Found this link to a picture tour of the C.G. Conn factory from about 1911. Probably not much has changed. There are actually some iTunes Podcasts from Yamaha that show how they make instruments. Very high tech.
Tag: conn
Aerophone Gallery
I’m not exactly sure what this site is, but they have up some interesting photos of old saxes and stuff. http://www.aerophone.de/
The Conn-O-Sax
While surfing the net, I came across the strange instrument called the Conn-O-Sax. There is one on Ebay right now that can be bought for the princely sum of $100,000 (I kid NOT).
Conn made these to spur sales that had been slumpin. Seems they made them from 1915 to 1925, and they believed it was going to be the next big thing. They do have almost a 3 octave range (A to G), and the tone I’d describe as a really mellow soprano in quality to something like a Paul Desmond sound. Sadly, it seems that only about 20 of these instruments exist now.
If you want check out some audio clips (or buy a CD), Rob Verdi has an excellent album out that he did exclusively on the Conn-O-Sax. And it sounds great!!
Below are the images off the Ebay auction because I though this instrument was extremely interesting.
