Saxophone Forum


by kgedde1
(1 post)
16 years ago

Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

I am working on a historiograp

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  1. by connsaxman_jim
    (2336 posts)

    16 years ago

    Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

    The bass saxophone that you are referring to is probably a Buescher stencil very similar to a True Tone bass, and was probably made sometime in the mid 1920's. Martin made just a few bass saxophones, mostly early handcraft models, and I don't think any were sold under the Lyon Healy name. I could be wrong. The bis type key that you are referring to is probably either a trill key, or an alternate fingering key. As for the palm keys, some earlier C Melody and Bass saxophones were only keyed to E, instead of F, and therefore had only two palm keys or spatula keys. There are basically three types of tone holes. The lip or edge of the tone hole, of course, makes contact with the pad to form a seal. The most common type of tone hole is a straight "drawn" or "extruded" tone hole. These tone holes are extruded or drawn from the material of the sax body & the tone hole itself is formed from the same piece of metal that comprises the body. It is the same thickness as the metal of the saxophone body. If your sax is a True Tone stencil as I suspect, it will have this type of tone hole. The second type is the rolled tone hole, which can be found on most Conn saxophones made from 1922 to 1947. Rolled tone holes are similar to drawn tone holes, except the the edge or lip of the tone hole is "rolled over" to increase the surface area that comes in contact with the pad. The third type is the beveled tone hole, also sometimes called a soldered tone hole. Holes are cut into the saxophone body, and a separate tone hole assembly is soldered into place. This was common on Martin saxophones and a few others.

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    1. by saxklang
      (3 posts)

      7 years ago

      Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

      I have a Lyon & Healy American Professional labeled bass built most likely by buescher looking at its construction
      It has been rebuilt from bottom up and plays great. Its quite early model probably as the keys are metal only with no pearl inserts

      Any other Lyon & Healy basses out there? Just curious   

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      1. by historicsaxwhisperer
        (644 posts)

        7 years ago

        Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

        I am a saxophone restorer/refurbisher, as a hobby for the past 20 years, and have never had the opportunity to work on or even play a nice vintage Bass saxophone. They are extremely rare especially the old vintage 90 year old examples.  My close friend and mentor Barry Wilson from Cybersax diligently restored a handful of them just prior to his stroke in 2007, which ended his restoring career. He died a year or so later of a heart attack.

        Barry felt he had reached a new level of saxophone restoration working on these massive horns. He always joked about the women from Ferre's Tools, a parts supplier, commenting on his new order of "Pancakes" whenever he ordered pads for these massive horns.

        His site is now owned by a new server operator. He had a few bass saxes  on his feature page when he finally stopped updating it in 2007.

        It use to be at www.cybersax.com, but you can probably still find it active if you google search for it. In any event, I am jealous every time I hear of someone that has one of these rare relics.

        Best Regards, and Play On!

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        1. by saxklang
          (3 posts)

          7 years ago

          Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy


          Thanks for your message and pleased to meet you.
          Here are pics of my L&H bass as I purchased it on ebay.
          this blog coincidently posted pictures.
          http://bassic-sax.info/blog/?p=12904

          There is a great instrument repairman in Sacramento at Tim's Music
          who took this project on.  BTW, I just took a break from practicing for a party gig tomorrow wher I will be playing 20's music. 

          Currently I am having a Holton Wiedoeft soprano restored.
          My other saxes are modern except for 30s Selmer BA alto which I treasure

          This will be my last investment as I do not need any more saxes..
          Where are you located? I also had an alto made by Dolnet (most likely with add octave key set up) that was restored this year in La Crosse, WI. It is from Tom Brown's (of Brown Brother fame) music store that was in business in Chicago in the 20's  


          Bob





           


           




           

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        2. by GFC
          (842 posts)

          7 years ago

          Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

          http://web.archive.org/web/20130807161606/http://www.cybersax.com/

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        3. by saxklang
          (3 posts)

          7 years ago

          Re: Bass Saxophone-Lyon Healy

          beautiful pics and bases  -great restoration work.

          My L&H just has original finish/patina but is mechanically and playing wise totally restored in excellent playing shape. 

          BTW, I use a very old Conn MP with original ligature and mouthpiece cap (which makes the biggest diference in the sound - ha!)  I also recently purchased an Andreas Kaling bass stand made in Germany which is fully articulated to make it ergo friendly sitting and standing up.  Expensive but well worth it for the back and sturdy support and confortable playing position using a stand. This, along with a Glen Cronkhite (original owner of Reunion Blues) bass gig bag I'm all set up. 

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