Toneking 3000 Straight Alto Saxophone

Yesterday I noticed a JK straight alto on eBay. Now that in itself is not that unusual, since straight altos by Keilwerth pop up on eBay on a regular basis. However, those are SX90R models, therefore modern saxophones. The sax that I noticed on eBay yesterday is a different animal altogether however, it is a Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone.

Source: malese31 on eBay.de

The seller is in Germany, and describes the sax like this:

Seltenes Altsaxophon gerade Bauweise.

Keilwerth Toneking 3000 Seriennummer 85xxx Korpus und S Bogen identisch.

Originaler Zustand wenig in Gebrauch gewesen.

Über die Jahre sind die Polster ausgetrocknet/spröde und müssen erneuert werden

Das Instrument hat keine Dellen wenige Kratzer und keine Reparaturen oder sonstige Schäden.

Anbei ist der originale Koffer von Keilwerth.

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Shipping Worldwide Please Ask For Cost

Helen translate says:

Rare, straight alto saxophone.

Keilwerth Toneking 3000, serial number 85XXX matching on body and neck.

Original condition, was seldom used.

Over the years the pads have dried out and need to be replaced.

This instrument has no dents, few scratches, and no repairs or other damage.

With it comes the original Keilwerth case.

Worldwide shipping available.

Here are the pics of this interesting instrument…

Here are the salient points about this Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone that are worth noting:

• According to the JK serial # chart, this alto’s serial number (85XXX) places its date of manufacturing at 1982. At that time, the Toneking was still advertised as a pro model horn, but with less of the bells and whistles than their premium model, the Toneking Special had.
• Despite it not being a Toneking Special, this Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone does appear to have a high F# key.
• Furthermore, it also has “large borderless key touches”.
• The other key differences between the two models that JK mentions in the advertising—large bore, wider bow and larger bell—are not entirely applicable to this straight sax.
• Therefore, I would say that this straight alto is really a customized Toneking Special, and hence worthy of a special designation. This horn clearly was built as a premium level, pro horn.
• If the name Toneking 3000 sounds familiar, it might be because you’ve seen my page on this sax-shaped trumpet called the Toneking 3000. That trumpet was likely built during the same time period as this Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone was. (If you’d like to read more about the trumpet, check out this page on my website.)
• Just as the Toneking 3000 trumpet was produced in very limited numbers—about 100 according to Gerhard Keilwerth—I would hazard a guess that this Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone was also produced in very limited numbers.
• And while I’m speculating, let me go out on one final wild speculation, since Gerhard Keilwerth designed the sax-shaped trumpet for JK, I would hazard a guess that he also had a hand in the design of the Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone. Remember, this was during the time his family still owned and operated the family business.

If you’re the market for a pro-level alto saxophone, and you just don’t want the same old, same old, then this Toneking 3000 straight alto by Julius Keilwerth might just be the horn for you. Bids are to start at €1,990, which xe.com estimates to be $ 2,268.19 US at the time I looked it up. The buy it now price is €2,990, and xe.com calculated that to be $3,407.99 US. However, prices are always changing, and the links I provided here will be updated when you click on them. Your price through eBay will likely also be slightly different.

The auction for this Toneking 3000 straight alto saxophone is scheduled to end on April 20. It will be interesting to see if anyone picks this baby up.