| Catalogue from 1961 | Finish options | Engraving styles | Neck styles | Neck issues on some horns | «Back to page 2 |
Hammerschmidt Klingson catalogue No. VIII from 1961 3
Before we go too much farther down the features list for Klingsor/n saxophones, it is worth it to (re)visit the vintage catalogue that lists the entire Hammerschmidt lines from 1961. Although I am only going to discuss the saxophones here, the catalogue in its entirety is available to view on Bassic Sax Pix.
Since this is in German, I will translate the salient sections for you below. I am only going as far down the page as finishes. If you want to know about their cases, case covers, MPs, reeds, and other accessories, you’ll need to use a translation program of your choosing if you can’t read it. 
And translated into English it says:
Version A: range from low B to high F, newly constructed, patented, triple automatic octave key, version A – which ensures an easy response of the middle octave from D to G. Solid construction and beautiful design; light, comfortable fingering; wonderful sonority; drawn, rolled tone holes; seamless body; key guards made of plexiglass or metal; first-class material. Special high (front) F mechanism; Bb, C and D trill keys; double Bb for the right and left index fingers; plate* for a new Bb; new, articulated G# key; G#-G trill key; chromatic F# key; easy linkage of G# with all other notes; fork Eb key for the right middle finger; 8 rollers; 22 mother-of-pearl inlays; protective bracket for Bb-Bb and D# key; needle springs made of the finest steel wire; flawless ringed pads with moisture protection; rubber mouthpiece; neck strap; mute, swab and screwdriver.
53 Eb alto 54 Bb tenor
Version B: like version A, but without double E-flat key for right middle finger and D trill, 9 mother-of-pearl inlays
55 Eb alto 56 Bb tenor
Version C: like version B, but without high F mechanism and G-G# trill, 7 mother-of-pearl inlays
57 Eb alto 58 Bb tenor
surcharge for high F#
surcharge for microtuner
a) gold lacquer
b) nickel plated, or gold lacquered, with nickel plated keys
c) quadruple half-matt silver plated, gold plate inner bell, engraving burnished
d) quadruple sand-matt silver plated, gold plated inner bell engraving burnished
* The term “Platte” is a real mystery. I have no idea what they are referring to. It means plate. I have carefully looked at the Hammerschmidt’s design for the Bb keys, but can’t find anything involving a plate, disc, or sheet. I also spoke to Dave Gsponer, owner of Matterhorn Music, who is a Swiss national from the German part of Switzerland. He couldn’t figure it out either. If anyone reading this can ever tell me, please let me know. Thank you.
Hammerschmidt Klingsor/n finish options
As the brochure noted above, in 1961 there were 5 finish options available. Let’s take a quick look at what these look like.
Gold lacquer
Klingsor alto #01919
Nickel plated
Klingsor tenor #04345
Two tone – gold lacquer with nickel plated keys
Lafluer alto #033xx
Half-matt silver plated with gold plated bell
Klingsor alto #04756
Sand-matt silver plated with gold plated bell
Klingsor tenor 01236
Engraving styles
While pouring through literally thousands of Hammerschmidt saxophone photos for this massive update, I learned A LOT about their various features, including their cosmetic things like engraving. Here I am really going to focus mainly on the main styles of engraving that appeared on the Klingsor/n horns, and not on the stencils they made for other companies. If I do mention a stencil, it is because the Hammerschmidt name or logo appears in the engraving.
Klingson
To date I have catalogued 5 different Klingson engravings.
Klingsor
To date I have catalogued 7 different Klingsor engravings.
Notable stencils
The stencil engraving on these horns is interesting because they break from the norms.
1. Alto #032 is one of the first saxes built by Hammerschmidt. The reason it is listed in the stencil list is that the name Josef Hammerschmidt & Söhne appears on the bell. In all the research I have done on the Hammerschmidt brand, the name Joseph is not one that is listed anywhere. Furthermore, Neustadt, Aisch is located in a different part of Bavaria than Burgau is—where Karl Hammerschmidt & Söhne was located.
So who was this Josef Hammerschmidt and his sons whose name was engraved on the bell? How was he related to the rest of the Hammerschmidt family of instrument-making fame? No clue. Yet again the word enigma pops up. In nearly 20 years of researching the brand, it is worth noting this is the only Josef to ever appear in relation to musical instruments.
2. The second stencil is interesting because of all the Silvertone stencils that Hammerschmidt made for Sears that I have seen, all had the conventional Silvertone engraving on them that Sears ordered from all companies from Buescher to Keilwerth—except for this one horn. Tenor #01xx features almost all the regular Silvertone engraving, except the company put their logo on the bell as well. (Wonder how that went over at Sears when it arrived at the distribution centre? 😉 )
3. The third stencil is a great example of a Version A with all the bells and whistles sans a high F# and microtuner neck. The ordering company spared almost no expense, but couldn’t escape Hammerschmidt’s hammer. 😉
Neck styles
By reviewing literally thousands of Hammerschmidt saxophone images I have collected over the past 20 years, I found that the company’s neck design changed: A LOT.
