The Decline and Fall of the American Saxophone Industry

I spent some time this weekend with some guys who have all played saxophone for a living full time for over thirty years each. We had a lot of fun playing through some of my old (and new) horns and mouthpieces, and talking about the eternal truths of "which horn is best and why".

These guys, whose living depends on the performance of their instrument, don't play American horns. Of course, it's worth pointing out that there are NO full saxophone factories in the United States, and have not been for years.

At one time, American horns were considered at least on a par with the offereings of other nations. Somewhere along the line, we dropped the ball.

I recall when I got my first really good horn in 1964. I tried pretty much everything that was available at the time (Kings, Martins, Conns, Bueschers, and Selmers) and there was really no comparison between the American horns and the Selmer. It felt right and sounded right. The American horns were very clumsy feeling, although the Martin had a nice sound as I recall.

Later in my career, I flirted with a Super 20 Silversonic, assorted Yamahas, more Selmers, a Buffet S-1 (great horn!), and various "vintage horns" including a Buescher 400, a Conn 30M, and assorted Martins, including a low Bb "The Martin" bari which was my main axe for many years. But I always went back to Selmers, until I figured I could do better and started designing and building my own horns.

What was wrong with the American horns? Plenty! The manufacturers were not paying attention to what a working musician really needed. They carried over designs from the 1930's well into the early 1970's and expected us to buy them. When innovations in design came along, they ignored them. In fairness, the build quality was generally pretty good, but the ergonomics were terrible and the intonation was quite often questionable. They stood by and ignored our needs.

If you think about it, there were really NO innovations by American manufacturer's after the 1940's. The Conn 28M was great, but poorly marketed, and aside from that, innovations were few and far between. Was there any excuse for this? Sure there was: they were selling the old designs in sufficient quantity, and saw no reason to "improve the breed". Ultimately, the failure to keep up with the times caught up with them.

I keep hearing about the "great horns from Elkhart" and the "great craftsmen of Elkhart". Well, in the 1930's that may have been true. After that, it just wasn't so.