Expert: Kenton Scott - 1/3/2008

Question
Dear Kenton, This is my first time for contacting you. I have
tried to look at my alto saxaphone to find information such as
the name of its maker, the year made, etc. to no avail. Back
in the early 1950's, my father (now deceased - I'm in my 60's) purchased it for me to take lessons on. He had very little money and could only afford to buy an older,out-dated type of saxaphone for me. It was used and probably 5 to 10
yrs old back then. I think it's a Rudy Wiculoefit model...as
I can barely read the inscribed letters on it.It's a gold
colored brass. Looks like made in Elkhorn, Wis. Numbers on the back of it look like:88996 followed by the large letter "R" and the letters "L" and "K".  With this limited information, can you:
 l) Tell me anything more about my instrument?  (and)
 2) Tell me who I might contact to get an "appraisal"
    and/or statement of its value as of today?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Happy New Year to you and yours.

Donna M Latham


Answer
Donna,

Saxophones are really not my area, but I can tell you this much about your instrument.  Rudy Wiedoeft was a sax soloist in the early part of the 20th century, and Holton had a Wiedoeft Model saxophone.  The Holton plant was in Elkhorn, so it is almost certainly a Holton model.  Assuming it is a Holton, it would date back to 1924-5.  If it is gold colored, it could be either raw brass, - or maybe gold wash. As those would be the only gold colored choices back in 1925.  Another possibility is that it has been re-finished at some time.

If your intention is to sell it, you can be almost certain that if you provide good accurate photos and describe it well, that is will bring a fair price on eBay.