Friend of GetASax.com Douglas Pipher has been given unprecedented access to the Selmer Paris archives, and after thousands of hours of research has compiled a brand new and more Selmer Serial Number Chart for Selmer saxophones. With permission, we have printed the results of his research below.
When was your Selmer Paris Saxophone made?This is the most accurate Selmer Serial Number Chart on the internet!If you are wanting to sell your Selmer saxophone, we are always buying vintage saxophones. Please email us at [email protected]![]() Selmer Serial Numbers â a Fresh Approach
Douglas Pipher, June 20, 2017
The existing Selmer Serial Number Chart has been available on the internet for years. Many saxophonists use it as the authority for determining when an instrument was made. But there are problems with the existing chart, such as the timing of the introduction of the different models. It seems unlikely that every new model was introduced exactly at the beginning of a new year. It also seems unlikely that each yearâs production ended at a conveniently round number. Was the chart built from specific data or was it just someoneâs estimate; a guess which eventually became assumed to be an absolute truth? With these questions in mind, the need for a fresh look became clear, to see if there was a way to measure the accuracy, or inaccuracy, of the existing chart. Douglas Pipher decided to take on the challenge.
Clearly the first step was to collect as much primary data as possible. It is well known that Selmer Paris possesses some archival records but they are not available to the public. With a background in statistical analysis and an established record in the study of Selmer history, Douglas was able to secure access to these archives. Once there, the daunting nature of the task became apparent. The archives are comprised of a series of very old and fragile notebooks, written by a variety of people, in a variety of handwriting styles. Some were neat and detailed and others were nearly illegible and of course, it is all written in French. But, the fact that all the data still existed was like finding a treasure.
The archive records contain four key elements:
â Instrument type (Alto, Tenor etc)
â Finish and custom features â Shipping date â Destination
In most cases, there was no mention of what model was being produced. The data started at serial #5000 and continued for over 75 years. Whether earlier notebooks were lost or were never kept is unfortunately unknown.
The first phase of the research was to study the records from the beginning up to the end of the Mark VI era. (1927 to 1975) After several trips to Paris and several thousand hours of research and study, the original shipping data was collected and organized. Finally, it was possible to do a detailed study of each yearâs actual sales and compare them the to the information suggested in the existing serial number chart.
Low audio device volume windows 7. Letâs take a look at 1927, the earliest year for which full data was available.
The existing serial number chart showed a range from 5601 to 7850. By simple subtraction, 2249 saxophones were allegedly built in 1927. A search of the actual shipping dates for this serial number range revealed the following:
Only 1537 saxophones within this range were shipped in 1927. An additional 404 were shipped in 1928 and 27 more were shipped even later than that. Dividing the actual number (1537) by the alleged number (2249) revealed that the serial number range for 1927 was only 68% correct. Clearly, there was room for improvement.
Forgotten city skyrim guide. This process was repeated for each year up to 1975. The average accuracy for the entire existing serial number chart was a disappointing 66%. Thatâs only two out of three! So about a third of the people using the list got the wrong year for their saxophone. It quickly became obvious that an improved chart was needed.
Fortunately, the primary shipping data could now be used to rebuild the serial number chart from scratch. Beginning with a list of all the actual 1927 sales, they were sorted by serial number. Next, they were grouped into serial number ranges of 100. (5000 â 5099, 5100 â 5199 etc) and the total number of 1927 sales within each group was calculated.
The chart at left shows that less than one quarter of the saxes in the 5000 to 5299 serial number range were sold in 1927. Most were sold in 1926. The range from 7300 to 7800 also showed less than half of the sales in 1927, with most of the remainder being sold in 1928. Between the 5300 and 7299 range, most of the saxes were sold in 1927. This range became the initial boundary for 1927 production. By taking a closer look, right down to individual instruments, the starting and ending points of the range were modified as needed. The most accurate serial number range for 1927 was finalized as 5300 â 7280. Repeating this process for each year up to 1975 resulted in the development of a chart with an average accuracy of 82%. For searches of Alto or Tenor only, the accuracy rose to 86%.
Why is the new chart not 100% accurate? A look at the 1927 chart to the left makes the answer quite clear. As mentioned above, the 1927 range was determined to be 5300 â 7280, so the 1928 serial number range logically started at 7281. But many saxophones from 7300 to 7800 were sold in 1927. The majority of the horns in this range which were sold in 1928, but clearly not all of them. There are many reasons for this. Different distributors had different specifications, which affected delivery times. The US-Market horns, for instance, were not normally engraved, padded or lacquered in France. This meant that US-Market horns shipped earlier than others.
The more unusual types of saxophones, such as the Sopranino or Bass, were often sold months or even years later than one might expect. Individual saxophones with custom finishes or features would naturally take longer to build, thus delaying their completion date. In building as complex an instrument as a saxophone, there are many reasons why and individual saxâs completion date could be delayed by days, weeks or months.
The improved serial number chart is by no means flawless. But itâs does allow for a far greater level of confidence for Selmer owners and enthusiasts. Douglasâ ongoing primary research continues to extend the scope of the improved chart, into the Mark VII range and beyond. Douglas Pipher is a Canadian saxophonist, collector and researcher who has spent the last several years studying Selmer instruments with the goal of improving our understanding of Selmer history through primary research. He can be reached at: [email protected]
Henri Selmer Paris company is a French-based international family-owned enterprise, manufacturer of musical instruments based at Mantes-la-Ville near Paris, France. Founded in 1885, it is known as a producer of professional-grade woodwind and brass instruments, especially saxophones, clarinets and trumpets.
