SELMER H. Selmer Signature stencil (1900-1910)

While its not known exactly when Henri Selmer first started into the saxophone business, its likely that the first saxophones bearing the H. Selmer name were produced around the time of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair - Louisiana Purchase Exposition. According to written recollections from George Bundy, these first Selmer saxophones were manufactured in collaboration with Adolphe Sax Jr. (Adolphe Edouard Sax 1859-1945). They were produced as stencil horns by Sax at his 51 Rue Blanche factory in Paris. This factory was in operation from 1895-1907 after which Adolphe Sax Jr. relocated his factory to 84 Rue Myra in Paris. 

Side-by-side comparisons of these early Sax stenciled Selmer Paris saxophones show them to be identical to the instruments that Adolphe Sax Jr. was making around the turn of the century, not similar, but identical. From the key guards to the bell-body brace, the only thing that differentiated these early Selmer Paris stencils from a pre-1907 Adolphe Sax was the stamping on the bell.

They were only keyed down to low B. They still had the antiquated double octave mechanism. There were no rollers of any kind and the key touches were all metal. In fact, there are only 2 major improvements these saxes had over that of the original Adolphe Sax design. First, the upper and lower stacks were each hindged on a single rod. This alligned the stack posts allowing them to be attached by rib construction as opposed to being soldered directly to the body tube. Second, these saxes were equipped with three side keys due to the addition of the side C key.

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While its not known exactly when Henri Selmer first started into the saxophone business, its likely that the first saxophones bearing the H. Selmer name were produced around the time of the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair - Louisiana Purchase Exposition. According to written recollections from Geo...   [more]

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