However, these plastic key guards were not the only unusual ones that Hammerschmidt made. In December 2008, I happened across a Josef Hammerschmidt & Sons alto that had a type of eyebrow key guards<\/a>. Over the years I have documented a variety of eyebrow key guards<\/a> on horns carrying the Hammerschmidt name. <\/p>\n What was strange this week is that not one, but two, somewhat different Hammerschmidt saxes with eyebrow key guards popped up on two different eBay sites. Fortunately, both sellers provided lots of greats images with a lot of details of their horns. Thus the auctions provide a bit of insight into different Hammerschmidt models.<\/p>\n The first Hammerschmidt is a Klingsor on eBay.com<\/a>. The horn is a tenor that is currently making its second go-round on the auction site.<\/p>\n Source: custom_92ranger on ebay.com<\/span><\/p>\n This is how the seller describes this horn:<\/p>\n Beautiful 1952 Klingsor Saxophone. I absolutely know nothing about this piece. I couldn’t tell you if it plays well or re-padded. Only spot with numbers, which I am assuming are the serial numbers since it is the only spot with numbers “0100.” Body is very straight with no major dents or solder work. I have never cleaned the saxophone or worries I would damage the coating some how. Has a beautiful engraving. Neck is straight with no creases. Has a buescher true tone mouth piece. Although no serial number on the neck it does look very original and matches the instrument. What you see is what you get with the saxophone. Comes with hard case, although, the case is probably original but in horrible shape. Email me with questions and I will try to answer questions. Please judge by pictures. I can not guarantee anything on this piece. Thank you!<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Here are the rest of the pics of this rather interesting horn…<\/p>\n Besides the eyebrow key guards, there are some other things that are remarkably different about this Klingsor, compared to others that Hammerschmidt built. These include:<\/p>\n Like most German saxophones of the era, Klingsor saxes had rolled tone holes<\/a>. This Klingsor does not possess those. Furthermore, it appears that its tone holes are in fact bevelled. That is most noticeable in picture 9 of the gallery above<\/a>.<\/p>\n Notice the keys are smooth<\/a>. The key arms are not attached to the tops of the keys like we usually see<\/a>, but rather to the sides<\/a>. This is not only a departure from other Klingsor models, but I cannot remember seeing another make of saxophone with this type of key arm attachment.<\/p>\n If this tenor is of interest to you, then you have until March 13<\/a> to get your bids in. This is a no reserve auction, with bids starting at $550.00. At the time of writing no one has bid on this interesting bit of Hammerschmidt history yet.<\/p>\n Source: klarinette10_0 on eBay.de <\/span><\/p>\n The second Hammerschmidt I saw this week was an alto<\/a>, but it did not carry the model name Klingsor. Rather, it is engraved with the name Klingson. Klingson is the name we typically associate with saxophone built for Hammerschmidt by other companies.<\/p>\n What is even more confusing, is that this alto doesn’t have any of typical Hammerschmidt engraving on the bell (1<\/a>,2<\/a>), but rather the name Christian Reisser, and the city Ulm\/Donau<\/a>.<\/p>\n Regardless of the model name confusion, this alto is, IMHO anyway, one of the prettiest saxophones ever made.<\/p>\n This is how the seller the described the alto that appeared on the German eBay site:<\/p>\n Zur Auktion steht ein sehr sch\u00f6nes und detailverliebt gearbeitetes Alt-Saxophon der Fa. Hammerschmidt, Modell Klingson. Hierbei handel es sich um ein Vorkriegsmodell, das vermutlich zwischen 1935 und 1940 f\u00fcr das Musikfachgesch\u00e4ft Christian Reisser, Ulm gebaut wurde. Es tr\u00e4gt die Serien-Nr. 055. Nach der Vertreibung 1945 kam Hammerschmidt nach Burgau und hat dort ab 1950 bis in die fr\u00fchen 1980er-Jahre Saxophone mit der Bezeichnung \u201eKlingsor\u201c gefertigt.<\/p>\n Nachstehend die wichtigsten Besonderheiten:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Geb\u00f6rdelte Tonl\u00f6cher<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Nicht nur die Dr\u00fccker auf den Klappendeckeln sondern auch die Palmkeys sowie Gis, Cis, H, Bb-Cluster und C\/Dis-Dr\u00fccker sind mit echtem Perlmut belegt.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Sehr sch\u00f6ne und dekorativ gestaltete Klappensch\u00fctzer (Art Deco).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Die Klappendeckel haben keinen durchlaufenden Steg sondern sind seitlich angebracht.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Das Instrument ist general\u00fcberholt und wurde mit neuen Premiumpolster mit Metallresonatoren ausgestattet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Die Applikation liegt gut in der Hand und l\u00e4sst sich auch mit kurzen Fingern schnell und bequem spielen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Doppelte E-Klappe<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Die Versilberung ist zu ca. 95 % gut erhalten; leichte Ansprache \u00fcber die gesamte tonale Bandbreite; sch\u00f6ner strahlenden Ton.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Das Instrument ist f\u00fcr sein Alter in einem sehr gutem Zustand; es hat nur minimale Kratzerchen und keine gr\u00f6\u00dferen Dellen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Am Originalkoffer sind beide Schl\u00f6sser nicht mehr in Ordnung; ein Mundst\u00fcck ist nicht dabei.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Der S-Bogen hatte ein Loch f\u00fcr einen Tonabnehmer. Dieses wurde fachmannisch zugel\u00f6tet.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Helen translate says…<\/p>\n Up for auction is a very beautiful Klingson model alto saxophone, with lovely detail work, from the Hammerschmidt company. This concerns a pre-war model, which was likely built between 1935 and 1940, for the music store Christian Reisser in Ulm. [Which still exists today.] The serial number is 055. After their expulsion in 1945, Hammerschmidt moved to Burgau and built saxophones under the “Klingsor” name between 1950 and the early 1980s.<\/p>\n Below are the most important features:<\/p><\/blockquote>\n Rolled tone holes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Not only the key touches, but also the palm keys, the left pinkie cluster, and right pinkie keys, have genuine mother of pearl key touches.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Very beautiful and decoratively designed key guards (Art Deco).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The keys don’t have a key arm attached to their tops. Rather, the key arm is attached to the side of the keys.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The instrument has had a general overhaul with premium pads and metal resos.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n They key layout feels comfortable under your fingers. Even those with short fingers can play this instrument quickly and comfortably.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n Fork Eb.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The silver plating is approximately 95% intact; easy response over the entire range; nice, bright tone.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n This instrument is in very good condition for its age; it has minimal scratches and no major dents.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The locks on the original are no longer working; a mouthpiece is not included.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n The neck had a hole for a pick-up. This was professionally soldered closed.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n Here are the photos of this extremely beautiful alto…<\/p>\n![\"Hammerschmidt](\"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/version5\/wp-content\/gallery\/daves-klingsor\/lower-stack-keys.jpg\")
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Hammerschmidt saxes with eyebrow key guards, zweites Teil<\/em>: the prettiest sax ever?<\/h2>\n
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