{"id":51855,"date":"2022-04-16T10:17:11","date_gmt":"2022-04-16T17:17:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=51855"},"modified":"2022-09-06T16:43:13","modified_gmt":"2022-09-06T23:43:13","slug":"when-is-a-holton-not-really-a-holton","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2022\/when-is-a-holton-not-really-a-holton\/","title":{"rendered":"When is a Holton not really a Holton?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
Beaufort American = Holton<\/a><\/td>\nResearch results<\/a><\/td>\nInternet results<\/a><\/td>\nSOTW<\/a><\/td>\nHolton Loyalists<\/a><\/td>\nWisconsin Historical Society<\/a><\/td>\nDetails about this Conn-made Beaufort<\/a><\/td>\nRight Side<\/a><\/td>\nLeft Side<\/a><\/td>\nFront<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rear<\/a><\/td>\nBell & Bow<\/a><\/td>\nNeck<\/a><\/td>\nAccessories<\/a><\/td>\nWhere will it go next?<\/a><\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n <\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

\"\"<\/a>A few months ago a fellow from SOTW bought a bass sax that was branded Holton, but which looked identical to my Buescher True Tone from 1922<\/a>. Well one of the SOTW regulars got themselves totally bent out of shape because I stated that while true, Holton did make some bass saxophones, by far and away the majority were stencils, and the one in question most definitely looked like a Buescher. <\/p>\n

I never dreamed I would find myself delving into the history of the American instrument manufacturer Holton. I figure there are people who know about these horns, and there has been and continues to be enough written about them, that I needn’t concern myself about them. Period. Full stop.<\/p>\n

Fast forward to March, and what do I end up with? A Beaufort American C melody saxophone belonging to a local trumpet player\u2014who had brought it into Matterhorn Music<\/a>, where I work part time as David’s Educational Rep. The horn’s owner, let’s call him Fred (not his real name), bought both the C mel and the Boosey & Co. alto I wrote about at the end of March<\/a>, with an eye to learning to play saxophone. <\/p>\n

He has had both horns for years, but since learning to play the sax didn’t happen, Fred has decided that it is likely time to part with both of these babies. Fred asked me what the value on both of these instruments might be, so I ended up doing some research. If you’ve read the article on the alto you know how that turned out. <\/p>\n

As with the Boosey & Co. alto, the Beaufort American was not exactly in my wheelhouse. This is not an early to mid century horn from a German speaking region of Europe. Therefore this C mel required a bit of a deeper dive into the history of the Beaufort American name, and I was totally surprised at what I found. <\/a><\/p>\n

Beaufort American was a Holton name<\/h3>\n

In my nearly 20 years of vintage saxophone research, it has been my experience that more than 50% of time when searching the name of a stencil sax, you find nothing to indicate the horn’s origins. Old mail order companies, distributors, and music stores are usually long gone, and only a handful of them\u2014comparatively speaking\u2014have been written about since the creation of the Internet. However, in this case I found multiple sources that all stated that Beaufort was a name given to Holton’s non-pro horns.<\/p>\n

Already building a full line of high-end brass instruments, Holton recognized the growth of music in the schools and began selling student-line instruments built by other workshops under the trade names Pertin and Beaufort.<\/p>\n

Source: Holton (Leblanc) Wikipedia<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

This kind of tracks with what I noticed on the Beaufort. It was a stencil horn\u2014specifically a Conn made on the Pan American side of the factory. Serial # P23XXX, with a Dec. 8 1914 patent # of 111954<\/a>, which is for drawn tone holes. (A patent that was held by William Haynes, but licensed to Conn at the time.)<\/p>\n

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Here is a detailed photo of the drawn, but straight tone holes on the Beaufort.<\/p>\n

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In the photos below, if you compare the Beaufort C mel (bottom), to Conn’s pro, C mel version of their New Wonder Series II (top), you can most assuredly see the differences. <\/p>\n

\"Top: <\/a>
Top: New Wonder Series II Serial #: 193XXX. Bottom: Beaufort Serial #: P23XXX <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Top: <\/a>
Top: New Wonder Series II Serial #: 193XXX. Bottom: Beaufort Serial #: P23XXX <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n