Anyone reading this blog has most likely heard of the brand name Selmer. Depending on how sax-knowledgeable the person is, they quite likely know that Selmer Paris and Selmer USA were different companies, and that they had different saxophones.
True, Selmer USA was the sole importer and distributor of Selmer Paris horns, but Selmer USA has its own rich history, and produced its own saxophones. They of course also had some horns stencilled for them, including the famous Selmer Padless, which was made by Buescher.
Selmer London
Thanks to the Internet, we in North America are now more aware of saxophones from another Selmer: Selmer London. Over the past couple of years I seen 2 previous Selmer London saxophones. Both were Orsi stencil saxophones. The first was an alto, while the second was a tenor, and both saxophones were engraved with the name Pennsylvania.
A dealer from the UK, who always has some very interesting saxophones, currently has a Selmer London tenor for sale. Like the Orsi-stencilled Selmers I already mentioned, this tenor is also engraved Pennsylvania.
Source: shresthakimi
However, who the manufacturer of this Selmer London saxophone is, is somewhat of a mystery.
Source: shresthakimi
Now shresthakimi seems to think that this horn is German, but I have my doubts. It doesn’t really look like any vintage German sax that I have seen. (Except for the triple strap ring, which is very B&S-like.)
Source: shresthakimi
This is how shresthakimi describes this interesting, vintage Selmer London sax:
Pennsylvania Tenor Saxophone
Distributed by
Selmer London
Foreign
likely a German manufacture
in good playing order
top to bottom it plays fine
see picture
there is also included a warranty card (by now its expired anyway)
comes in Berkeley of London with 2 keys
Here are the rest of the pics, which might help you identify what brand of saxophone this is:
Source: shresthakimi
OK, So Who Made This?
The neck brace is very distinctive, and I have seen something similar before. I just don’t remember where anymore. Also, the key guards look familiar, but again, I’m drawing a blank as to what brand of horns have the same ones….
….Meanwhile, a little while later….
After a lot of searching around on the ‘Net this morning, I came up with another horn that looked like this, and it sold on eBay in December. The seller claimed it was a Borgani-made Alexandre Super.
Further searching of Alexandre Super seems to confirm that these were indeed made by Borgani. By extension then, it seems safe to assume that this particular Selmer London, Pennsylvania tenor was also made by Borgani. Mystery solved.
There you go shresthakimi, you can update your auction now. 😉
If you are interested in this Borgani-made, Selmer London, Pennsylvania tenor saxophone, then you only have until February 28 to pick it up. The Buy It Now price for this vintage stencil sax is £465.00, which eBay estimates to be $702.57 US. The auction doesn’t mention anything about offers, and none are shown.
:saxplayer: I have one of these horns for a couple of years, the marking is super Pennsylvania with the Selmer logo it also say foreign, it also say 4 Japan, When I check the serial number on the internet it come up as a Mark VII. my sax look just like the one you have on the website except for the metal on the back with the 3 holes, my has just one loop for the neck strap.
This is a Yanagisawa stencil. I regret selling mine so if yours is in a fair condition and you want to sell it please let me know on my address.
I read the same , Yanagisawa made the selmer pensylvania, that’s how I got here when I search for an image of the pensylvania.
http://www.saxpics.com/?v=man&manID=21
You’re saying that this horn is made by Yani? Huh…
Well I’ll let my buddy Pete Hales weight into this discussion. He created the original saxpics.com site you link to Dan. He is also the most informed person I know about Yanagisawa horns. If he says it’s one, it is. Until then, I stand by what I researched.
I wrote Helen a much longer e-mail and she’s always got my permission to quote whatever she wants from it, but I just wanted to post …
a. I haven’t owned saxpics.com since 2007. I can’t change anything posted there. The ‘site is now owned by USAHorn.com.
b. I didn’t have a Yanagisawa page in 2007, just a link to some picture galleries and Ed Svoboda’s old Yani website. NONE of the Yani text on saxpics.com was written by me.
c. The serial number info on saxpics.com is completely incorrect. Check out at http://www.woodwindforum.com/forum/index.php?threads/serial-numbers.24354, instead — and forgive the formatting problems.
d. I have written in depth on Yani. Check out http://thesax.info/makesandmodelslist.
e. The horns pictured on this page are not Yanagiswas.
f. The “Yanagiswa made the Selmer Pennsylvania” is quoted out of context from Yanagisawa Australia. “Selmer Pennsylvania” was a label name and Selmer sold horns from a bunch of different manufacturers under that label, of which Kohlert is probably the most notable.
g. If it doesn’t look like a Yani, it’s not a Yani. If it’s a Yani, it will, at minimum, have a Yani serial number and will be stamped “Japan.”
