{"id":61063,"date":"2025-09-14T10:47:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T17:47:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=61063"},"modified":"2025-09-14T10:47:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T17:47:43","slug":"john-burg-tenor-sax-by-dorfler-jorka","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2025\/john-burg-tenor-sax-by-dorfler-jorka\/","title":{"rendered":"John Burg tenor sax by D\u00f6rfler & J\u00f6rka"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"D&J<\/a>
John Burg tenor # 8429 by D&J. Source: classicworldcoins on eBay.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A few months ago I noticed another D\u00f6rfler & J\u00f6rka (D&J) made stencil horn that I had never seen before. I had come across the name John Burg Z\u00fcrich before, but I hadn’t seen one in the wild<\/em>. <\/p>\n

While this tenor doesn’t have any reference to Z\u00fcrich that we can see, this is none-the-less still a D&J-made John Burg. It is possible that there are other John Burgs out there with the extra word Z\u00fcrich,<\/em> but until I come across one with that engraving, this one illustrates the name nicely. <\/p>\n

I was immediately struck by the fact that this was a lacquer horn like my De Villiers. Most D&J horns I’ve come across are two-tone, with the rest being roughly evenly divided between lacquer and silver plate. The other thing that I noted about it was its condition. It appears to be in very fine shape, and even has most of its lacquer intact. <\/p>\n

Although I can’t say with 100% certainty that this is the original MP that came with the horn, it wouldn’t surprise me if it was. The lig & cap line up with what we saw on other mid-century German saxophones such as Hammerschmidt, and of course JK. <\/p>\n

Speaking of JK, I would be remiss if I didn’t state that this D&J tenor #8429, circa 1957, is basically an acoustic copy of Keilwerth’s The New King. However, D&J saxophones are NOT Keilwerth stencils. <\/strong><\/p>\n

D\u00f6rfler & J\u00f6rka was its own company with a history that is somewhat complicated, and completely interwoven with the Julius Keilwerth company. Please see the D&J page on Bassic Sax<\/a> to read about the company, and how the two companies worked together\u2014and sometimes not\u2014during the middle part of the 20th century. <\/p>\n

When I originally saw this this John Burg tenor for sale on eBay<\/a> it was listed for $1500 US. My reaction could best be summed up by this little old-time emoji \"\"<\/a>   I mean you can get an unrestored 1957 Keilwerth Toneking or The New King for that kind of money. <\/p>\n

Yesterday I noticed this D&J tenor was still up for sale\u2014no surprise there\u2014but with a price closer to reality ($860 US). Only problem is the horn is located in Switzerland, so shipping costs will be rather brutal. Even in Europe shipping costs will be a consideration. <\/p>\n

Photo gallery of John Burg #8429<\/h3>\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder\n

Who was John Burg?<\/h3>\n

Many manufacturers\u2014D&J included\u2014simply made up stencil names. While they did indeed build horns for other companies on order, sometimes they just engraved a variety of names on the bell of identical horns 1<\/sup><\/a>. I thought it might be possible that John Burg was one of these made-up names.<\/p>\n

I searched for the John Burg name online in various search engines and found something surprising: reeds sleeves for saxophones. It would appear that John Burg was in fact a music store that operated for a while in Z\u00fcrich. However, when I tried to see the location of the former shop through street view, I ran into a roadblock. It is on a pedestrian-only street, so there is no view of the building to see what it looks like now.<\/p>\nngg_shortcode_1_placeholder\n

D&J resources on Bassic Sax<\/h3>\n

Why only on Bassic Sax? It seems like I’m the only person who has cared enough to write about these horns. \"\"<\/a> That said, to find out more about this brand, I encourage you to check out the following I pulled together over the last 15+ years:<\/p>\n