Model Evolution Timeline
Elkhart Saxophone Serial Numbers
by Steve Goodson DATES AND SERIAL NUMBERS ARE APPROXIMATE
Year | Serial Number | Comments |
1905 | 5,000 | All records prior to 1905 lost to factory fire in 1903…..first automatic (single) octave key….Pearl button G#…..black rollers |
1914 | 22,860 | “Union Label” engraving introduced |
1916 | 28,875 | Gus Buescher sells company to investors |
1919 | 46,975 | Gus Buescher resigns as company president |
1921 | 78,525 | Snap On Pad patented |
1923 | 125,750 | Soprano G# hinge changed…..sopranino loses dedicated G# key touch |
1925 | 175,235 | Front F key becomes standard….G# key touch becomes rectangle |
1926 | 203,350 | Buescher merges with the Elkhart Band Instrument Company…..LH pinky cluster changes to four roller format |
1928 | 235,350 | Straight alto and tipped bell (Bb and C) sopranos introduced…..! |
1932 | 264,025 | New Aristocrat model….split bell keys |
1935 | 269,000 | Aristocrat model…..LH bell keys……G# key engraved “Buescher”……yellow rollers…..Norton springs |
1936 | 272,896 | Brown rollers appear…..five roller format for LH Pinky cluster……Elkhart brand used on student instruments……. |
1941 | 294,120 | “Big B” bell engraving…….ribbon style keyguards…… |
1942 | 297,527 | 400 model…..underslung neck….silver tone ring….top hat and cane engraving….brown rollers…..bell keys on right rear of the bell |
1950 | 332,000 | “Aristocrat” engraving….G# trill key dropped |
1955 | 350,000 | Super 400 model…..nickel resonance ring…..yellow rollers……nickel plated keywork …..standard 400 loses underslung neck….. |
1956 | 352,000 | Bell keys to RH side on rear of bell……nickel plated keywork |
1957 | 358,000 | nickel plated keywork on 400 |
1963 | 381,000 | Selmer USA buys Buescher |
1965 | 408,818 | 400 bell keys to left side of bell….underslung neck….. |
1976 | 638,000 | white rollers |
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. Tenor Dolnet paris Frans 2 years ago. I have been able to date mine to 1959 base on my serial number 72291C in comparison to a Baritone with almost the same sequence sold in Italy. I was also able to date this as well due to the label on my sax case listing the name of a music store called Brocksteins that closed in 1968. The record is much less complete after 1936. Instruments manufactured after 1936 range in serial number from 1350-3600. The log book shows the serial numbers jumping around quite a bit for the Selmer/Adolphe Sax saxophones. Even so, its possible from this record to assemble a basic serial number chart for these instruments.
BUESCHER | |
Serial# | Year |
5000 | 1905 |
11250 | 1910 |
25103 | 1915 |
61255 | 1920 |
175275 | 1925 |
255250 | 1930 |
269000 | 1935 |
291000 | 1940 |
303000 | 1945 |
332000 | 1950 |
350000 | 1955 |
360000 | 1960 |
381000 | 1963 |
Bought out by Selmer | |
408818 | 1965 |
520000 | 1970 |
630000 | 1975 |
785000 | 1980 |
875000 | 1983 |
SELMER (PARIS) | |
Serial# | Year |
10000 | 1929 |
12000 | 1930 |
Cigar Cutter | |
14000 | 1931 |
17000 | 1932 |
18000 | 1933 |
19000 | 1934 |
20000 | 1935 |
Balanced Action | |
22000 | 1936 |
24000 | 1937 |
25000 | 1938 |
27000 | 1939 |
30000 | 1940 |
33000 | 1947 |
Super Balanced Action | |
35000 | 1948 |
37000 | 1949 |
40000 | 1950 |
43000 | 1951 |
Low A Baritone | |
46000 | 1952 |
50000 | 1953 |
52000 | 1954 |
Mark VI | |
57000 | 1955 |
62000 | 1956 |
66000 | 1957 |
71000 | 1958 |
