This morning I saw something very interesting—interesting if you are in the market for a new, quality bass saxophone that is, and are not interested in waiting the 6+ months it normally takes to get one from one of top manufacturers in the world. While catching up on the latest happenings on SOTW, I happened across a post by Julius Keilwerth.
Now whenever I see this poster’s name come up, I can’t help but laugh. Last I checked, Julius Keilwerth has been dead since 1962, so unless this SOTW member is a ghost, I can only assume that the forum member is really a staff person for the latest incarnation of the Keilwerth company.
On June 2, Julius Keilwerth posted the following on SOTW:
Hey all you JK Fans!!
If any of you have ever wanted the amazing Julius Keilwerth BASS Saxophone – We now have one available at Julius Keilwerth USA!!! Visit www.facebook.com/keilwerthusa or www.julius-keilwerth.com for information and contact me to find out more about how to get this fantastic instrument for your own!!
Thanks!
Being a dutiful JK fan, I decided to check out their facebook page to find out more about this instrument. I thought perhaps JK was unveiling a new model of bass, or perhaps the bass was going to be advertised in a new finish.
Nope, the facebook post simply states the following:
Did you know Keilwerth is one of the only BASS SAXOPHONE manufacturers in the world? Our SX90 bass saxophone bore is modeled after the vintage horns from the early 20th century, giving it a HUGE sound and lots of power. Keilwerth USA has one IN STOCK *right now* and we are looking for a good home for this beast! Message us for more information!
And visit the Julius Keilwerth digital product catalog [link updated June 2024]for more details about this great horn!!
OK, so what’s available is the tried and true Keilwerth SX 90 bass sax. No mention of a special finish, so it is most likely lacquered. Nonetheless, this is quite something. I’ve heard some players tell me that they’ve had to wait nearly a year for delivery of their new JK bass sax.
Let’s check out what the catalogue says about the Keilwerth SX 90 bass sax…
Under the technical specs, a few of things jump out at me:
- It’s only keyed to high Eb. I know these horns are patterned after vintage American bass saxophones, but hey, the Conn 14M was keyed to high F; is the most sought-after vintage bass there is; and demands top dollar. If you were designing a bass patterned after a vintage one, wouldn’t you choose the one that was the most advanced of its time, and is the most in-demand among players? Hey, I’m just asking.
- The engraving is done by laser. Laser? Really? It’s come to this in Germany? How sad is that, that the fine German craftsman who once did the engraving didn’t pass those skills on to the next generation.
Why would JK choose to use a machine on their most expensive saxophone, to do something that is really an art form? - Soldered tone holes? Again, really? I’d love to know JK’s reasoning for soldering their tone holes, since drawn tone holes have been the norm on German saxophones for what, the last 7 or 8 decades. I understand that JK solders the tone hole rings onto the SX 90R saxophones, but why would they solder the entire tone hole on the bass, but draw them on all their other saxophones?
My three commentary points above aside, the Keilwerth SX 90 bass sax will play circles around the new Asian horns out there, and also circles around most of the vintage bass saxophones one sees for sale. If you’ve been thinking about buying a new JK bass, this is your chance to pick one up without the lengthy wait.
In the words of the most annoying infomercials out there: “Act now, don’t delay. This is a limited time offer.” Supply is limited to one, and we know there is at least one sax player out there, who is going to jump at this opportunity.
Looking at the two photos you provided, the plot thickens… even in these contemporary photos, the sharper photos clearly shows a traditional style neck while, on close inspection, the saxophone in the catalogue image seems to have a sink trap syle neck. I haven’t been successful in finding the “vintage” catalogue yet (are things from the ’90s really vintage now?) but I’ll keep looking!
Most curious that JK has returned to ony keying their basses to high Eb. I had (have somewhere?) a Keilwerth catalog from the mid-to-late nineties listing the bass as keyed to F#; and it was no typo as the photo matched the description. The keywork for high E and F was very similar to the later 14M. I don’t understand why they would introduce and tool for this desirable keywork, make very few with it, then drop it entirely!
What you wrote got me thinking about the catalogue that I have from the 1970s, which I also uploaded in digital form to this site. At the time, the Toneking only was keyed up to high Eb as well, and in the stencil dep’t, here is a Herb Couf Superba I of unknown vintage, also only keyed to Eb as well. With the Couf, although we can’t see a shot of the left palm keys, based on the # of keys that we can see on the front of the horn above the bell, and comparing those to the photo of the Toneking in the catalogue, the number is the same (7, including the key in the upper bow).
If I manage to find that catalog, I’ll scan it and send it along to you in case you want to upload it. I think its of additional interest since Keilwerth apparently isn’t producing that same model of bass anymore! 🙂
P.S.- I should note that the Keilwerth model keyed to High F (F#?) also had the sink trap styled neck where it appears that they have returned to a more traditional neck design now as well!
That’s really interesting Tristan. It would be great if you can find that catalogue. Yes, I would be very interested in seeing it, and adding it to the JK portion of my website and gallery.
We know the JK built some unusual bass saxophones at one time. These 3—according to Stephen Howard who reviewed one on his website—(although I though I read somewhere that there were 6) were keyed from low A to high F#.
I didn’t see anything in Stephen’s review mention a sink trap neck, and the photos of the horn aren’t 100% conclusive one way or the other. Since the horn is loosely based on a Conn design, and they were the company that built some of their bass saxophones with a sink trap neck, it is possible that that design feature worked its way into the JK design as well.
Sadly since JK has changed hands so many times, and Gerhard Keilwerth is no longer with us, I’m not sure who one would go to get any accurate corporate history from.
In Stephen’s review of the low A JK bass, I did find a possible answer to why the company chooses to solder rather than draw the tone holes on their bass saxophones: