New Brunswick International Bari Sax: Yup, Its A Max Keilwerth

A couple of days ago I noticed an interesting low Bb bari on eBay. It is stencilled New Brunswick International, and has the serial # 3673.

Source: dosbonitas on eBay.com

Based on its design features, I could tell immediately that this bari was built by none other than Max Keilwerth. (It should be noted that this is the first MK horn that I have ever seen. Until this horn, I didn’t know for sure he even made any baritones.)

Max was the younger brother to Julius Keilwerth, and like his older brother, Max built saxophones before WWII in Graslitz, and after the war in West Germany. Max’s horn’s are generally known to carry the following features:

• His Pure Tone Trade Mark stamp located just above the serial #;
• Rolled tone holes;
• Man in the moon neck braces on certain models of tenors and altos;
• Microtuners on most altos and tenors;
• A particular bell to body support brace that he would later use on the Hohner President;
• A nail file G# key on his earlier model horns;
• Right pinkie keys shaped like those we see on JK horns;
• An octave lever like what would later be used on the Hohner President;
• A particular shape for the chromatic F# key.

Keeping those features in mind, here are the pics that the seller provided of this Max Keilwerth-stencilled, New Brunswick International bari…

This horn has about ½ of the features I listed above: the neck brace, bell to body support brace, nail file G#, as well the chromatic F# key. However, it also has some features that are quite different from other Max Keilwerth horns:

• Bevelled tone holes. These are not completely uncommon in German horns. As a matter of fact, before Hohner introduced rolled tone holes, the very first Presidents had bevelled ones.
• Left thumb rest & octave lever. The shape of these features looks more like what Julius used on his saxophones, but Max did use this design as well on this Globemaster Luxus alto.
• The bell key guard does not look like anything I’ve seen before on Max Keilwerth horns, but it does look like those on F. X. Hüller saxophones. And don’t forget, in the early 1920s, F.X. Hüller began building saxophones under the guidance of Max Keilwerth. Therefore this type of key guard design on Max’s horns should not come as a surprise.
• The right pinkie keys are not shaped like the usual MK ones.
• What is perhaps surprising, is the lack of a Pure Tone Trade Mark stamp above the serial #. However, the Foreign stamping might explain this. I am curious who the ordering company for this New Brunswick International bari was. Where were they located? How foreign were they?

All in all, this New Brunswick International bari is in fine shape. Given its age, it is surprising it hasn’t been beaten to sh*!, and is missing keys and posts. A couple of small dents are to be expected for any vintage horn, and given it’s a bari, its condition is quite remarkable. I always tell people when they buy a vintage sax to expect to drop $1,000 on a restoration, and this horn is no exception..

The seller states the following about this unique, vintage Max Keilwerth stencil horn:

New Brunswick International Baritonsaxophon-Max Keilwerth Stencil.
Muss wiederhergestellt werden und ist nicht spielbereit, hat einige kleinen Dellen, darunter eine kleine Delle hinter die Korpus-Becher-Verbindung.
Die Versilberung und die Art Deco Gravur sind immer noch sehr schön. Max Keilwerth Baritonsaxophone sind sehr, sehr selten!
Das Original koffer ist sehr alt und abgenutzt. Bilder sind Teil der Beschreibung.

Helen translate says…

New Brunswick International baritone saxophone-Max Keilwerth stencil.

It isn’t playable, and needs to be restored. Has a number of small dents, among them, a small one behind the body to bell connection.

The silver plate and Art Deco engraving are still in very good condition. Max Keilwerth baritone saxophones are very, very uncommon!

The original case is very old, and very used. Pictures are a part of the description.

Unfortunately—fortunately for me actually—the horn is located in The Netherlands, and the seller will only ship to EU countries. If it were more local, I might be tempted. That said, me thinks the price is on the high side. But hey, a true Max Keilwerth lover might pick this baby up just because it is so rare.

If you live in the EU, and you have always wanted a Max Keilwerth baritone to round out your collection, then this New Brunswick bari might just be what you’ve been waiting for. The auction for this vintage bari is scheduled to end on March 25. Bids are to start at €1,500.00. At the time of writing there were no bids on this New Brunswick International bari yet. My prediction: there won’t be any either…