76000 | 1959 |
81000 | 1960 |
90000 | 1961 |
94000 | 1962 |
103000 | 1963 |
110000 | 1964 |
120000 | 1965 |
129000 | 1966 |
137000 | 1967 |
149000 | 1968 |
160000 | 1969 |
171000 | 1970 |
182000 | 1971 |
192000 | 1972 |
204000 | 1973 |
218000 | 1974 |
231000 | 1975 |
Mark VII | |
243000 | 1976 |
256000 | 1977 |
272000 | 1978 |
282000 | 1979 |
300000 | 1980 |
327300 | 1981 |
Super Action 80 | |
340200 | 1982 |
353800 | 1983 |
366400 | 1984 |
378800 | 1985 |
391000 | 1986 |
Super Action 80 II | |
406000 | 1987 |
CONN | |
Serial# | Year |
9600 | 1905 |
10800 | 1906 |
12000 | 1907 |
13000 | 1908 |
15400 | 1909 |
17800 | 1910 |
21200 | 1911 |
22500 | 1912 |
25000 | 1913 |
30000 | 1914 |
35000 | 1916 |
40000 | 1917 |
50000 | 1919 |
58000 | 1920 |
64000 | 1921 |
83000 | 1922 |
101775 | 1923 |
124600 | 1924 |
145400 | 1925 |
167900 | 1926 |
193450 | 1927 |
209250 | 1928 |
224600 | 1929 |
237800 | 1930 |
244700 | 1931 |
249230 | 1932 |
256501 | 1933 |
260000 | 1934 |
263500 | 1935 |
271000 | 1936 |
278000 | 1937 |
284000 | 1938 |
285000 | 1939 |
288300 | 1940 |
295250 | 1941 |
304500 | 1942 |
309250 | 1943 |
309300 | 1944 |
310200 | 1945 |
314000 | 1946 |
320000 | 1947 |
327150 | 1948 |
332150 | 1949 |
337250 | 1950 |
341850 | 1951 |
341851 | 1952 |
354742 | 1953 |
359251 | 1954 |
500001 | 1955 |
571750 | 1956 |
652002 | 1957 |
718626 | 1958 |
779657 | 1959 |
834200 | 1960 |
898556 | 1961 |
949465 | 1962 |
C00501 | 1963 |
C73854 | 1964 |
E54106 | 1965 |
H31247 | 1966 |
K35274 | 1967 |
L20454 | 1968 |
BUFFET | |
Serial# | Year |
2925 | 1952 |
3115 | 1953 |
3390 | 1954 |
3763 | 1955 |
4226 | 1956 |
4817 | 1957 |
5392 | 1958 |
6172 | 1959 |
6808 | 1960 |
7416 | 1961 |
8656 | 1962 |
9669 | 1963 |
10064 | 1964 |
11749 | 1965 |
12778 | 1966 |
13766 | 1967 |
14487 | 1968 |
15347 | 1969 |
16323 | 1970 |
17319 | 1971 |
18445 | 1972 |
19787 | 1973 |
21441 | 1974 |
22687 | 1975 |
24417 | 1976 |
26151 | 1977 |
27280 | 1978 |
28733 | 1979 |
30190 | 1980 |
31539 | 1981 |
32961 | 1982 |
33924 | 1983 |
34664 | 1984 |
35733 | 1985 |
KING | |
Serial# | Year |
5000 | 1915 |
78000 | 1925 |
126000 | 1930 |
161000 | 1935 |
220000 | 1940 |
275000 | 1945 |
305000 | 1950 |
340000 | 1955 |
370000 | 1960 |
406500 | 1965 |
457600 | 1970 |
511750 | 1975 |
MARTIN | ||
Serial# | Year | |
17221 | 1919 | |
19482 | 1920 | |
19933 | 1921 | |
23781 | 1921 | |
29942 | 1922 | |
34838 | 1923 | |
40644 | 1924 | |
48489 | 152342 | 1925 |
54853 | ||
67852 | 162852 | 1926 |
172051 | ||
79254 | 1927 | |
86687 | 1928 | |
*192536 | 1027 | 1929 |
*first digit dropped on most serial numbers | ||
98324 | 2982 | 1930 |
101622 | 7119 | 1931 |
105096 | 1932 | |
106546 | 1933 | |
108301 | 1934 | |
10758 | 111253 | 1935 |
14526 | 116551 | 1936 |
15396 | 118038 | 1937 |
18861 | 126998 | 1938 |
20563 | 132070 | 1939 |
23231 | 136040 | 1940 |
24572 | 140199 | 1941 |
26643 | 144455 | 1942 |
145322 | 1943 | |
1944 | ||
145352 | 1945 | |
154289 | 1946 | |
161520 | 1947 | |
165326 | 1948 | |
170395 | 1949 | |
172215 | 1950 | |
172449 first Imperial | ||
175140 | 1951 | |
41693 | 179317 | 1952 |
45824 Indiana | 183125 | 1953 |
49586 Indiana | 187614 | 1954 |
193747 | 1955 | |
56162 | 196213 | 1956 |
66719 | 203809 | 1957 |
66727 | 201917 | 1958 |
70988 | 205377 | 1959 |
76224 | 209089 | 1960 |
81885 | 211675 | 1961 |
87850 | 213999 | 1962 |
218855 | 1963 |
HOLTON | |
Serial# | Year |
1 | 1901 |
