Vintage Silver Conn Chu Soprano Saxophone w Selmer Case
| Start Price |
USD 1,500.00 |
| Current Price |
USD 1,500.00 |
| Time Left |
- |
| Bid Count |
0 |
| Buy It Now Price |
USD 1,500.00 |
| Reserve Price |
- |
| Start Time |
Monday, September 01, 2008 |
| End Time |
Monday, September 08, 2008 |
| Location |
Edinburg |
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See more about 'Vintage Silver Conn Chu Soprano Saxophone w Selmer Case'
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Description
Vintage Silver Conn Chu Soprano Saxophone w Selmer Case! Up for bid is a Conn straight soprano B flat saxophone with black Selmer case! This was sold between 1921 and 1922 with the serial number M179048. The instrument reads "Patd. Dec. 8, 1914 1119954", then it has a letter "S" and the number "M179048", and then a letter "L" below this. The present owner purchased this in 1981 after a skilled local repairman re-plated and replaced its pads, corks, and springs. The current owner has done very little playing on this instrument and has taken very good care of it. Saxophone has a wonderful satin silver finish with contrasting bright silver keys. This also features lovely finger pearl buttons and fancy engraving around the bell. Please note this does not come with the Selmer mouthpiece that it is pictured with. Please read below for a detailed list of what is included in the auction and a complete description of the item condition. We are also open to reasonable offers on this instrument, please contact us if interested. Comes with the following: * Hard Black Selmer Case with soft interior (2 keys for locking) * Vintage Conn Straight Soprano Saxophone * Black Silk Swab with Weight (for cleaning) Condition: Excellent-this is free of any dents, and the pads, springs, and corks are in great shape; this has a few minor marks and scratches from handling, and some very minor wear to the rod connected to the low B flat key (see photos 12 and 13) . 321010-10.5z A History of C.G. Conn, Ltd.: In 1915 all of Colonel Conn's holdings were bought by a group of investors led by Carl Dimond Greenleaf (b. Wauseon, Ohio 27 July 1876; d. Elkhart, Indiana 10 July 1959). Conn met Greenleaf during his years in Washington, D.C., and invested in some grain mills in Ohio which Greenleaf owned. Initially Conn held onto ownership of The Truth, but a few months after the sale of his other holdings, Conn sold The Truth to Greenleaf and to a local entrepreneur Andrew Hubble Beardsley. Greenleaf incorporated his new holdings under the name C.G. Conn Ltd. and retained the Conn trademark on his musical instruments. The sale was detrimental to Colonel Conn's marriage. They divorced, and Mrs. Conn was allowed to retain a house in Elkhart in which she lived until her death in 1924. Colonel Conn meanwhile was allowed to keep his home in Los Angeles. He spent virtually the remainder of his life there and only returned to Elkhart once in 1926 to visit his sister. He remarried to a very young woman while in California, and she bore him a son twelve years before his death in 1931. Once a very wealthy and influential man, he died almost penniless. His estate didn't have enough money in it to afford a grave marker, and a hat was passed around the horn factory to collect enough money to buy one. Carl Greenleaf was president of Conn from 1915 to 1949. He was an astute businessman, yet he was also very sensitive to the market trends of the industry. While president, Greenleaf was noting the gradual extinction of the small town brass band, and also the big touring bands such as the Sousa band were also in decline. He knew that in order for the industry to survive, band programs had to be promoted in schools and colleges. He succeeded to develop a close relationship and communications between the industry and music educators. With the help of educators such as Joseph Maddy and T.P. Giddings, they helped introduce band music into the schools. Greenleaf organized the first national band contest in 1923 and helped make possible the founding of the National Music Camp at Interlochen, Michigan. In 1928 he founded a Conn National School of Music which trained hundreds of school band directors. The whole industry blossomed because of his foresight, and we must credit Greenleaf for being the prime initiator of the development of the instrumental programs in our schools and communities we now enjoy. Greenleaf expanded, upgraded and retooled the plant, and he converted the company from a mail-order business to one operated through retail dealers. By 1917 the assembly-line work force had