have records of their production dates/serial numbers.
Thank you very much. I have tried to contact them, with no luck. I know a professional sax player who looked at it in person for me and told me it was probably 1930’s, and he was going by the case too. He said it was a professional model, not a student model. I’m interested in selling it, but I don’t want o give it away because I am knowledgeable. Thank you for your time! I can send photos if that would help at all.
Hi … came upon a La Monte yesterday … the lacquer looks to be in just a little bit better condition than yours, the configuration is identical, serial # C6725, no origination mark though …
it has a nice, full sound to it but the intervals are seriously off from true tone … trying to decide what to do with it. Hang it on the wall?
Hi John. Welcome to my site.
Did you buy the horn? Do you have any pics? The letter “C” tells me that it is indeed an Orsi stencil. Mine BTW has serial # D83XX. Because Orsi changed their designs somewhat, I might be able tell you more about it if I see some photos of it.
If you have any photos, send them to my gmail account. It allows for larger attachment sizes.
As far what to do with it goes, well, that depends. What options do you have? Do you have another horn? How much work does it need? How much did/does it cost? How much will the repairs cost?
I’d have to see some detailed shots before I could make any intelligent comments about the sax’s condition. Mine hangs on the wall because I have quite a few professional model tenors that I use in the bands I work in. However, mine doesn’t have the intonation problem you mention that yours does. I’m curious why that’s the case. Could it be a simple key height issue?
Anyway, send me some photos, and let’s go from there.
Regards,
Helen
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Hi there,
I am a South African living in Cape town. My Parents gave me a beautiful second hand Alto Gallotone for my 16th birthday. (That was 10 years ago now, and although I love it my life doesn’t allow me their time to play it anymore. honestly, I wondered what to do with it.) I know the store they got it from, the owner still mans the front desk after all these years and is a wealth of knowledge. I will pay him a visit and see what info I can get for you.
Regards
Megan
Hello Megan. Thank you for stopping by.
I would very much appreciate you doing that for me. Thank you so much. Please do let me know what he says.
Is your Gallotone made in Italy too? Does it look somewhat like the tenor that I bought from the South African, who moved to Canada a few years ago?
I’m glad you happened to drop by Megan. Thanks again for the visit, and I am curious to hear if the man from the shop will know anything about the mysterious Gallotone brand saxophone.
Cheers
Helen