{"id":45425,"date":"2016-12-10T09:18:15","date_gmt":"2016-12-10T17:18:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=45425"},"modified":"2024-06-23T11:01:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-23T18:01:08","slug":"ever-heard-of-a-strathmann-non-stick-g-key","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2016\/ever-heard-of-a-strathmann-non-stick-g-key\/","title":{"rendered":"Ever Heard Of A Strathmann Non-Stick G# Key?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unless you’ve read Uwe Ladwig’s book<\/a>, Saxofone: Ein Kompendium<\/em>\u2014which requires you be able to read German\u2014or you have read any of the modern B&S pages on my website<\/a>, there is likely no reason that you would have heard of the Strathmann non-stick G# key. It is arguably one of best, overlooked inventions of the 20th century for saxophones.<\/p>\n

If you’re a saxophone player, chances are you have however, suffered from sticking keys. One of the worst offenders is of course the G# key. Maybe you’ve wondered why someone hasn’t invented something to prevent this key from sticking. As it turns out, some did.<\/p>\n

The man’s name was Arnfred Strathmann, and in 1968 he proposed a non-stick G# key to Julius Keilwerth. (BTW, Strathmann was the inventor of the original Strathon sax and clarinet MPs, which have been made in a modified way for SATB saxophones by Zinner since 1973 1<\/sup>)<\/p>\n

The original Strathmann non-stick G# key<\/h2>\n
\"Strathmann<\/a>
Source: Saxophone: Ein Kompendium, by Uwe Ladwig. Second edition 2012, p. 160.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The German text reads as follows:<\/p>\n

\n

Above: Diagram for the G# mechanism. Below: Excerpt from a letter from Strathmann to J. Keilwerth dated April 14, 1968 309<\/sup>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Through Mr. D\u00f6rfler I found out that you might be interested in my improvements for the G# key. The small improvement consists simply of a small lever, but one that works with 100% dependability. It works so well, that over the last few years I have no longer had any problems with my G# key.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This simple modification that Arnfred Strathmann made to his saxophone sometime during the middle of the last century, and explained to Julius Keilwerth in 1968, was not implemented in any JK saxophone ATT. Why?<\/p>\n

Could the two men not come to an understanding in price? Did Julius not see the value in such a non-sick mechanism for the G# key? Did Julius think he could come up with something better?<\/p>\n

Whatever the reason, it would be 1990 before JK offered an unrivalled rocking mechanism, with a with substantial rearrangement for the annoyingly-sticking G# key.<\/p>\n

\"non-stick<\/a>
Anti-stick G# on JK CX90, Source: Matthews Music on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

JK had the market cornered on non-stick G# keys for all of seven years. Then in 1997 B&S introduced their Codera line, which was a joint project with Wolf Codera. They too had worked at designing an non-stick G# key for their horns…<\/p>\n

\"non-stick<\/a>
Anti-stick G# on B&S Codera tenor #011334 Source: quinntheeskimo-Vintage-Horns on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Later B&S models (the 2001<\/a> and Medusa<\/a>) would have this non-stick G# key mechanism. The Dave Guardala Series was the only model of pro horn that B&S made that did not have this modification.<\/p>\n

\"Dave<\/a>
Guardala tenor # 015149, Source: Dave Kessler<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

When you compare\/contrast the B&S vs the JK non-stick G# key mechanisms, you’ll notice that their designs are rather different. Perhaps B&S and Wolf Codera were trying to either improve on JK’s design, or reduce their chances of being involved in possible legal hassles because of design infringements.<\/p>\n

A quick, and certainly not a thorough patent search, did not produce any results for an anti-stick G# key. Although Arnfred Strathmann, Julius Keilwerth, and Wolf Codera all have patents to their name (and Codera and Strathmann have a joint patent on a key design) not one of them appears to have patented a non-stick G# key. Really? I wonder why this is?<\/p>\n

Patent issues aside, if you compare either the JK or B&S-designed non-stick G# key versions to the Strathmann original, you should immediately see a difference: The original was intended to go all the way to the F key, but both JK and B&S stopped theirs at the F#. Again, I have to ask the question: I wonder why?<\/p>\n

Modern Horns with a non-stick G# key<\/h2>\n

Now I freely admit that I know virtually Jack about modern saxophones. Whenever someone asks me something about them, I have to do some serious research to answer intelligently.<\/p>\n

When I began this article, I started to wonder: How many of today’s horns have a non-stick G# key? I can’t think of any that I’ve tried. (And honestly, I haven’t tried more than 10 or so brands in recent years, so that’s not a very big sampling.)<\/p>\n

So with my Googling skills all primed up, I came up with the following list of modern\/new saxophones that utilize a non-stick G# key:<\/p>\n