Conn Saxophone Model Timeline

Steve Goodson

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

 

Additional Reading

Want to Talk About It? Visit Our Discussion Groups on Facebook!

Steve Goodson's Nation of Music: Home of Saxgourmet Products