{"id":43016,"date":"2014-11-10T11:43:06","date_gmt":"2014-11-10T19:43:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=43016"},"modified":"2024-06-17T09:28:45","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T16:28:45","slug":"rene-guenot-bass-saxophone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2014\/rene-guenot-bass-saxophone\/","title":{"rendered":"Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not Bass Saxophone"},"content":{"rendered":"

Thanks to Theo for find this interesting horn on the German eBay site: a Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Ren\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de<\/span><\/p>\n

The neck design on this Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone<\/h2>\n

Now do you notice anything interesting about this vintage bass saxophone? It is styled like the American models<\/a> of the day. I’m not sure exactly when vintage French bass saxophones became short wrap<\/em> models, but this unlabelled Pierret of the Super Artiste<\/a> era has the classic short, French wrap<\/em>. As does this Super Balanced Action # 5033x,<\/a> which would make it circa 1950.<\/p>\n

Getting back to the Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone that is currently for sale in Germany, it is an interesting beastie. Its left pinkie cluster is similar to what we see in the Conn New Wonder Series I bass<\/a> saxes, and light years ahead of what Buescher was putting out on its True Tone basses<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"Ren\u00e9<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de<\/span><\/p>\n

Who the heck was Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not?<\/h2>\n

If you’ve not heard of the Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not company, you’re likely not alone. They were a French company that was sold to Albert Douchet in 1933, who continued to sell saxophones until 1950 under the name, Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not Albert Douchet & Co. Successors.1<\/sup> According to Uwe Ladwig, it is unclear if the company continued to make saxophones after the sale to Douchet.2<\/sup><\/p>\n

Just an interesting aside about the Douchet company; Uwe noted that in an advertising pamphlet the company offered the following saxophones: Bb soprano, F-mezzo soprano, Eb alto, Bb tenor, Eb baritone, and Bb bass. Horns were also noted as being available in either low or high pitch.3<\/sup><\/p>\n

If you’re able to read French, or don’t mind getting your head around the weird translations of Google Translate, I highly recommend the Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not page on the luthiervents blog<\/a>. It has some interesting information there, but I suspect the French is much better than the horribly translated English.<\/p>\n

The engraving on this bass saxophone doesn’t give us much to go on. It provides no model name, and doesn’t mention the Douchet name. Was this Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone made prior to the company’s sale in 1933?<\/p>\n

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

Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de<\/span><\/p>\n

Unfortunately the seller doesn’t provide us with any real insight into this vintage bass sax’s history. This is how he\/she describes it:<\/p>\n

biete:<\/p>\n

ein Bass Saxophon Rene Guenot, Paris incl. Gig-Bag.<\/p>\n

Das Bass Sax. ist gebraucht, aber absolut spielbereit! Es hat einen sehr satten Sound und stimmt auf 440 H. Ich habe es mit einem Meyer Mundst\u00fcck, 10\u00b4er Bahn gespielt.
\nBaujahr ca. 1900
\nBauweise: wie Conn.
\nvon tief Bb bis hoch E.<\/p>\n

Ebenfalls mit dabei ist das gut gepolsterte Gig-Bag aus B\u00fcffelleder.<\/p>\n

Der Wert des Bass-Sax liegt bei ca. EUR 6.500 zzgl. EUR 500 f\u00fcr das Bag.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Helen Translate says….<\/p>\n

Offering:<\/p>\n

One Rene Guenot bass saxophone, including gig bag.<\/p>\n

The bass sax is used, but is totally ready to play! It has a full, rich sound, and tunes to A=440. I have been playing it with a Meyer mouthpiece.
\nYear of manufacturing circa 1900.
\nStyle: like a Conn.
\nKeyed from low Bb to high Eb.<\/p>\n

Included with the sale is a well-padded gig bag made of buffalo leather.<\/p>\n

The value of the sax is approximately \u20ac6,500, plus \u20ac500 for the gig bag.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

A couple of things about this horn. The sax is newer than 1900. Likely 1930 or there abouts.<\/p>\n

I’m not sure if the neck is original. Even though the seller doesn’t mention it being a replacement, the silver colour looks so different from the rest of the horn that although it could just have been polished, it leads me to ask: is it a replacement neck? If I were interested in the sax, I would ask the seller about it.<\/p>\n

As far as the gig bag goes, it’s not my personal choice for carrying any horn, let alone a bass saxophone. The only thing gig bags are good for is keeping your tech employed. But hey, that’s just my opinion. Go on, ask your tech which he prefers for his bottom line, and which will give you the best protection. I guarantee you the answers will not be the same.<\/p>\n

Here are the rest of the pics of the Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone…<\/p>\n

\"Source: <\/a>
Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
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\"Source: <\/a>
Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

If you’re intrigued enough by this Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone<\/a> to have it awaken the nasty GAS gods, then you should know that you have until November 19 to get your bids in. The bids for this vintage bass are to start at \u20ac3,500, but at the time of writing no one had put a bid in yet.<\/p>\n

Oh, and the other thing that you should know is that the seller is showing sales to Germany only. I know of a number of German would-be bass sax players who are looking for a horn, so this might be their opportunity to find a sax locally.<\/p>\n

__________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

1 <\/sup>Saxophone: Ein Kompendium by Uwe Ladwig, p. 101
\n2<\/sup> Ibid.
\n3<\/sup> Ibid.<\/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":"

Thanks to Theo for find this interesting horn on the German eBay site: a Ren\u00e9 Gu\u00e9not bass saxophone. Source: diemuetze007 on eBay.de The neck design …<\/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":[6],"tags":[619,660,149,644,608,643,31],"class_list":["post-43016","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bass-saxophone","tag-bass-saxophone","tag-ebay","tag-french-saxophones","tag-photos","tag-rene-guenot","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