Forum of the Saxes

EdMuse · Posted: Sun Dec 11, 2005 12:53 pm Post subject: Horace

Good day, folks:

I'm new here, and don't actually play the sax (yet...I'm a singer and
conductor and teach at a Massachusetts state college). I have,
however, come into possession of an old Horace alto sax. It looks to
be complete, but is completely dismantled, and has no pads. I'm
looking for information on it, if anyone has any, or knows where I can
find some. Funny thing is that nearly all I can find on the web about
Horace saxophones are forum postings from other people saying "I just
got a Horace Saxophone which is completely stripped, and would like
some information about it."

It has no information on the body of the instrument other than the
word Horace and Reg. US Pat. Off. in the middle of some nice etching
on the bell, and the serial number 4801 on the back. It seems to be,
perhaps, nickel or silver plated, with a matte finish everywhere but
in the etching, where the metal is polished. The inside of the bell
is brass PLATED, all I can make of the metal the instrument is made of
is that it might be a brass with an extremely low copper content, so
basically almost pure tin, though there is some green tarnish on the
inside, indicating some copper in the alloy. It has some grey tarnish
on the outside of the instrument, but not as much as I would expect if
it were silver.

Beyond that, I got nothing. As I mentioned, it seems to have all of
its hardware, but no pads. It has no dents or dings whatsoever, and
I'm currently thinking that, as I can't imagine its being worth much
(I actually found a similar horn for sale on the web for $499, less
than it would cost to have this one professionally restored), It might
be a neat educational project for me trying to put it back together
myself.

-EdM.

aladonis · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

hey edm. i have a horace sax too. i don't exactly know where it's from or anything, i just inherited it from my father that played it back in the late 60's. and i talked to him about the age of the horn, and he didn't know for sure, but he told me that it was an old horn when he bought it from a yard sale around 1967. so i was thinking that it must be around the age of 80-100.

as for the horn, my is fully assembled and works completely except for the higher octave that comes out lower. but this would be fixed with a simple cork job. if i recall correctly, i had it redone in the summer of 2002. i do believe that my serial number is 5409, and it has all of the engraving on the bell as you described. also, i think it is nickel or silver plated with copper inside.

if you have any additional information, please contact me.

much thanks,
AcL

EdMuse · Posted: Sat Dec 15, 2007 12:10 pm Post subject:

Hey, wow! I had almost forgotten I had posted this topic. Thanx for the reply, aladonis. Let me know, if you could -- does your Horace play at regular 440 pitch, or is it constructed to play to a different pitch standard, as I have heard some old saxes are? My understanding is that this is the "make-or-break" for whether or not to restore the instrument.

I've been meaning for a long time to take the pile o' parts I have to Rayburn's Music in Boston, and have it ID'd. There's this guy there, Emilio, who's the best. From what they told me, he would only have to look at a single key to identify the instrument. I'm not engaging in hyperbole, here -- aparently they keys are the "key" (pun wholeheartedly intended) to identifying the instrument.

I'll let you know what I find out, if I find out anything.

-EdM.

aladonis · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 3

i am not quite sure what pitch it plays at, and i have no idea what test or anything will tell me it.

i know that i have at least one original key on my saxophone.

thank you for the reply and thanks for the future information. also if you could tell me how to measure the pitch and what it should be, that would be very helpful in answering your question on pitch.

AcL