Over the past couple of weeks I have seen 2 very pretty, silver plated, Hohner President altos up for auction. The first was being sold through a dealer in the UK called The Little Sax Shop, and was—at least in my mind—on the pricey side.
I didn’t think this horn would sell quickly—if at all. Well it did sell quite fast, and for the rather steep Buy It Now price of £650.00—which eBay shows this morning as $1,012.05. (Remember things do cost and sell for more in Europe.)
If you’re looking for an alto, and you’re not the person who bought the above-noted one, you’re in luck, because someone in the US is selling a very pretty President right now. Like the one above, it too is a later model, thus doesn’t have rolled tone holes.
Source: eBay.com
The seller describes this Max Keilwerth-made Hohner like this:
HOHNER PRESIDENT ALTO SAXOPHONE.
SILVER PLATED WITH GOLD WASHED BELL.
SERIAL NUMBER 12471.
PROBABLY MADE CIRCA 1960.
INCLUDES HARD CASE IN FAIR CONDITION.
THE PADS ARE IN GOOD CONDITION, BUT IT HASN’T BEEN PLAYED IN A LONG TIME SO IT MAY NEED SOME ADJUSTMENTS.
THE HORN DOES NOT HAVE ROLLED TONE HOLES.
THE ENGRAVING IS VERY ATTRACTIVE.
THE HORN SOUNDS GREAT AND IS A PROFESSIONAL INSTRUMENT.
I wish people wouldn’t shout, it’s not polite. 😉
The seller provides a number of photos of the horn that are very clear, and show the details very well. Unfortunately there are a couple of detailed shots that are missing. I would have liked to have seen the left and right palm keys. I’m curious as to whether this horn has a high D/D# trill key, or a high F#.
In this shot it appears that the sax does have a high D/D# triller, and the new type of bell to body brace. As I mentioned, a pic of the lower portion of the right side would be very helpful to confirm the presence of the trill key.
Source: eBay.com
In the photo below it appears that there is no high F# key on this alto.
Source: eBay.com
This Hohner logo—along with the horizontal lines—was added to the G# key at some point during the later part of the President’s production run. The shape of the key was changed slightly as well, if you compare it to alto 48XX.
This is the earliest horn that I have seen with this new-shaped G# key. I’m assuming that this logo and key shape appeared at approximately the same time that the rolled tone holes were dropped, and the bell to body support brace was changed.
Source: eBay.com
The serial number of this sax makes it circa 1963—the first year that Hohner switched from rolled to straight tone holes. We know that this changeover happened at approximately 12XXX. This was likely one of the first horns with the new style tone holes.
Source: eBay.com
The Hohner Presidents had exquisite engraving.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
The auction for this Hohner President alto runs until December 7. The Buy It Now price is $596.00. Or you can try your hand at an offer.
If you’d like to read more about Hohner President saxophones, check out my newly updated Hohner page. There I explore in detail, the issues of tone holes, bell to body braces, and almost every other thing you’d like to know about Hohner saxophones.
If on the other hand, you’d just like to look at pretty pictures of Hohner Presidents, you can skip directly to the Hohner gallery in my new Bassic Sax Pix. There you’ll find photos of almost the entire range Presidents, in all the various finishes, with almost all the possible features that were available.
Update: This lovely alto sold for $500.