254 | 1902 |
476 | 1903 |
526 | 1904 |
1151 | 1905 |
1872 | 1906 |
3345 | 1907 |
4630 | 1908 |
6071 | 1909 |
9474 | 1910 |
12,402 | 1911 |
15,950 | 1912 |
20,807 | 1913 |
21,100 | 1914 |
31,622 | 1915 |
33,671 | 1916 |
37,909 | 1917 |
41,070 – 43,972 | 1918 |
55,000 – 55,249 | 1918 |
43,973 – 47,600 | 1919 |
55,250 – 57,040 | 1919 |
47,601 – 49,817 | 1920 |
57,041 – 58,499 | 1920 |
70,000 – 70,549 | 1920 |
49,818 – 54,999 | 1921 |
58,500 – 59,499 | 1921 |
70,550 – 73,199 | 1921 |
59,500 – 60,599 | 1922 |
73,200 – 76,099 | 1922 |
60,600 – 61,649 | 1923 |
76,100 – 81,000 | 1923 |
61,650 – 62,199 | 1924 |
81,001 – 85,600 | 1924 |
62,200 – 62,899 | 1925 |
85,900 – 89,849 | 1925 |
62,900 – 63,149 | 1926 |
89,850 – 92,799 | 1926 |
63,150 – 63,299 | 1927 |
92,800 – 97,199 | 1927 |
63,300 – 63,549 | 1928 |
97,200 – 101,399 | 1928 |
63,550 – 63,849 | 1929 |
101,400 – 105,199 | 1929 |
63,850 – 64,049 | 1930 |
105,200 – 108,399 | 1930 |
64,050 – 64,149 | 1931 |
108,400 – 111,049 | 1931 |
111,099 – 113,899 | 1932 |
113,990 – 114,999 | 1933 |
115,000 – 117,299 | 1934 |
117,300 – 118,599 | 1935 |
118,600 – 120,599 | 1936 |
120,600 – 122,899 | 1937 |
122,900 – 125,849 | 1938 |
125,850 – 132,799 | 1939 |
132,800 – 140,099 | 1940 |
140,100 – 151,299 | 1941 |
151,300 – 154,199 | 1942 |
154,200 – 154,699 | 1943 |
154,700 – 154,899 | 1944 |
154,900 – 156,099 | 1945 |
156,100 – 165,599 | 1946 |
165,600 – 181,999 | 1947 |
182,000 – 198,299 | 1948 |
198,399 – 210,299 | 1949 |
210,300 – 220,499 | 1950 |
220,500 – 232,599 | 1951 |
232,600 – 243,349 | 1952 |
243,350 – 254,099 | 1953 |
254,100 – 268,999 | 1954 |
269,000 – 281,399 | 1955 |
281,400 – 293,699 | 1956 |
293,700 – 307,399 | 1957 |
307,400 – 315,699 | 1958 |
315,700 – 326,099 | 1959 |
326,100 – 337,599 | 1960 |
337,600 – 348,399 | 1961 |
348,400 – 358,499 | 1962 |
358,500 – 373,699 | 1963 |
373,700 – 388,949 | 1964 |
388,950 – 403,350 | 1965 |
403,351 – 435,999 | 1966 |
536,600 – 455,749 | 1967 |
455,750 – 467,099 | 1968 |
467,100 – 483,099 | 1969 |
483,100 – 496,799 | 1970 |
496,800 – 504,200 | 1971 |
504,201 – 519,299 | 1972 |
519,300 – 524,599 | 1973 |
524,600 – 529,899 | 1974 |
529,900 – 535,199 | 1975 |
535,200 – 541,999 | 1976 |
542,000 – 548,429 | 1977 |
CLEVELAND | |
Serial# | Year |
1 | 1925 |
10,000 | 1930 |
30,000 | 1935 |
40,000 | 1940 |
45,000 | 1945 |
50,000 | 1950 |
56,000 | 1955 |
100,000 | 1960 |
160,000 | 1965 |
420,000 | 1970 |
600,000 | 1975 |
Conn Saxophone Serial Numbers And Value
YANIGASAWASAXOPHONES |
During the 1970′s, the 3rd and 4th digit of the serial number indicate the year of manufacture.1972 – 12729030 1973 – 12731254 1974 – 12745400 1975 – 12753382 1976 – 12764553 1977 – 12775790 1978 – 12781317 1979 – 12791801 1980 – 00102143 1981 – 00106981 1982 – 00111892 1983 – 00117142 1984 – 00122663 1985 – 00128485 1986 – 00134903 1987 – 00141658 1988 – 00148774 1989 – 00156006 1990 – 00162968 1991 – 00170073 1992 – 00177116 1993 – 00184318 1994 – 00189050 1995 – 00197400 1996 – 00205400 1997 – 00213000 1998 – 00219500 1999 – 00228250 2000 – 00235000 |
SML SAXOPHONES | |
Serial# | Year |
1? – 3000 | 1934 to 1940 |
3000 – 5500 | 1940 to 1945 |
5500 – 8000 | 1945 to 1950 |
8000 – 12000 | 1950 to 1955 |
12000 – 16000 | 1955 to 1960 |
16000 – 19000 | 1960 to 1965 |
19000 – 22000 | 1965 to 1970 |
22000 – 24000 | 1970 to 1975 |
24000 – 26000 | 1975 to 1980 |
26000 – >27000 | 1980 to 1982 |