{"id":37327,"date":"2013-05-03T10:05:54","date_gmt":"2013-05-03T18:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=37327"},"modified":"2024-06-08T09:31:28","modified_gmt":"2024-06-08T16:31:28","slug":"a-julius-keilwerth-king-imperial-its-one-rare-bird","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2013\/a-julius-keilwerth-king-imperial-its-one-rare-bird\/","title":{"rendered":"A Julius Keilwerth King Imperial: A Very Rare Sax"},"content":{"rendered":"

When talking about vintage saxophones, it is not uncommon to hear the word “rare” thrown around to describe very common instruments like Mark VIs, Committee IIIs, C melodies with no special qualities, etc. As a matter of fact, the word rare<\/em> is thrown around so much, that I tend not to use it at all, unless said horn is truly rare\u2014such as today’s interesting example of a Julius Keilwerth horn: a King Imperial tenor circa 1937.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

This King Imperial’s backstory<\/h2>\n

When the owner first contacted me a couple of weeks ago about this tenor, he didn’t know what he had. Michael inherited this horn from his grandfather, who was a professional musician. When his grandfather got too old to play, he sold all his saxophones, but for some reason kept this King Imperial.<\/p>\n

Notice the sax, like almost all Germanic horns of the era, has rolled tone holes. Note too that the engraving is consistent with what we see on JK horns of the roughly the same era<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

Michael had searched all over the Internet, but couldn’t find any references to an instrument like this. When he landed on my website he sent me an email asking if I could help him identify what this saxophone was.<\/p>\n

How to spot a Keilwerth: King Imperial or not, some common features give away its pedigree<\/h2>\n

It took me about 10 seconds to recognize that was in fact a Julius Keilwerth King model, from the time when the company was in Graslitz. Notice the right palm keys. This is a shape that we see on certain JK King model horns<\/a> that have right-sided bell keys.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

The serial number 94XX, is consistent with the Keilwerth serial number chart<\/a>, and traces the horn’s production to 1937.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

The shape of the chromatic F# key, right pinkie keys<\/a>, and the low C key mechanism, are consistent with what we see on see on JK King models from roughly the same era, with right-sided bell keys<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

Even the left pinkie cluster looks like those that we see on the Julius Keilwerth King model<\/a> saxophones.<\/p>\n

\"J.<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

How this King Imperial differs from conventional JK horns<\/h2>\n

If you’re a vintage Keilwerth enthusiast, you’ve likely noticed some pretty big differences between this King Imperial model, and the conventional King model that JK produced. It is these differences that made me contact my JK-knowledgeable colleagues Matt Strohrer<\/a>, Uwe Ladwig<\/a>, and Pete Hales<\/a>. None of them had seen anything like this before either, but all concurred that this was indeed a JK King model from Graslitz.<\/p>\n

The most obvious difference between this Imperial model and conventional King models, are the eyebrow key guards<\/a>. This is the first JK that I have seen that has them. Until now I only knew of one Keilwerth brother who used this feature on his saxophones. That brother was of course Max, who built the President saxophones first for himself<\/a>, and then for Hohner<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Another obvious difference between this King Imperial and conventional King models is the lack of a JK logo under the right thumb rest<\/a>. Even horns with serial numbers as low as 2265<\/a> had this logo<\/a> already. Rather than having a logo, only the words The Best Of The World<\/em> are engraved on this Imperial’s bell<\/a>. (The logo on the back of the other horns reads: The Best In<\/strong> The World<\/em>. Bold added to denote difference.)<\/p>\n

Here are the remaining shots of this truly rare, Julius Keilwerth King Imperial tenor saxophone:<\/p>\n

\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Octave <\/a> <\/div>
\"Left <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Front <\/a> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Neck <\/a> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Source: Michael Halvarsson<\/span><\/p>\n

To summarize then…<\/h2>\n

Here is a chart that summarizes the main features of the horn:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Julius Keilwerth Like Features<\/strong><\/td>\nNon-Julius Keilwerth Like Features<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
 <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rolled tone hole<\/td>\nEyebrow key guards<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Bell engraving style<\/td>\nNo JK logo stamp under right thumb hook<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shape of right palm keys<\/td>\nBest Of The World engraving on bell<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Fits in Keilwerth serial number chart<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Shape of chromatic F# & right pinkie keys<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Low C mechanism<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Left pinkie cluster<\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
 <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Before you ask, no, this saxophone is not for sale. Michael is very happy keeping this saxophone as a connection to his grandfather.<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span><\/div>\n
 <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When talking about vintage saxophones, it is not uncommon to hear the word “rare” thrown around to describe very common instruments like Mark VIs, Committee …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[331],"tags":[677,81,673,644,630,643,31,136],"class_list":["post-37327","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-j-keilwerth","tag-julius-keilwerth","tag-keilwerth","tag-max-keilwerth","tag-photos","tag-tenor-saxophone","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax","tag-vintage-sax-resources"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t