{"id":40208,"date":"2013-12-30T09:01:30","date_gmt":"2013-12-30T17:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=40208"},"modified":"2024-06-11T08:28:22","modified_gmt":"2024-06-11T15:28:22","slug":"vintage-buescher-saxophone-ad-bass-1960","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2013\/vintage-buescher-saxophone-ad-bass-1960\/","title":{"rendered":"A Vintage Buescher Saxophone Ad: A Bass In 1960?"},"content":{"rendered":"

As I was looking through eBay this morning, I happened across a vintage Buescher saxophone ad<\/a>. Now there’s nothing particularly unusual about this, since Buescher ads are among the most commonly seen vintage saxophone ads out there<\/em>.<\/p>\n

What made this ad stand out for me were the following:<\/p>\n

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  1. The ad was from 1960.<\/li>\n
  2. It was presumably for professional model saxophones.<\/li>\n
  3. The ad featured Sigurd Rascher offering his unremunerated endorsement.<\/li>\n
  4. It listed a bass saxophone among the set of horns being available for order.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

     <\/p>\n

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

    Source: ANTIQUE~GRAPHIQUE on eBay.com<\/span><\/p>\n

    Since American-made saxophone aren’t necessarily my area of expertise, I did some checking around and found the information I was looking for on the pages of the original saxpics<\/a>. The Aristocrat models depicted in the above vintage Buescher saxophone ad, were the last pro models that Buescher produced\u2014before they began the slippery slide towards becoming Bundys. (Although Pete might argue that the slide had already begun by this point in time.)<\/p>\n

    What fascinates me about the vintage Buescher saxophone ad, is that as recently as 1960, a person could still order a new bass saxophone from the company. Now that’s pretty interesting when you consider that most of the bass saxophones that we see are from the 1920s, with a few 1930s horns making a rare appearance.<\/p>\n

    When I look at the bass saxophone depicted in this vintage Buescher saxophone ad from 1960, I don’t really see any differences between it, and my 1922 True Tone<\/a>. Unfortunately the left side isn’t visible, but there is no bis Bb, nor does there appear to be a high E key on this more modern<\/em> horn.<\/p>\n

    According to saxpics:<\/p>\n

    You may also have noticed [in the charts above] that there aren’t “officially” Aristocrat basses, sopranos or sopraninos. When someone wanted one of these items, Buescher would trot out the old True Tone tooling and make it with that — and engrave with the new engraving and (sometimes) update the keywork a bit. See, for instance, this beautiful bass<\/a> from www.vintagesax.com.<\/p>\n

    Source: Aristocrat Series page on original saxpics site<\/a><\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

    If you look at the pics of the silver plated bass that Pete notes from Gayle at vintagesax.com, a couple of differences in the key work are indeed apparent. The left thumb rest and octave lever<\/a> are shaped differently, and the left pinkie cluster<\/a> has been redone. This is what the corresponding areas look like on the older, True Tone bass saxophones: Here is the left thumb rest and octave lever<\/a>; and here the left pinkie cluster<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    Being a vintage bass player, and saxophone researcher who has been following bass saxophone sales for more than a decade, I am curious how many orders for bass saxophones Buescher received post-1930. If the auctions that I’ve seen since 2000 are any indication, my guess would be, not many.<\/p>\n

    I have never personally seen a Buescher newer than the 1930s for sale. That said, it seems improbable that the one that Gayle sold through her shop is the only one ever built either.<\/p>\n

    Sadly, the Buescher Band Instrument Company is of course no more, and its original company files have likely long been lost or destroyed. Even the former workers have faded into history, so personal accounts from the time are getting ever harder to obtain. This leaves us print documents, like this vintage ad, as some of the few sources of information about a once great saxophone manufacturer.<\/p>\n

    Getting back to the ad itself, I think this vintage Buescher saxophone ad<\/a> would make a great addition to your studio, or whatever practice space you have. If you are interested in picking it up, it will only set you back $9.95. The auction is set to close on January 27\u2014if no one buys it at the But It Now price of course.<\/p>\n

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    …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":"

    As I was looking through eBay this morning, I happened across a vintage Buescher saxophone ad. Now there’s nothing particularly unusual about this, since Buescher …<\/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":[78],"tags":[150,619,640,660,633,644,38,643,31],"class_list":["post-40208","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintage-horns","tag-american-saxophones","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-buescher","tag-ebay","tag-musings","tag-photos","tag-vintage-ads","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"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