Frank Holton Trumpet Serial Numbers
Holton Trumpet T602 Serial Numbers
Holton Serial Numbers

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Holton- Bb/F double French horn, Farkas The solid nickel silver edition of the H178, model H179 has especially good center and projection. This free-blowing horn features a rich, dark sound designed especially for the big horn artist the tapered tubing and throat of the bell are larger for a bigger, darker tone. The bell flare produces a mellow. Model: Series: Special Key: Bb. Here’s what a Holton catalog circa 1920s had to say about this horn: The Holton Special has been in use by prominent trombonists for almost a quarter of a century, and has won its way to the top on its merits aloneSuperior metal and skilled tempering, combined with perfect graduating of the metal and scientific proportions of the bell and tubing.

.Manufacturers, models - stencils and serial numbers

'Martin Handcraft'1931

Vintage bronze lacquer, late model. Good player 1931, s/no 104xxx - literally the last of the C-Melody line, lovely !! I don't have a good enough camera to capture the real dark vintage lacquer colour - it's gorgeous.

Modern action, gone are the quirky vintage forked Eb and G# trill keys. High palm keys all sensibly long - no more 'button' palm keys. Add to that the essential auxiliary Front-F mechanism, and you have a C-Melody and this is a delight to play. Intonation is extremely good - a solid powerful horn with well preserved Martin case and accessories. NOT FOR SALE

Lyon & Healy 'Inspiration'

( King stencil - relatively rare)

I affectionately call her 'Big Ugly'. Very much a project and a half.... Quite a rare beast this one, I've only seen one other for sale. After Lyon & Healy stopped making their own C-Mels - based around Martin design/tooling - they had stencils mostly made by Buescher. This is the more elusive King stencil, with classic King domed cups, and, more importantly, the auxiliary Front-F mechanism - a rare find on stencil horns. The silver plating is almost completely worn or abraded from the body, but some remains on the keys - giving a two-tone appearance. A real workhorse. A current project, at the moment, regrettably NOT FOR SALE.

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.Please note : Page (always) under re-structuring.. - June 2011

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The aim of this page is to (hopefully) help you to identify the manufacturer, and even possibly the 'build year' of your C-Melody. I know you could look on the bell and say 'Ah - Martin', but sadly that doesn't apply to stencils. So, the table on the right will have links to a pages showing a selection of C-Melody saxes, some I've owned, some I still do, and with the mechanism and design features of each manufacturer - the pictures are quite good resolution, and unprotected, so can be copied and pasted into a suitable graphics package for better viewing, e.g. zooming. Please feel free to do this, but if you re-use the pictures in any other context, please ask me first, and I'd also appreciate a mention of this site.

Rather than put 'return' links on each page, I've either opened some in a new window, or others require the use of your browser 'back arrow' to get back to this page. It will take a while to find examples showing all the differences, and I hope to be able to make a 'truth table' as well, for quick checking and identification. Until then, please follow this link to my Q&A page, and check out the excellent pages by Saxpics, Dr Rick, and Cybersax, to identify which manufacturer built your stencil.

Sadly, e.g., all Martin stencils don't have all the standard Martin features etc. etc. And, some Stencil names appear on saxes from more than one manufacturer ! Fun, isn't it ? I'm still learning a few things myself in the process. A far from comprehensive list of Stencil names is at the end of the page - link is on the table opposite - and I'll also set up a gallery of pictures of C-Melody saxes I've owned in the past, as examples of most manufacturers art. The vast majority of the pictures were taken by (and owned by) me, but, if I've inadvertently used someone else's example, I sincerely apologise - drop me an email and I'll either credit you, or if you so wish I'll remove the picture.

Below are short lists of serial numbers for the years ( mostly up to the thirties ) that C-Melody saxes were produced 'in quantity'. I thought it would be useful to have them for all the C-Melody manufacturers together in one place (and in alphabetical order, not preference..). Links to pages with more comprehensive serial number listings, and further model info, are included with each list, as are references to the origins of the data. I'd just like to say a great big ' Thanks ! ' to anyone involved in compiling and/or publishing those lists - very much appreciated !!

Please note that C-Melody 'stencil' serial numbers don't usually correspond with the relevant manufacturers 'own brand name' sequences - there are some theories as to how you can work the date out, but I'm afraid the answer is usually just ' made in the 1920's.. '

Also be aware that the serial numbers below weren't just for C-Melody saxes, each instrument produced was assigned a sequential unique number, so (for example) in Jan-1924, 60993 could have been a Tenor Sax, 60994 a C-Mel, 60995 a Soprano, etc. etc. - at least that's how I understand it ? Thinking about that, it's probably more logical that the numbers were assigned in 'blocks' to maybe a group C-Mel's, then alto's etc. for a certain production run. Each group of bodies could then be stamped sequentially. Anybody out there know how it really was ?

So anyway, you should also be able to use these lists to date some of the vintage saxes of that period.

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Please note : Page (always) under re-structuring.. - June 2011

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A C-Sax may be available for purchase -email me

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Holton Serial Numbers