CONN SAXOPHONE MODEL TIMELINE
by Steve Goodson
ALL DATES AND SERIAL NUMBERS ARE APPROXIMATE
| Year | Serial Number | Comments |
| 1889 | 1 (?) | Conn builds the first saxophone in the USA 1891 200 (?) “Wonder” name trademarked 1893 500 (?) Conn exhibits “Wonder” model saxophones at World’s Columbia Exhibition |
| 1900 | 3900 | Conn delivers 150 “Wonder” model saxophones to U.S. Army |
| 1905 | 9600 | Automatic octave key introduced |
| 1907 | 12000 | Forked Eb key introduced |
| 1910 | 17800 | Pearl key touches |
| 1911 | 21200 | Curved soprano replaces straight soprano |
| 1913 | 25000 | G# trill key introduced |
| 1915 | 30000 | Carl Greenleaf buys Conn company…..front F key…… |
| 1916 | 35000 | Drawn tone holes |
| 1917 | 40000 | Pearl touches discontinued |
| 1919 | 50000 | Rolled tone holes |
| 1922 | 83000 | Straight soprano re-introduced Vacuum pads…….straight neck replaced curved neck on C Melody |
| 1924 | 124600 | Microtuner necks become standard……cross hatch G# key…….enlarged palm keys |
| 1928 | 209250 | Straight soprano re-designed F Mezzo Soprano introduced Conn-O-Sax introduced |
| 1930 | 237800 | F Mezzo and Conn-O-Sax discontinued…..alto gets tenon skirt, underslung neck, G# tab for low B and Bb….high E key now curved…….alto bell keys moved to left side…..swivel thumbrest on alto and tenor 1935 263500 tenor bell keys moved to left side…… 26M and 30M Connqueror introduced…..VIII series neck for altos introduced |
| 1941 | 295250 | 4M curved soprano and 14M bass discontinued |
| 1948 | 327150 | 28M “Connstellation” model introduced…..rolled tone holes discontinued….. |
| 1954 | 359251 | Microtuner discontinued |
| 1955 | 500001 | Nickel plated keywork becomes standard on professional models |
| 1959 | 779657 | 10M neck gains skirt and underslung octave key |
| 1963 | C501 | Sheet metal keyguards all on models |
| 1968 | L20454 | 11M Low A Baritone introduced |