As always, if you want to chat, you can e-mail me at thesaxinfo-at-gmail.com or, if you’re feeling a bit retro, saxpics@hotmail.com.
Thanks Pete for chiming in. I think that about covers it.
BTW, if anyone needs further convincing that this saxophone was not made by Yani, but was indeed a Borg stencil instead, I suggest you check out this thread on SOTW. You’ll find lots of pics of Borg horns that look identical to the one I id’d here there.
Hello,
I have a Selmer Pennsylvania with a beautiful engraving just like the one pictured here, and it has nothing else on it other than the serial number G 4315, and “Foreign Selmer London”.
I was just wondering when this might have been made, and also what sort of price range it would be worth? It’s in pretty good condition and plays fine.
Thanks so much for this blog, it’s quite interesting.
Hi Belinda.
Without some photos of the horn I can’t tell you for sure how made it—although I can take a guess. Guesses won’t help you any if you go to sell it, since condition also come into play.
Please check out this page on my website to see what kind of pictures allow me to help you the best. Once I’ve had a chance to look at the photos, I’d be happy to advise you more about your horn.
Regards,
Helen
Update: After a bunch of re-listings this horn vanished off eBay in early May with the following usual reason:
Hi Kumar,
Silver frost with polished silver details, polished silver keys and pearls is indeed a beautifull combination.
Until now I have seen it on a Couturier, a Holton and a Keilwerth Toneking but not on a Selmer.
Hello Helen ,I started playing sax in 1963 with a Hohner President Tenor which I have used for 50 years .In 1963 I did not know much about saxes as I do now .There were a few Tenor players in my country and I remember them having various brands .There were brands called Selmer ‘Karl Meyer’ and Selmer ‘Pensylvania’ but they were no match for my Hohner. We also had Orsi Milano which was from Italy .The Karl Meyer and Pennsylvania came from a London Dealer .I could have bought a Selmer Pennsylvania but I preferred the Hohner .BTW I also owned a Selmer Mk 6 for a short while and I gave it to my younger brother who later sold it for about 300 USD.The Army and Police bands here have several models of original Selmers from France but the best Selmer Mk 6 I seen was imported from England in 1964 by a dealer for a friend of mine.I think it cost only around 200 Pounds UK. The finish on this particular sax is something I have never seen yet on any body’s website .It was silver frost which was almost like snow on the body with silver coloured keys and a special engraving on one side of the bell in a design like elongated leaves drooping down .The leaf design was in silver .This sax was hardly used by my friend and I used it for just one concert because of it showy finish My friend died about five years ago and his wife went to USA taking the sax with her as they had a son .But I know that this sax would not have been used in USA by the son .SO I CAN ASSURE YOU THAT THIS IS THE MOST VALUABLE SELMER Mk 6 AS IT WAS IN PRISTINE CONDITION ,ALMOST AS IF IT WAS JUST OUT OF THE BOX AND WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL ENGRAVING. Sadly I have lost touch with them and it would be useless to trace them as the wife had no intention of parting with the sax. He also had a Yamaha Alto and offered it to me free .But since I had 3 Altos myself I did not accept it I wonder if any one else has a 1964 Selmer Mk 6 Tenor with the same finish.
Hello Kumar.
Nice to hear from you again. I was wondering how you were doing. Glad to see that you’re OK.
That Mark VI that belonged to your friend sounds lovely. Selmer did all kinds of special finishes upon request, so I’m not surprised that they did this “Silver Frost” version. I’m just surprised they didn’t do it for more people. It would likely have been more popular than pink lacquer—yet I know of at least 2 of those. (One in a music museum in Phoenix, Arizona, and another that was played by a recording artist, whose name I’ve forgotten at the moment.)
On an unrelated noted, I hope you saw my article from yesterday. I finally got the last 4 pages and the back cover of the Julius Keilwerth catalogue published on my website. I wanted to thank you again for sharing this resource with everyone.
Not only are saxophone players finding it useful, but over the past few weeks I have had a lot visitors from brass forums visiting my site as well. It seems that some trumpet players have come across the resource, and are sharing the link on trumpet and brass wind forums. By sending me your old JK booklet, you’ve literally allowed tens of thousands of people to use, reference, and enjoy it, now, and for years into the future.
Stay well Kumar. I hope you drop in from time to time and let us know how things are going for you…helen