Elkhart Saxophone Serial Numbers

. Numbers

Woodwind Serial Number Link List

AKUSTIK	Saxophones
ALEXANDRE (SELMER)	Clarinets	See also (serial number drop-down menu)
AMERICAN STANDARD	All Woodwinds
WT ARMSTRONG
ARTLEY	Flutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets See Also
B&S	Saxophones Research Link
E BEAUGNIER (see also Vito and Leblanc)	Saxophones	Note
F BESSON	All Instruments See Also
BOOSEY AND HAWKES	Note
BUESCHER	Note
Saxophones
EVETTE & SCHAEFFER, BUFFET-CRAMPON S.A.	Clarinets OboesSee also Saxophones	Note
BUNDY (incl. SIGNET)	Note
CANNONBALL SAXOPHONES	Saxophones
CLEVELAND MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS	All Woodwinds
CG CONN	Professional Saxophones
COUESNON	For all instruments prior to appx. 1937, there is a grenade fruit with a number inside it stamped on the horn. That number is the year of manufacture.
CUNDY - BETTONEY	Flutes, Piccolos, and Clarinets
Henry DISTIN	All Instruments
DOLNET	Saxophones
Peter EATON
FOX	Double-Reeds
IDA MARIA GRASSI	Saxophones See Also
Wm. S. HAYNES	Flutes and Piccolos
Wilhelm HECKEL	Bassoons
HAMMERSCHMIDT	Saxophones
HOHNER	Saxophones
Frank HOLTON	Saxophones
JUPITER	All Instruments
Brua C. KEEFER	Saxophones and Clarinets	Note
Julius KEILWERTH (and H-COUF)	Saxophones	Note
KING (HN WHITE)
KOHLERT	All Instruments	Note
LA SAX	All Instruments
A. LAUBIN	Double-Reeds
G. LEBLANC	Note
LINTON	Oboes and Bassoons
F. LORÉE (CABART)	Double-Reeds
Louis LOT	Flutes
Robert MALERNE
MARIGAUX (see also SML)	Double Reeds See Also
MARTIN BAND INSTRUMENT COMPANY	Saxophones See Also
MARTIN FRERES	Clarinets See also
MONANZI	Flutes
NOBLET
NORMANDY	Clarinets
FE OLDS	All Instruments
L. PIERRET	Saxophones See Also
Verne Q. POWELL	Flutes
G. PRUEFER	Clarinets
PUCHNER	All Instruments
FA REYNOLDS	All Instruments
RIGOUTAT	Double-Reeds
Luis ROSSI	Clarinets
RUDALL & ROSE	Flutes
A. SAX	All Instruments See Also
SELMER (PARIS)	Clarinets Saxophones
SELMER (UK/London)	Clarinets
SELMER (USA)	Clarinets
SML (Strasser-Marigaux-Lemaire)	Saxophones (PDF) See Also	Note
VITO	Saxophones	Note
WELTKLANG
YAMAHA	Saxophones	Note
YANAGISAWA	Saxophones
JW YORK	Saxophones See Also

Notes

Beaugnier:

If you decided to play around with the serial numbers on http://www.doctorsax.biz/beaugnier_ser_nos.htm, note that he doesn't differentiate between the Leblanc System (two/three versions), Rationale (whichever spelling you wish) and Semi Rationale (two versions).

Boosey and Hawkes:

1. Boosey and Hawkes is a combination of the Boosey company and the Hawkes company. Hawkes produced their own instruments, for a time, and combined with Boosey in the 1930s. Boosey and Hawkes have been, since that time, sheet music producers and importers.

2. A lot of the saxophones stamped 'Boosey and Hawkes' are stencil instruments. To read more about stencils, please read my article HERE.

Keefer:

The vast majority of saxophones stamped 'Keefer' are stencils.

Buescher:

Horns stamped 'The Buescher Band Instrument Company' from the 1920's are stencils, as are the modern BU-series of horns available from Selmer, and follow different serial number charts.

Buffet-Crampon:

1. A small, but significant, percentage of all Buffet and/or Evette-Schaeffer woodwinds in the 1900-1930 range (or so) were Conn stencils and do not have Buffet serial numbers. In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number.

2. The modern Buffet 400 (and similar) are Asian-made and do not follow these serial number charts.

Bundy:

1. The Bundy in question here is from approximately 1950 to date. Earlier horns were a mixture of Conn and Buescher stencils.

2. For a brief time, Bundy and Bundy Special saxophones were available from Keilwerth and Dörfler & Jörka, are stamped 'Made in Germany' and do not have a Bundy serial number.

Julius Keilwerth:

Except for the ST-90 I and EX-90 I and II, the ST-90 and EX-90 were not made by Keilwerth and probably do not have Keilwerth serial numbers. For a chart of those models, see THIS.

Kohlert:

The modern Kohlert instruments are made in China or Taiwan. Their serial number format is completely different. The serial numbers listed here are for the German/Czech made instruments.

LeBlanc:

Leblanc does not give out serial number charts. If you ask them, EXCESSIVELY NICELY, about a serial number off a horn you own, they might tell you when it was made.

SML:

1. The SML A400/T400 are Asian-made stencils not made under the authority of SML and are not included in this chart.

2. Some very early SML saxophones were stencils. There are also occasional late-model stencils. For further info, click HERE.

Vito:

Vito saxophones have been made by Vito (Wisconsin), Beaugnier, Leblanc, Yamaha, Jupiter and Yanagisawa. Keep this in mind when attempting to date your instrument.

Yamaha:

These serial numbers are probably only for the Vito labeled YAS-21/23/25 stencils. However, these serials might apply to all Yamsaha instruments.

The standard info on Yamaha serial numbers is that they are not sequential and you need to contact Yamaha directly for information.

Manufacturers, Models, And Serial Numbers

I'm always looking for more info for this chart. If you have any, please drop me a line at thesaxinfo@gmail.com.

Conn is one of the oldest instrument manufacturers in the United States and first tried its hand at saxophone production in 1888 in Elkhart, Indiana. The Conn New Wonder, introduced in the 1920s, was the brand’s first model of note and was unofficially dubbed “the Chu Berry” after tenor saxophonist Leon ‘Chu’ Berry. Once you have located the saxophone's serial number on the chart, you can locate its corresponding model name and manufacturing year by looking at the respective chart columns. View the manufacturing date ranges on serial numbers for many of our legendary brands. I have an old Elkhart sax. Only lettering on it I can see is 57846 LP on the back. Serial Number: Year Manufactured: Model Introduced: True Tone A fire at the Elkhart, IN Buescher plant in 1903 destroyed all prior records. The serial number is 69,xxx. I believe this was manufactured in the early 1950's. 'Elkhart' was Buescher's 'second line' or intermediate level, offering. The bell features engraving of an elk's head inside the shape of a heart, a play on the model name/location of manufacture (Elkhart, Indiana). In the 1990's, Keilwerth stenciled a saxophone for Buffet called the 'Expression' and that model has a Keilwerth serial number. A vintage buescher elkhart alto saxophone- serial# 71007 20a. The saxophone is a lacquer gold tone color with mother of pearl keys.