Update June 2024: See the updated Hohner page on the Bassic Sax website for a complete breakdown of Transitional vs Phase 1, 2, & 3 horns.
This morning I saw an interesting transitional Hohner President alto on eBay. This alto, serial # 10742, is interesting because it has some features that are both from the old and new versions of the President saxophones.
Source: palaion on eBay.com
Hohner Presidents were built under the supervision of Max Keilwerth. Production run from 1949 until after his death in 1968, and continued on until approximately 1972. Based on its serial # this sax was made in 1961. From the research that I have done to date, the altos changed from old to new at approximately 12XXX.
The features that changed in Hohner saxophones at approximately # 12XXX include the following:
| Tone Holes | G # Key | Bell to Body Brace | D/D# Trill Key | High F# Key | |
| Pre 12XXX | Rolled | Wider on horn side & plain | Straight 2 posts jointed together | Present | Optional |
| Post 12XXX | Straight | Hohner Logo & thinner on horn side | Arched metal | Dropped by at least #12813 | Present Post at least #12813 |
I have gathered examples of transitional horns in the past—with the earliest being # 12030. That horn however, had a combination of straight and rolled tone holes. This transitional Hohner President alto is interesting because it appears to still have rolled tone holes in both the bell…
Source: palaion on eBay.com
… and the body tube.
Source: palaion on eBay.com
The new feature it does have, is the new style bell to body brace. Note however, that it still has the high D/D# trill key.
Source: palaion on eBay.com
Although the seller doesn’t provide a photo of the left side, from the following photo we can see that this transitional Hohner President alto has the new style left pinkie cluster…
Source: palaion on eBay.com
Unfortunately we can’t see the left palm keys, but from the photo above, it doesn’t appear as if this horn has a high F# key. Note how high the key is on #14805. It is touching the bottom of the socket.
The reason that this particular alto (#10742) caught my eye, is that it is lower in serial number than my Hohner alto. My alto, # 114XX, is old style in all regards. It has none of the features found in the newer version of the Hohner President that we saw post 12XXX.
I do find it odd that Hohner had newer parts already when they built #10742, yet used none of these parts in certain later horns. For example, to my knowledge with Conn, another brand that had transitional horns, we usually don’t see a full New Wonder horn, after the transitional series started. (The transition in that case was to the Artist series.)
The seller’s ad offers nothing to explain anything about this vintage alto, or Hohners in general. (Although he is fond of YELLING.) 😉
VINTAGE GERMAN SAXOPHONE “HOHNER PRESIDENT” WITH CASE.
SOLD AS IS.
RETURNS ARE ACCEPTED ONLY IN CASE THAT THE ITEM IS RETURNED IN THE SAME CONDITION THAT THE BUYER RECEIVES IT.
THE REASON OF THE RETURN SHOULD BE BASED ON FACTS THAT WE HAVE NOT REFERRED TO.
FREE SHIPPING BY REGISTERED MAIL.
Here are the rest of the photos of this interesting transitional Hohner President alto saxophone:
If this transitional Hohner President alto floats your boat, you’ve got a few days left to do some research. The auction for this vintage, German alto saxophone ends on January 18. Bids are to start at $899.99. As of the time of writing, there were no bids on this Hohner alto yet.
If you’d like to read more about the Hohner President saxophones, check out this page on my website. If you’d like to thumb through a virtual gallery of these saxophones, check out my Hohner President galleries on Bassic Sax Pix.
And another update: Yup, it’s still for sale. Yup, it’s still the same price of $899.00. Although now it’s a BIN price. This particular auction is to end on June 4. Good luck with that sir… So what that you’ve got just under 600 eBay sales with 100% positive feedback. That’s not helping you. My wager is that we’ll see this same alto, for the same price listed again immediately after this auction ends.
I’m really starting to wonder how much of this might have to do with the fact that the horn is in Greece. If this sax was in Germany, I would think it would have been snapped up by now. Those are of course just my virtual :2cents: 😉
Update: It didn’t sell. (No surprise.) Nor did it sell after it was re-listed for the same price again. (Again no surprise.)
I don’t know what it is about these saxophones that people won’t spend more than $500 or $600 for them—and that’s on a good day. Yet people have no problem spending 2K+ on a Selmer from the 1920s with (compared to this) primitive keywork. :loco:
Having both a tenor and and alto Hohner, I gotta tell you, the 2 horns are almost nothing alike. I prefer the alto over the tenor for general purpose use, but you can’t beat the tenor if you’re looking for a horn with tons of core tone, and little overtones.
Hi Helen,
It looks as if there is an extra post halfway the low C, E-flat axis.
Also something that changed around the 12xxx time on the alto (not on the tenor).