Selmer Paris instruments have been played by many well-known saxophonists such as Marcel Mule, Claude Delangle, Frederick Hemke, Charlie Parker,[1]John Coltrane, Paul Desmond, Herschel Evans, Zoot Sims,[2]Michael Brecker, Sonny Rollins, Ornette Coleman and Coleman Hawkins. Among famous Selmer Clarinet players is Benny Goodman in his early career.
History[edit]Timeline[edit]1885â1899[edit]
1900â1999[edit]
2000 to the present[edit]
Selmer UK[edit]
A semi-independent branch of Selmer for the United Kingdom was created in 1928 under the leadership of two brothers, Ben and Lew Davis. They concentrated primarily on licensing, importing and distribution rather than manufacturing, and by 1939 had grown to become the largest company in the British musical instrument industry.
In 1935 Selmer UK began producing sound reinforcement systems under the Selmer name. They expanded their manufacturing facilities by purchasing another P.A. company called RSA in 1946. By 1951 they were manufacturing electric organs and in 1955 they gained the exclusive licensing rights to make Lowrey organs and Leslie organ speakers for the UK. They were also the primary importers and distributors for Höfner guitars, a well-known German guitar company, from the early 1950s through the early 1970s. In 1967, Höfner actually produced a small range of semi-acoustic and acoustic guitars for Selmer UK These were badged with the Selmer logo and most had a Selmer 'lyre' tailpiece. Model names were the Astra, Emperor, Diplomat, Triumph and Arizona Jumbo.
With the growth of skiffle music and the arrival of rock and roll in the mid-1950s, Selmer UK began producing guitar and bass amplifiers. In the early 1960s, despite Selmer's apparent market domination, The Shadows' and The Beatles' endorsement of Vox amplifiers relegated Selmer guitar amplifiers to a distant second place in sales. The management of the company made various lukewarm attempts to gain endorsement from aspiring musicians but became increasingly distant from the developments in pop culture from the mid-1960s considering that its role was to support 'real' or established professional musicians and not the headliners of the pop industry. This was the beginning of the end for Selmer UK.
By the early 1970s Selmer UK had been purchased by Chicago Musical Instruments, then the parent company of Gibson Guitars, which Selmer was distributing in the UK. By this time Marshall guitar amplifiers had cornered the market, and the Selmer manufacturing facility was an expensive drain on resources. During this period, the Selmer range of Treble & Bass 50 & 100 valve amplifiers appeared to be stylistic relics from pre-1959 and the decision was made to move the manufacturing facility to a disused brush and coconut matting works dating from 1914, based in rural Essex. The factory which purchased from Music and Plastic Industries. This was a disaster, coupled as it was to an uninspiring reworking of the Selmer range of speaker cabinets and the introduction of a poorly designed range of solid state power amplifiers.
After being passed around several other owners, Selmer once again found itself owned by the Gibson Guitar parent company, this time through a holding company called Norlin Music USA. The marketing policy adopted by management involved allowing its distributors to arrange short-term loans of Gibson instruments on a trial basis. This was considered an excellent marketing ploy had it been controlled but the reality of the situation was that instrument loans were made freely available to any musician and bands who made a request. The consequences were that these very expensive musical instruments were used, damaged, and returned unsold to the UK warehouse, where attempts were made to repair them with the limited facilities on hand, as the distribution agreement with the manufacturing base in Kalamazoo, Michigan, did not allow for the return of defective items. At one time in 1977 there were over one thousand damaged, broken and disassembled Gibson guitars stored in an unheated warehouse in Braintree, Essex.
The factory in Braintree also developed the manufacturing of Lowrey keyboards from KD kits exported from the Chicago manufacturing base of CMI. These instruments were technically advanced but the build quality was poor compared with keyboards which were just beginning to reach the UK and European markets from Japan. To supplement earnings the company took the decision to import a low cost Italian designed organ marketed as a Selmer product which was distributed in large numbers by catalogue sales. Again the return rate, this time due to damage in transit, was significant. In spite of a rebranding as Norlin Music (UK) the management of the company failed to address the key factors preferring to effect a range of cost-cutting measures. In 1976 Norlin Music Inc., faced with mounting debts, began dismantling Selmer UK piece by piece, until the only facility was a repair center for Lowrey organs with a single employee. This shut down in the early 1980s.
Despite being largely unknown in the U.S., Selmer guitar amplifiers from the early 1960s have begun to gain a reputation as vintage collectibles among valve amplifier enthusiasts.
Selmer guitars[edit]
In 1932 Selmer partnered with the Italian guitarist and luthierMario Maccaferri to produce a line of acoustic guitars based on Maccaferri's unorthodox design. Although Maccaferri's association with Selmer ended in 1934, the company continued to make several models of this guitar until 1952. The guitar was closely associated with famed jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt. (see also Selmer-Maccaferri Guitar and About Selmer-Maccaferri guitars)
Historical list of Selmer instruments[edit]SaxophonesâParis[edit]
ClarinetsâParis[edit]
Selmer Paris sold less-expensive clarinets under the names Barbier, Bundy (Paris) and Raymond until ca. 1935, after which they focused exclusively on professional clarinets.
Note: Selmer Paris harmony clarinets (sizes other than Bâ and A soprano clarinet) are mostly called by their model number rather than a name, but there are, for example, RI bass clarinets and Series 9 alto and bass clarinets.
Guitars[edit]
They are usually custom made guitars for professionals. Their cost aredepending on wood and upgrades like tuners, frets, size, etc.
Brass instruments[edit]Trumpets[edit]
Trombones[edit]
Other instruments[edit]
See also[edit]
Signet Selmer Clarinet Serial NumbersReferences[edit]
External links[edit]Selmer Bt Clarinet Serial Numbers
Selmer Clarinet Serial Numbers
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