Superba 2/II Alto
Unlike the Superba I, the Superba II alto is not as linear in its design progression. I have found its features a bit more confusing to track, which is made more difficult by the smaller sample size compared to the Superba I. For this reason I consider this model’s description more a work in progress, and will be updated as I find more examples in the future.
That said, to date I have found that the Superba II alto has 4 phases based on important visual characteristics. These 4 phases are described and illustrated below. Additionally however, there are also some features that the Superba II had over its entire 20+ year production cycle at Keilwerth. Those will be illustrated first.
Features common over the entire production run
- Black plastic left thumb rest
- Post to body construction
- Lyre holder attached on the left side beside the F3 key
- Bow to bell connected directly (no connecting ring)
- Bow to body connected directly (no connecting ring)
- Fixed metal right thumb rest (*see below)
- Strap ring a simple metal ring
- Drawn & straight tone holes (*see below)
- Hand engraving on bell only
What is the significance of Arabic number 2 vs the Roman numeral II in the engraving?
Like on the Superba I, I was wondering why some alto bells were engraved Superba 2 while others were engraved Superba II. Much like their Superba 1 cousins, the Superba 2 engraving is seen on the earlier models of horns. Interestingly enough, on both models the Arabic versions of 1 and 2 vanished during the 76XXX serial number set of horns.
Without someone from JK’s former sax department chiming in for an answer to that question, I suspect we will never know for certain why the two different engraving numbers existed. However, after researching the H. Couf brand for more than a decade I have come to the conclusion that there likely wasn’t any significance.
Why did the engraving ultimately switch from 2 to II? I have a couple of theories, but theories are not proof. Ultimately it may well have came down to a decision by H. Couf himself—who was very involved in virtually all aspects of the horns that bore is name.
Phase 1* – features
- Black plastic G# key touch
- Single round metal bar as bell to body support brace
- Lucite clothes guard
- Old-school JK-shaped right pinkie keys
- Low C key has a bend in its arm
- High F# key shaped & located where it was on the JK Toneking
- Chromatic F# key located on the side of the body. Shaped like those on the JK horns
- G# trill key
- Rolled tone holes
- Latest (only) serial # seen to date: 56462
* Due to the extremely small sample size seen to date I cannot say with 100% certainty that all these features will be present on all Phase 1 horns. It is possible that a number of features—such as the trill G# key and rolled tone holes—were extras, and particular to alto #56462.
Given its very early serial it is possible that this was a Superba I body tube, hence its rolled tone holes. But this is pure speculation on my part at this point.
Defining features for Phase 1 alto
Other than the serial number indicating one of the first years of H. Couf production, there appear to be two features that indicate we are seeing the first iteration of the H. Couf Superba II alto:
- The Lucite pant guard seen on JK saxophones.
- The shape & location of the chromatic F# key is identical to what we saw in the Toneking & The New King Keilwerth saxophones.
Superba II # 56462
Phase 2 – features
- Black plastic G# key touch
- Single round metal bar as bell to body support brace
- Metal clothes guard
- Old-school JK-shaped right pinkie keys
- Low C key has a bend in its arm
- High F# key shaped & located where it was on the JK Toneking
- Chromatic F# MOP button key with tone hole on the side of the body
- Drawn & straight tone holes
- Latest (only) serial # seen to date: 67475
Defining features for Phase 2 alto
There appear to be three features that indicate we are seeing the second incarnation of the H. Couf Superba II alto:
- The pant guard is now metal.
- The chromatic F# key has changed shape and is now a round MOP button, but still located on the side of the body tube.
- Straight tone holes, which is from this point on the norm on this model.
Superba II #67475
Phase 3 – features
- Black plastic G# key touch
- Single round metal bar shaped to fit around hinge tubes as bell to body support brace
- Metal clothes guard
- Rounder right pinkie keys
- The low C key arm is almost straight. (Loses its bend like seen in the Superba I altos)
- High F# key shaped & located where it was on the JK Toneking
- Chromatic F# MOP button key with tone hole on the side of the body
- Serial #’s seen to date: 72917-76109
Defining features for Phase 3 alto
With the Phase 3 Superba II we are seeing a clear evolution of the model. Here are the features that make it obvious we are seeing the third version of the Superba II:
- The bell to body brace becomes a single round metal rod that is shape around the hinge tubes. (First 2 images)
- The right pinkie lose their old-school JK shape and take on the same rounder shape seen in Superba I. (Second 2 images)
- The low C key arm is almost straight. (Second 2 images)
Superba II # 75034
Phase 4 – features
- MOP G# key
- Single round metal bar shaped to fit around hinge tubes as bell to body support brace
- Metal clothes guard
- Rounder right pinkie keys
- High F# is a semi-oval MOP key
- Chromatic F# is on the back of the body and is a MOP button key
- Serial #’s seen to date: 79923 – 82516
Defining features for Phase 4 alto
Unlike the Superba I, the Phase 4 Superba II had a some important of new features added to it.
So what was so different in the last JK-made iteration of the Superba II? Three features found in the Phase 3 Superba I models:
- The G# key now had a MOP key touch.
- The high F# key became a semi-oval MOP.
- The chromatic F# was moved to the back of the body tube and was operated with a MOP button key.
Superba II # 81306
An interesting exception to a number of features worth a separate look
I have now seen two Superba II altos that have the 2 important elements of the Phase 4’s design—the semi-oval high F# key and the relocated chromatic F# & new key shape—but still have the black plastic G# key touch from the Phase 3 horns. However, note the right thumb rest. These are the only Superba II I have seen with a fixed black plastic rest that appears identical to those we see in the Superba I models.
Both of these altos are in the same serial range, and neither show evidence of these stock Couf thumb rests being added by a tech post-sale. How these two, Superba II ended up with a Superba I right thumb rest is really a mystery—a mystery that is an enigma as the other oddities we come across in H. Couf horns.
Superba II Serial # 7XXXX
Superba II serial # 79XXX
NB: Of course there have to be exceptions.
- The exception is very early alto # 56452. It has rolled tone holes, as well as other features you would find in the Superba I, and JK horns of the time.
Many thanks go to the following people:
I want to acknowledge the incredible work done by Steve Sklar. Steve has been researching and writing about H. Couf saxophones for years before I came along. By generously allowing me to springboard off his materials, Steve has saved me countless of hours.
Thank you Steve. You are a great colleague, and I very much appreciate and enjoy our work together on the Woodwind Forum!
I also want to thank Brian at Get A Sax, Roberto from Robertos Winds, Mark from USA Horn, as well as Chadd from World Wide Sax, for allowing me to use their images throughout all these H. Couf saxophone pages. Beautiful images are vital to illustrating the beautiful horns that Herb Couf helped the Julius Keilwerth Company design.
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