Late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century innovations in the United States
For most of the nineteenth century European companies dominated saxophone manu- facturing, but from about 1888 Conn became the first American maker. Conn’s early saxophones largely followed European models, but the company was keen to innovate and, like others, to draw attention to such innovations in its marketing. From the mid 180s its ‘Wonder Improved’ models were available in soprano, alto, tenor and bass versions, and although advertised as having a compass of ba0 to f3, only the alto and tenor models in fact appear to have had this range, the others being limited to ea3 at the top.6 Rollers on the key clusters operated by the little fingers of both hands were now standard. Around 106 the company moved to a single automatic octave key, which again soon became standard on all models.
Conn offered its saxophones in both high pitch and low pitch versions. This reflected the various pitch standards prevailing in different parts of the world, and was an attempt on Conn’s part to increase international sales. Pitch standards had fluctu- ated throughout the nineteenth century, notwithstanding efforts by the French government to standardise them in 185 at a1 = 35 Hz; this pitch standard was more widely adopted in 1887. But many military bands in France, England and the United States were playing to higher pitch standards; official British army pitch from the 180s to 128, for example, was as high as a1 = 52.5 Hz. Hence the need for Conn and other manufacturers to produce instruments that could be played in tune at these different levels; Conn’s own definition of low pitch was a1 = 0 Hz and high pitch a1 = 52.5 Hz.7 Pitch standards became more uniform over the course of the 120s, and so production of different versions of the same model was gradually phased out (the now familiar ‘concert pitch’ of a1 = 0 Hz was widely adopted in 13 before becoming internationally standardised in 155).
Conn instigated a further innovation in 11, by introducing drawn toneholes for the instrument. Saxophone toneholes had previously been created by soldering a ring of metal onto the saxophone body at the required point, then cutting out the metal sheet within the ring, before smoothing off the inside. Following a manufacturing process introduced by William S. Haynes (patented in 11),8 Conn manufactured saxophones by drawing the toneholes from the same sheet of metal from which the saxophone body was made, rather than soldering the flanges on separately. Not only was this method more robust and less likely to develop imperfections during the manufacturing process, it also ensured that the metal flanges were the same thickness as the instrument’s body, resulting in better acoustic performance. Since the body of the instrument could now be made in one go, with tools designed specifically for the purpose, there were also considerable savings in labour and material costs, savings that could be passed onto the purchaser.
The Conn company instigated further innovations over the following years. From the late 110s it incorporated into the neck of its instruments a microtuner, which endeavoured to compensate for the overall impact on the bore of the small positional changes of the mouthpiece on the neck, recalling the similar innovation put forward by the Association générale in 1887. In order to tune the instrument saxophonists
move the mouthpiece forward or back a little along the neck, thus raising or lowering its overall pitch slightly. However, this has a greater effect on toneholes closest to the mouthpiece than it does on others, and this disturbs the overall integrity of the instru- ment’s intonation; it was this imbalance that Conn’s microtuner sought to alleviate. The device was considered sufficiently successful to be retained on Conn models until the mid-150s.
In the early 120s Conn established an ‘Experimental Laboratory’, which under- pinned their work in instrument design and development. One of the engineers who worked in this laboratory, Allen Loomis, had already been developing the saxophone prior to joining Conn in 126, and he continued his innovations thereafter. Loomis was particularly preoccupied with refining the automatic octave mechanism, and patented a number of changes to this. Whereas Sax had at an early stage reduced the number of octave vents from three to two, Loomis proposed to reinstate the third and ultimately a fourth octave vent, since he knew that acoustic theory dictated that, ideally, each higher note should have its own separately positioned octave key. On his proposed four-vent model two of the vents would be on the body of the instrument, and two on the neckpipe; they would operate automatically in the respective ranges of d2–dJ2, e2–gJ2, a2–cJ3, and d3–fJ3. Loomis’s proposals were too complex and costly to be put into production at the time, and only a few prototype models were built with a three-vent octave mechanism; but Conn did produce commercially a similar three-vent mechanism on its Connstellation range, introduced after World War II.
During World War II the Conn factory was given over for military use, and subse- quently the company never regained its previous stature. Although it remained an important American instrument manufacturer until the late 150s, competition from abroad, particularly from the exceptional popularity of the Mark VI model produced by Selmer in the 150s and 60s, obliged the company to concentrate more on student instruments, and its formerly pre-eminent position among North American manufac- turers was lost.
Conn’s first 1888 saxophone is likely to have been developed by one of its foremen, Ferdinand August Buescher, but he left Conn in 183 to form his own business, the Buescher Manufacturing Company. Like Conn, this was located in Elkhart, Indiana, 32. A Conn microtuner, designed to make variations in saxophone tuning more uniform.
and the company soon rivalled Conn in its importance for the domestic American market. Although it did not produce a full line of saxophones until 11, under its ‘True-Tone’ marque,100 by 118 the company was offering a range of eight models, including three sopranos in Ea, C and Ba, the latter being curved and the first two being straight. All models had a written range of ba0 to ea3.
As might be expected, the production methods and some of the underlying design features of Buescher’s instruments were similar to those of Conn. Buescher used a mixture of drawn toneholes and the older soldered type, and from 121 all models were offered with an automatic octave key as standard.101 A gJ trill key was introduced in 125 and remained on all Buescher saxophones until being gradually phased out in the 150s. Later developments, such as changing the placing of the lowest keys or devel- oping new bell proportions, might be construed as matters of detail rather than substance, notwithstanding the enthusiastic claims made for them in advertising copy. Perhaps the company’s most significant innovation of the 120s was its introduction of snap-on pads, for which Ferdinand Buescher himself submitted three patents between 121 and 12.102 Previously, the saxophone pads seated inside the cups that covered the toneholes had been glued in place. Buescher’s ‘snap-on’ arrangement comprised a fastener fixed to the underside of the cup, onto which a pad could easily be pressed on or prised off; a further fastener held the pad in place once fitted. This meant the player
33. Patent sketch including Allen