As I was doing my regular stroll down the virtual main street shops of eBay this morning, I happened across this rather tarnished specimen of a Hohner President tenor.
Source: eBay.com
This poor horn looks like it’s been neglected for quite a few years. Its silver plating is certainly in need of a polish, but that can be looked after during the restoration phase—something this horn needs too.
The seller is a man (woman?) of few words. Here is how this vintage sax is being described:
Bid now on this vintage tenor Hohner President saxophone and accessories. It is in good conditon No dents or dings. There a littlle tape around the cork as seen in picks where the mouth piece meets the sax.. There’s a serial # 5949. It measures approx.32″L and comes with a case and accessories as seen in picks. Buy pays S/H/I of $45.00 in U.S.A. Sold as is and all sales are final.
Hohner President alto and tenor saxophones were designed and built by Max Keilwerth, while he worked for Hohner Musikinstrumente in Trossingen, Germany from 1949 to 1967. After Max Keilwerth’s death in 1968, Hohner continued production of the President into the early 1970s.
The 5949 serial number indicates that this particular sax was built in 1956.
If you’d like to know more about the history of Hohner saxophones, I have written the most comprehensive English page to date on that you will find on the Internet. I combined together original German research on the brand, and the little bit of English and German materials that there were on-line.
Source: eBay.com
In this shot you can make out the high D# trill key. This sax does not however, have a G# triller.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Here you can see the rolled tone holes that the President saxophones were known for.
Source: eBay.com
Ah yes… What’s a used sax for sale without some reeds? I wonder if they’re used too?
Seriously though… I wonder what kind of mouthpieces are under those caps?
Source: eBay.com
The case has definitely seen better days. It is however, most likely the original one.
Source: eBay.com
The auction for this diamond in the rough runs until July 7. At the time of writing there were 2 bids on this vintage M. Keilwerth Hohner President. The high bid was $202.50.
Helen,
Thanks for collecting the Hohner pres. info. I just got a tenor very much like the one Richard purchased but without the dents and neck issues. Similar vintage, rolled tone holes, silver plate. The sax belonged to friend who died a couple of years ago and his wife gave it to me. Since I’m a repair tech this will make a nice project for the slow season. I’m planning to overhaul the sax and then compare it to my Buffet Dynaction (not SDA)and sell whichever I like less. Should be fun. When the Pres. is done I’ll let you know how it turned out (March ?).
Jeff
Hi Jeff.
Sorry for taking so long to reply to your comment. I’ve been tied up with band commitments this weekend.
I’m glad that you found the Hohner President information helpful. It, like all the other manufacturer sections on my site, are continually “in progress”. As I find out more information, I update the sections. The Hohner section of my main site was recently updated to reflect the new information that I’ve gleaned over the past month or so.
If you have any photos you’d care to share of your new President—even before its restoration—I’d be happy to have you send them to me. Before and after photos of a sax are always interesting. I don’t have any of President before and after its restoration yet.
Thanks for stopping by Jeff. I’m looking forward to hearing your thoughts about the President vis-à-vis a Buffet Dynaction.
Regards,
Helen
Looks like I’m the lucky new owner! When the above Hohner Tenor sax arrived, I found a few things wrong with it. Besides a number of small dents, and a pushed in lower thumb rest, there was considerable pull down to the neck. Since the seller was honest and didn’t realize the neck condition (which was difficult to ascertain from the photos), I was able to negotiate a small price reduction to cover the repair.
I finally got the body work done,and have begun the clean up and polish. The pads look original and there are only minor leaks, but I will ultimately re-pad. For now though, she plays very well as the tone holes are in good condition and I was able to fluff most of the leaks out.
If I can i will post some pics later.
Richard
Hi Richard.
Welcome to my site!
So congrats on the purchase of your new horn. I’m always happy to hear when there’s a happy ending, and despite the slight bumps in the road, it sounds like there was one.
Yes please, I’d love you to send me “after” pictures. I didn’t add these photos to the Hohner Gallery on my site because this thing just looked well… so sad. If you send me some, I would love to include them. If you do send me some, I would like to include both the “before” as well as “after” pics. I think that would be a nice addition to the Hohner section.
What do you think of the sound? Do you have any other tenors? If so, how does it compare to it/them?
I just picked up a President alto last night. It too has some issues. I’ll be posting some photos tomorrow, but suffice to say now, it took a fall and landed on its bell. It now looks like it’s pouting. Yes, it needs a bit of work.
It was nice to have you stop by. Hope to see you here again.
Regards,
Helen
Update: This Hohner President tenor found a new home. There were 13 bids on this sleeper sax. In the end the winner got the horn for $416.56. And yes, these horns are definitely worth a restoration/overhaul or whatever you want to call it. They are really solid horns, it’s just that there are so few of them around, that seemingly few people know anything about them.