H. Couf saxophone features
Larger bells & bows
Compared to their French contemporaries, the Keilwerth-built saxophones had a somewhat larger bell.
They also had an appropriately larger bow that produced the big, centred tone that the brand is known for. This larger bow is quite evident in the photos above.
The larger bow is also illustrated in the following [somewhat imprecise] photo of my H. Couf Superba II bari 61XXX, and my Selmer Mark VI bari # 147XXX. Notice however, that my Martin Committee III # 204XXX, has still an even larger bow than the Couf.
My 3 baris. From left to right: H. Couf Superba II, Selmer Mark VI, Martin Committee III.
Julius Keilwerth stamping
On the body tube, the horns carry a stamp that reads:
MADE EXCLUSIVELY FOR H. COUF by JULIUS KEILWERTH MUSIKINSTRUMENTENFABRIK
This stamping was placed on the body tube. That said, there are some saxophones that for whatever reason didn’t get the stamping. Case in point, my Superba II bari #61XXX, has no engraving stating its origins.
Around the mid-1970s, Herb Couf became the Vice President of Armstrong, and that company took over the Couf series. As a result, the stamping on the body tubes of the horns changed to:
MADE IN WEST GERMANY EXCLUSIVELY FOR W.T. ARMSTRONG COMPANY BY JULIUS KEILWERTH MUSICAL INSTRUMENT FACTORY
Source: getasax.com
The location of the stamping was moved as well, and was placed above the serial #.
Prior to Armstrong importing and selling H. Couf saxophones, the company was only a flute maker, and saw with Couf the ability to expand its portfolio to include the saxophones.
Some big changes were afoot during the late 1970s
- Around 1977-78 Keilwerth began to only deliver the body tubes and bells for the student model Royalist horns. The rest of the horns Armstrong manufactured themselves.
- At some point after that, Armstrong took over manufacturing the bodies themselves as well. According to Amati 5, that company too supplied horns to Couf during this period of time.
- It was at approximately during this same time frame that Keilwerth became the distributor for Armstrong saxophones in Germany and Austria.
Price list for H. Couf saxophones
Finding any printed literature for H. Couf saxophones has been incredibly difficult. This brochure from January 1982 (?) that was photographed for an eBay sale way back in 2012, is the only Couf-specific one that I have seen, which lists the models and their prices. The photos were quite small, so I used Photoshop to try and enlarge them a bit.
The quality of the photos wasn’t great to begin with, which made the Photoshopping of these pix even more challenging. So if anyone has a pamphlet or brochure on these horns that they would care to share with the world, we would all be extremely grateful. Just get in touch with me and we can talk. (Electronic copies are fine, but they have to be large and clear.)
Source: The-Sax-Group on eBay.com
Source: The-Sax-Group on eBay.com
H. Couf saxophones models and features chart
Superba I |
Superba II |
Royalist |
|
Corresponding JK model |
Toneking Special |
Toneking |
The New King |
High F# |
X |
X |
– |
Drawn, rolled tone holes (Not on sop, bari, or bass) |
X |
– |
– |
Soprano |
X |
X |
– |
Alto |
X |
X |
X |
Tenor |
X |
X |
X |
Baritone |
X (also with low A) |
X (also with low A) |
– |
Bass |
X |
X |
– |
Gold lacquer |
X |
X |
X |
Gold plated |
X |
X |
– |
Silver plated |
X |
X |
– |
Black Gold – black nickel plate with gold plated keys & bell |
X |
X |
– |
Black nickel plate with gold lacquer application* |
X |
X |
– |
Real MOP key touches |
X |
X |
X |
Piano wire springs |
X |
X |
X |
*With regards to black nickel with gold lacquer keys and bell, that I am not so sure about. The very few black nickel horns I have seen stencilled for Couf, all appear to have gold plated keys and bell. This was a special order from JK that was a 20% surcharge on the regular lacquer price of whatever horn you were ordering. It is described in the above pamphlet as Black Gold. However, black nickel with gold lacquer is not mentioned, nor is it a finish mentioned in any of JK pamphlets or brochures that I have come across from this time period.
Illustrated partial features list
It is important to note that I collected data on approximately 23 features—the actual number varied on the model and voice of horn—which is why this is only a partial features list. This listing illustrates only those features listed in the above-shown brochures circa 1982.
For a full feature listing of each horn and its models, see their corresponding pages noted in the top navigation bar.
High F# key
High F# keys were available on the following models/phases:
Superba I |
Superba II |
|
Soprano |
Phase 2 & 3 |
No |
Alto |
Phase 1-4 |
Phase 1-4 |
Tenor |
Phase 1-4 |
Phase 1-4 |
Baritone |
Phase 4 available as an option |
No |
Bass |
No |
No |
Here is a sampling of the high F# keys, but a number of them changed in design and location over the 20 production run. Check the specific page for the type of H. Couf you are interested in for more details. For ease of navigation I have put a direct link in top navigation bar.
Tone Holes
Contrary to popular belief, rolled tone holes were not just available in the Superba I. Here is a breakdown of which models had rolled tone holes, and when.
