Update June 2024: I do now have the Eugen Schuster page on Bassic Sax. To find out more about this manufacturer, check it out.
There is a rare, vintage German saxophone currently for sale on the UK eBay site. It is a silver plated, Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrat tenor that was made in Markneukirchen.
Source: sentimood on eBay.co.uk
I have been fascinated with these horns ever since I saw alto 1316 that SaxQuest was selling a few years ago. Since then I have seen a couple of tenors for sale—including tenor #1725 that’s on the UK eBay ATM—which have been of interest to me. I might have been tempted to buy one of the tenors, but sadly I don’t have time to play all the horns I already have, so adding yet another one really makes no sense.
As noted above, this tenor is #1725, and has appeared on eBay once before. The last time was in February 2013, when the seller then stated that the owner he bought it from had the horn completely restored—which included a total mechanical overhaul and new silver plate. Whoever did the plating job, seems to have done very lovely work. It is difficult to see that this is a replate, and not a minty original.
Source: sentimood on eBay.co.uk
Source: sentimood on eBay.co.uk
This is how the current owner is describing the tenor today, in its current eBay ad:
Vintage Majestic ARISTOCRAT Eugen S. Markneukirchen Silver tenor saxophone
I believe this is made in Germany
Has silver plating (not nickle)
rolled tone holes
new pads and new setup
it is ready to play
beautiful engravings.
comes in hard case…
Welcome to try it out..
And here are the rest of the pictures of this lovely, vintage horn…
I’ve not yet written a Eugen Schuster page for my website, since I’m still trying to find more info about the company, but from what I have found, I can tell you that saxophones are the only instruments that the company made. (They had everything else stencilled for them.) Even so, not many Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrat saxophones were produced, so this is indeed a bit of a rare bird.
If this vintage saxophone from Markneukirchen floats your boat, you have until August 22 to buy this vintage beauty. The Buy It Now price for this Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrat tenor sax is £845.00. At the time of writing, xe.com estimates that be $1,435.79 US.
Dear Ms Helen,
Perhaps you can inform me about how a Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrat alto compares with other pro horns.
The are two Schuster horns Tenor/Alto on eBay now
PRICE is 995 euro for either. Alto sn# 1359 . Tenor # 1260
I am interested in an upgrade on my current Yamaha 475 .
To my untrained eye, both horns look very nice and certainly well preserved with a few places where the silver has worn off. But no dents I could see.
What is intriguing is the “rolled” tone holes something not many modern horns have.
That and my personal fascination with German/ Markneukirchen products has fueled my sudden “need” lol ( I have 60 trumpets now but only two Yamaha saxes, like I need more lol)
You seem to express that these horns are over priced? Yet for sake of dialog what can you buy today that would have the same quality? Yes Asian horns are cheaper but the “feeling” of ah ..how to say this nicely …beer instead of Champagne.
Spent the last 3 years trying like hell to play trumpet but it only took me two years on alto be able to play pro and earn cash on alto . Want to get back to Sax.
I know more about trumpets now than about saxes.
What can you tell me about these horns please?
Hello there I know this is a couple years later we will see if I get a response my father who died several years ago lived in Wiesbaden Germany in the late 1950s he played the saxophone and I have in my possession a majestic aristocrat by eugen a hustler. I believe tenor sax . I would say my father played it a handful of times while I was growing up I will try and send a picture I don’t know what I want to do with it yet but perhaps you could give me some sort of value for it not holding you to anything of course it comes in a case that’s in fairly good condition I don’t believe it’s the original case . Anyway I was just rummaging through seven of my stuff I have in storage and was just curious about it and I came across your blog
thanks again Gary
Update: Well this horn finally vanished off eBay. The last auction ended on January 16, 2015, and ended because: “This listing was ended by the seller because the item is no longer available.” The price had dropped only slightly in the last 6 months of its continuous eBay appearance. Its last price before disappearing was
£650.00, which eBay estimated to be approximately $982.41 US.
Update: Still for sale, but for a slightly lower price still. Now its price is £695.00, which eBay estimates to be $1105.22.
Update: Still for sale, but the seller did drop the price slightly to £745.00—which eBay estimates to be $1,199.30. My prediction: it’s still too high. Let’s see if he drops the price any more.
The tenor has a fixed price of 950 Euro, which is steep for the condition.
And yes the seller of this tenor could use a hint as he is selling in a declining market.
:groan:
For the next remark I try to be as subtle as possible for Dutch conditions.
The alto is 899, but you can put in lower bids.
A strange coincidence, there are three Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrats for sale on Ebay in the same timeframe.
Oh, I should have checked out your eBay auction #. Then I would have seen that you were talking about an alto. 😳
Yes, it is very strange that there are currently 3 Eugen Schuster saxophones on eBay. What is really strange however, is the alto you mention. It is unlike any Eugen Schuster horn I have seen before. I really wish the seller had provided even a partial serial #.
It looks to me like a much earlier model than the ones that I have come across. This one on the German eBay site, looks more like a 1930s American horn. The left pinkie cluster reminds me of those we see in the Aristocrats. Combine that with the split bell keys, and we really have an old looking sax. Very odd… :scratch:
Yes this alto has lots of character.
I like the combination of polished and matt silver in its design.
Have you ever seen a non-silver Eugen Schuster?
I was curious to see the outcome of the alto’s auction. Unfortunately we don’t know what it sold for, only that it did. The Best Offer was accepted.
No, I’ve only seen silver plated Eugen Schuster horns, but then my sample size is pretty small. In total I’ve only seen <10 saxophones by the company.
Now a Schuster bari at Bluespeter.
Interesting. I took a look at it. The shop never shows all the sides and aspects of the horns though. It makes it tough to see what it’s all about.
Too bad I don’t need another bari. 😈
There is also an Eugen Schuster Majestic Aristocrat alt on ebay for sale (900 euro).
nr 141359410050
:saxy:
Yup, it’s been for sale for a long time. (Nearly 2 years now.) You’d think the seller would get the hint by now and drop the price.
Yup, it’s been for sale for nearly 2 years now. You’d think by now the seller would get the hint and drop the price a bit, or change the conditions of sale—and by that I mean consider selling outside of Germany. Maybe he just likes paying eBay fees. :hung: