Hohner President With Bevelled Tone Holes

I saw something on the German eBay site the other day that got me very excited—from a saxophone historian’s perspective I mean. A seller in Germany is parting with his 1952 Hohner President with bevelled tone holes.

Source: chrismati017  on eBay.de

For years now I have been researching Hohner President saxophones, and other saxophones made by Max Keilwerth. Not only do I have pages on my website about both the Hohner President and Max Keilwerth, but even my Bassic Sax Blog has a series of articles about the Hohner Presidents.

However, despite the hundreds of horns that I have searched out online, and the thousands of Hohner President photos that I have looked at, to date I have only seen a few other Hohner President with bevelled tone holes. 

Here is how the seller describes this interesting saxophone:

Profi-Instrument Tenor Saxophon Saxofon Hohner President – Max Keilwerth

Ein sehr seltenes Hohner President der frühen Phase – Max Keilwerth baute bei Hohner die Saxophon Abteilung auf – dieses Sax ist eines davon. Es hat aufgelötete Tonlochkamine (keine gebördelten / gerollten Tonlöcher !!!); siehe Bilder (Seriennummer 21XX – Baujahr ca. 1953). Diese Instrumente gehörten in den großen Orchestern (z.B. Max Greger, Hugo Strasser, Paul Kuhn…) zu den direkten Konkurrenten von Selmer Saxophonen.

Das Sax ist versilbert (zu ~90% erhalten), wiegt fast 3,5kg (!!!), hat einige Sondertriller und aufgelötete Tonlöcher. 11 Fingerauflagen sind mit Perlmutt belegt. Der Trichter ist mit ca. 155mm am Rand recht breit (= big bell). Spätere Hohner Presidents haben nur einen Trichterdurchmesser von ca. 148mm.

Das Saxophon wurde vor ca. 3 Jahren teilüberholt. Dabei wurden unter anderem die Polster neu gemacht und die Federn auf relativ leichten Widerstand eingestellt. Intonation und Sound sind ausgewogen / exzellent. Das Instrument ist von oben bis unten voll spielbar. Die Mechanik ist nicht verbogen. Beulen / Dellen kann ich nicht entdecken.

Die Bilder gehören mit zum Verkauf und zeigen den heutigen Zustand dieses tollen Tenors. Das Instrument kommt in einem Original Koffer, der für das Alter in akzeptablem Zustand ist.

Das Instrument kann gerne in der Nähe von Kassel angespielt werden. Eine Abholung wäre wünschenswert.

Ich will (muss :-)) ) meine Sammlung deutlich verkleinern und verkaufe in anderen Auktionen weitere Instrumente. Wer bei Saxophonen den alten Vintage Sound sucht, ist hier gut beraten.

Helen translate says…

Professional model tenor saxophone, Hohner President – Max Keilwerth

A very rare, early phase,  Hohner President – Max Keilwerth built up saxophone department at Hohner – this sax is one of them. It has soldered tone holes (not rolled tone holes!!!); see photos (serial number 21XX – manufacturered circa. 1953). [Actually, it’s from 1952. 1953 would give it rolled tone holes.] These instruments were included in the major orchestras, (for example Max Gregor, Hugo Strasser, Paul Kuhn…) and were direct competitors of Selmer saxophones.

The sax is silver plated (90% remaining, weighs nearly 3.5 kg (!), has numerous extra trill keys and soldered tone holes. Eleven key touches have mother of pearl on them. The bell is approximately 155 mm wide across the bell (=big bell). Later Hohner Presidents only have a bell diameter of 148 mm.

This saxophone was partially overhauled 3 years ago. Among other things, the pads were replaced, and the springs were adjusted so that they have a relatively light resistance. Intonation and sound are excellent. The instrument is fully playable from top to bottom. The mechanisms are not bent, and I can see no dents/dings.

The pictures are part of the sale, and show the present condition of this great tenor. This instruments comes with its original case, which for its age, is in acceptable condition.

The photos that the seller provides, show a vintage Hohner President with bevelled tone holes that does appear to be remarkably good condition.

Hohner tenor 21XX Source: chrismati017

Hohner tenor 21XX Source: chrismati017

Here you can see the soldered & bevelled tone holes. Source: chrismati017

The engraving is the same as on later models. Source: chrismati017

Hohner tenor 21XX Source: chrismati017

Notice this horn doesn’t have a high F# key. Source: chrismati017

Here you can see the soldered & bevelled tone holes. Source: chrismati017

Unfortunately it`s hard to see that this sax has a big bell. Without another horn for comparison, there’s nothing to visually compare it to. However, I can tell you that my Hohner tenor (#104XXX) has a very small bell compared to many of my horns. I haven’t measured its diameter, but this is what multiple Hohner owner Theo wrote in his recent comment:

Thanks for mentioning the Hohner 21xx. Interesting … is that its owner writes that the bell width of the Hohner President varies from 155 to 148 mm.

When checking this fact on my tenor saxophones I found:

President 51xx 150 mm
Hohner President from ebay ad 21xx 155 mm (measurement owner)
Hohner President 26xx 155 mm
Hohner President 41xx 150 mm
Hohner President 131xx 141 mm
So he is right that the Bell diameter changes.
But it is just one of the changes made during the lifetime of this model.

If you are interested in adding this lovely vintage Hohner President with bevelled tone holes to your saxophone stable, you have until May 6 to get your bids in (but only if you live in Germany, since the seller won’t ship out of country). Bids are to start at €890.00, which xe.com currently estimates to be $1232.52 US.

So far there were no bids yet, and it is worth noting that this tenor has been up for auction once before. The start price was the same, and the auction ended with 0 bids.