Superba I |
Superba II |
|
Soprano |
Straight |
Straight |
Alto |
Drawn & rolled |
Phase 1: drawn & rolled. Phase 2-4: straight |
Tenor |
Drawn & rolled |
Phase 1: drawn & rolled. Phase 2-4: straight |
Bari |
Straight |
Straight |
Bass |
Straight |
Straight |
This is what the drawn, rolled tone holes looked like.
The straight tone holes were of course also drawn. This is what they looked like.
Real mother of pearl key touches
Both Superba I & II saxophones had real MOP key touches. It was only their sizes that differed.
Superba I
On the Superba I, the MOP touches were larger, without metal edges. They were like what we still see on the SX90 today.
Superba II
On the Superba II, the key touches were a smaller button inset within a brass “cup”. Metal edges encircle the pearls.
The use of MOP increased on some models over time as we see MOP key touches replacing brass or plastic for the chromatic and high F# keys, as well as G# key. For the smaller horns MOP was often a standard finish for the octave lever. One thing is for certain however, Superba I horns with a black nickel plate and gold plated keys seem to have the most MOP keys.
This top-of-the-line H. Couf shown above ^ ^ , which would have been the most expensive model available from the company at the time, has 12 MOP key touches. This is still a far cry from the 22 that Hammerschmidt’s Klingsor Model A had in 1961. JK did offer horns with the same number of MOP keys, but that was way back in its Graslitz days, prior to the company’s move to [then] West Germany.
Springs
Piano wire springs
In this day and age of blued steel springs, I must say I was pleased to see that H. Couf horns came standard with piano wire springs—or so the brochure above said. When I had had my Olds Super tenor re-built, my tech used piano wire for the springs. (His idea.) I must admit, now that I’ve had a horn sprung with piano wire, I will never go back to blued steel. Why? The feel is so smooth and buttery, yet still the horn’s response is just as fast as my horns recently overhauled with blued steel. What it doesn’t have is that snappy feel you get from blued steel, and that is not something I personally miss.
In the fall of 2018, I bought what could honestly be described as a closet H. Couf bari. This Superba II spent most of its 50 years sitting in someone’s attic or basement. Everything on this horn is original, including the springs. The horn feels simply amazing to the touch, and its response is extraordinary. It is smoother in response than my Mark VI bari that was overhauled about a year before that with blue needle springs.
Blue needle springs
In spring 2021, I had the opportunity to buy another closet horn: a Couf Superba I bass. This bass is from 1983, and was a one-owner horn that belonged to a local pro who passed away in 2000. Although the rest of his gear—including 2 other bass saxes he used regularly—were long gone, this Couf and I seemed destined to end up together. According to his family, he had only used the horn at home, and only in public for a handful of TV appearances.
When I first play-tested it for the first time, I noticed immediately that it had blue needle springs. Why? Don’t know. Perhaps JK used blue needle springs on all their basses? Whatever the case, regardless of what the brochure says, Superba I bass # 87xxx has blue needle springs new from the factory.
Finish options for H. Couf saxophones
For the most part, the H. Couf horns came in the same finish options as their JK cousins. That said, as shown in the chart above, the notable exception was Couf’s student horn line, The Royalist, which was only available in Gold lacquer. I will keep looking and update this page accordingly, but to date I have not seen any of the supposed black nickel plated horns with gold lacquer keys that Gerhard Keilwerth mentioned to Uwe Ladwig.
Gold lacquer
By far and away the most common finish we see H. Couf horns in.
Gold plated
This is not a common finish, and one that is very hard to distinguish from lacquer in photos. When buying online, one way you can often tell is by the wear pattern. I’ve tried to enclose a few shots here to show you how the gold plate wears. It is indeed different to how lacquer wears.
Silver plated
Strangely enough tenor # 65988 ^ ^ is the only silver plated Couf I have come across in all my years of cataloguing the brand. Either I just haven’t seen them come up for sale, or there really weren’t that many compared to gold plate, or even the Black Gold.
Black Gold
Finish damage & protection
One thing that all H. Couf saxes appear to be prone to—regardless of what finish they have—is some damage to their finish. Furthermore, depending on where you live, what your body’s chemical composition is, or what you choose to eat or drink before or during the time you play, that damage can take on either a red or green colour. Meaning, you might either see spots of red rot, or less commonly verdigris, on the surface of the horn.
I’m not sure why we seemingly see this more on Couf horns than on other German brands, but both of my closet Coufs—in very different finishes—both have just a touch of red rot on their surfaces. My Black Gold bari has just a touch of red rot on its unblemished surface. While my lacquer Superba I bass, that had even less use than the bari when I first got it, had some red rot on the bell. Go figure.
To reduce any chances of this surface damage spreading, I make a point of draining and drying my horns really well, and wiping off any moisture on the surface when out at rehearsal and performances—especially important to get the spit valve drainage in-between tunes—and then taking them out and placing them in their stands to airdry overnight.
5 Saxophone: Ein Kompendium, Uwe Ladwig. Second Edition, 2012. p. 61
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