increased to 550 employees who were turning out about 2500 instruments a month using a new hydraulic expansion process which Greenleaf introduced to the plant. In the 1920s Conn was producing a complete line of saxophones. In this area they had stiff competition by other big saxophone makers such as Buescher and Martin. In the late 1920s Conn attempted to introduce a mezzo-soprano saxophone in the key of F and the 'Conn-o-sax', a saxophone-English horn hybrid, to capture more of the saxophone market, but these instruments were soon discontinued after flagging sales. Around 1919 Conn introduced the first drawn and rolled tone holes (after a patent by W.S. Haynes in 1914) eliminating the necessity of soft-soldering tone hole platforms onto the bodies of the instruments. In 1928 Conn opened its Experimental Laboratory which was unique in the industry. It was under the direction of C.D.'s son Leland Burleigh Greenleaf (b Wauseon OH 12 Aug 1904; d Leland MI 29 March 1978), and under his directorship, the department developed the first short action piston valves (1934), and the 'Stroboconn' (1936), the first electronic visual tuning device. The 'Vocabell' (1932) was a bell with no rim to optimise the sound. It also developed the 'Coprion' bell (1934), a seamless copper bell formed by directly electroplating it onto a mandrel. During the 1920s Conn owned the Elkhart Band Instrument Company (1923-7), the Leedy Company (1927-55), a manufacturer of percussion, 49.9% of the stock of H. & A. Selmer (1923-7), and two subsidiaries, the Continental Music Company and the Pan American Music Company. Despite the stock market crash of 1929, Conn purchased several companies (1929-30) including Ludwig and Ludwig, a maker of percussion, and Carl Fischer and Soprani, makers of accordions. From 1940 to 1950 they owned the Haddorff Piano Company, and from 1941-2 the Straube Piano Company. During the war period from 1942 to 1946, Conn ceased all production of musical instruments for civilian use to manufacture parts for the government. The resulting loss of sales and the delayed conversion of the plant in 1946 caused a serious decline in Conn's status as a major band instrument manufacturer. In contrast to this, the Division of Research, Development and Design, under the directorship of Earle Kent (b Adrian TX 22 May 1910; d Elkhart 12 Jan 1994) continued to be a major force in industry technology. They developed the 'Connsonata' electric organ (1946; later known as the Conn organ), the 'Connstellation' line of brass instruments (mid-1950s), and the first fibreglass sousaphone (1960). During this time Conn liquidated several of its subsidies including the Leedy and Ludwig Drum division (1949-55), and the New Berlin Instrument Company (1954-61)of New Berlin, New York which produced Conn's clarinets, oboes and bassoons. Carl Greenleaf retired in 1949 but remained a member of the board of directors until his death in 1959. He was eventually succeeded by his son Lee Greenleaf, mentioned previously, who had joined Conn in 1928 as an assistant engineer. He was company treasurer in 1953, vice-president in 1955, president (1958-69), and chairman of the board (1967-9). During his tenure Conn bought the Artley Company (1959), a manufacturer of flutes, the Janssen Piano Company (1964), and the Scherl & Roth Company (1964), a manufacturer of stringed instruments. We rate our items on these general guidelines: NWT / NIB - brand new with tags/box/sealed. Working condition. NEW / Mint - new without tags/open box. Working condition. Excellent - some minor wear. Working condition. Very Good - more wear. Working condition. Good - more wear and missing a part and/or not in the best working condition. Poor - extreme wear, broken, missing parts, for spare parts or nostalgia. Keep in mind that these are general guidelines. Please see scans/pictures for details and read descriptions carefully. Remember, all sales are final unless something was misrepresented. All returns must be delivered to us within 14 days from the end of the auction. Payments are due within 7 days after the end of the auction. Not responsible for lost or damaged goods (during shipping); insurance is required on fragile items. Delivery confirmation is included in shipping cost. Only serious bidders, please! We only accept Paypal, personal checks and money orders in US funds. Most items are shipped via United States Postal Service (USPS); other carriers will be provided for heavier items. If you have any other questions please feel free to email us. Good luck!
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