Now before we go down the rabbit hole of how the company changed the way the necks were made, and how that impacted on the intonation of some of the Hammerschmidt-made saxophones, let’s just look at the obvious, external differences of these various necks.
In total I identified 7 different styles of Hammerschmidt necks.
- Plain brace with old style ring
- Plain brace with ridge and old style ring
- Man in the moon brace with old style ring
- Fin brace with modern style octave key
- Fin brace with old-style ring
- Fin brace with old-style ring and microtuner
- Plain brace with ridge and more modern octave key
- Ornate brace with ridge and more modern octave key
A few notes about these neck types
- In the photos people provide it is very hard to determine the difference between Type 1 and 1a necks. Honestly, I wasn’t even sure that there was a Type 1a (plain brace with a ridge and old style ring) until I saw some recent, high resolution photos of the earliest Hammerschmidt-made horns. Therefore, I am not at all sure that I ID’d the necks correctly on the very old photos I have, or the photos I have from people who provided poor quality shots in their online auctions/requests for info, etc.
- It needs to be remembered that these types refer to what can be seen, and are not necessarily related to any changes that the company made to its neck design. EG: changes that could only be seen when multiple necks are examined in person, and when both their external, as well as internal measurements are collected. In other words, just because a horn has a Type 6 neck doesn’t necessarily make it bad.
Yes, some Hammerschmidt-made saxophones just have bad necks
And now we get to area of Hammerschmidt saxophones that I do personally not like, and that has raised the ire of a number of people over the years. Why? I don’t know. Maybe because they are worried that the horns they’re selling are suddenly going to be undervalued, or won’t sell at all? But quite honestly that’s not my problem. I just write what I find in my research, and what I discover through my own experiences.
In the case of Hammerschmidt intonation, I have personally owned a tenor with bad intonation, and then discovered what the cause was through research—sadly after the fact—with my German, saxophone historian colleague, Uwe Ladwig.
In his book, Saxofone: Ein Kompendium, Uwe writes the following in German. (I’ve translated it for you below.)
The altos and tenors are not always very accurate in intonation, due to a design flaw in the neck: it was copied from an old neck made of soldered brass sheet. However, the new Hammerschmidt neck was manufactured from brass tubing that was hydraulically inflated. This meant that the external dimensions corresponded to the older model, but the internal dimensions were incorrect because the material was thick on the mouthpiece side, and thin on the socket side.
Source: Saxofone: Ein Kompendium, 5th edition, p. 177.
What does one of these necks look like? This is my former Klingsor tenor #043XX. It doesn’t look like there is anything wrong with the neck. And there in lies the problem. Even a tech specializing in vintage horns can’t spot the difference from looking at the outside.
This horn was so out of tune that after having spent hundreds of $$ trying to get it fixed—and then out of desperation reaching out to Uwe and finding out that its cause was the neck—I left it sitting in its case for years. I finally traded it along with a number of other horns to a dealer who yes, knew its story, when I bought a vintage horn horn I had coveted for years.
When did Hammerschmidt change their neck construction
I don’t know when Hammerschmidt changed from soldered sheet brass necks, to hydraulically formed ones. I do know that over the years I have received multiple emails from people who ended up buying horns with tuning problems who all say the same thing: I wish I had Googled Hammerschmidt tuning before I bought.
The other thing to remember is that the Type 6 neck is one we see over a huge chunk of their production run, so it would be unfair to paint all Type 6 necks with the same brush. I know mine was stock with my 043XX horn. Unfortunately since the other Klingsor tenor (035XX) I got at the same time didn’t come with a neck, I couldn’t compare the two, and it’s not like there are a lot of these floating around that you can compare necks.
I am wondering if there is a way to visually see in the older necks, (a seam line on the inside ?) that would give us a clue type of neck we’re dealing with: soldered brass sheet, vs. hydraulically formed.
I have noticed people selling their Hammerschmidt-made horns with non-original necks. Most recently I saw alto 0447x with a Yamaha replacement neck, while tenor 033xx was sporting a JK replacement neck when it was up for sale last.
The takeaway from all this neck hoopla is really this: when it comes to Hammerschmidt necks their are no absolutes. Like all vintage horns these instruments changed quite a bit during their approx. 30 year production run. The phrase: caveat emptor needs to guide your purchase of this brand, as should: try before you buy. Otherwise you run the risk of getting yourself a piece of wall art, which is fine if you know ahead of time that’s what you’re perhaps doing.
3 By 1969 Hammerschmidt had made some changes to their saxophone lineup. According to a catalogue page that Uwe Ladwig published in his book, Saxophone: Ein Kompendium, they added the Keilwerth-made soprano and baritone (both low Bb and A) to their lineup, but dropped the sand-matt silver plated finish option for their horns. Although they kept the high F# as an add-on, the company also dropped the microtuner by 1969 as well.
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