The sarrusophone was invented in 1856 by\u00a0Pierre-Louis Gautrot, who named it after French band leader Pierre-Auguste Sarrus\u2014Gautrot gave him credit for the instrument’s concept.\u00a0Like the rothophone, the sarrus was played with a double reed, although a saxophone-like mouthpiece that attached to the bocal was developed.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The sarrusophone was similar to early saxophones in its fingering system, which is in part what led Sax to initiate lawsuits against its makers. Adolphe Sax felt that the sarrusophone was too similar to his saxophone, so he repeatedly sued\u00a0Gautrot\u00a0for patent infringement.<\/p>\n
Sarrusophones were built in the following voices:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Eb Sopranino<\/li>\n
- Bb Soprano<\/li>\n
- Eb Alto<\/li>\n
- Bb Tenor<\/li>\n
- Eb Baritone<\/li>\n
- Bb Bass<\/li>\n
- Eb Contrabass<\/li>\n
- C Contrabass<\/li>\n
- Bb Contrabass<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
The range of these instruments was the same as saxophones we see today\u2014from low Bb to high F\u2014which gave these horns a greater range than the saxophones of the time.<\/p>\n
The primary companies that made sarrusophones included: Gautrot and Couesnon (Gautrot’s successor), Orsi, Rampone, Buffet (Evette & Schaeffer), and Conn\u2014they made the Eb contrabass only. Today, only the Orsi company<\/a> is still in the sarrusophone business. They will only make one upon request however, since these are not regular production instruments.<\/p>\n
The photo below is of a Bb tenor and an Eb contrabass sarrusophone. Both are on display at the Musical Instruments Museum in Brussels<\/a>.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Sarrusophone-Duet-Opt-500x794.jpg?resize=500%2C794\" "\\"Sarrusophone-Duet-Opt\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Author: Vitmalinovsky Source: cs.wikipedia.org<\/a><\/h6>\n
Although rare, the sarrusophone is not nearly as rare as its rothophone cousin. Vintage sarrusophones do occasionally appear on eBay. For example, this tenor sarrus<\/a> appeared on\u00a0the auction site\u00a0in November 2008. This\u00a0was indeed more of a rarity, since the most common sarrusophone is the Eb contra.<\/p>\n
If you would like to know more about sarrusophones, check out Grant Green’s Sarrusophones page<\/a>. You’ll also find lots of sound clips there.<\/p>\n
To find out a bit more about the Conn 16V Eb Contrabass, check out this page on the old SaxPics site<\/a>.\u00a0On that page you’ll also find\u00a0a photo of the single reed mouthpiece.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/Roth-Quartet-Opt-Fixed.jpg\" "\\"Sarrusophone-Duet-Opt\\"")
<\/a><\/p>\n