"Stencil" Instrument List
A stencil is a saxophone made by a major manufacturer but with a different name on it. Music stores, schools and other businesses would order a number of saxophones from a major saxophone maker and have their name put on, instead of the company that made them. A major manufacturer could also create separate brand names to compete in certain markets or may have purchased a smaller company and kept the name. Whatever the reason and for the most part these stencil horns were built with many of the features of their parent company, but the over-all quality rarely equalled that of the manufacturer's name brand models.
The major saxophone companies that made stencils were Conn, Buescher, Martin. Selmer, Holton and York. Some of these companies were purchased in time and became stencils themselves. There are many ways to tell if a saxophone was produced by a certain company. Tone hole construction, G# key cluster design, key guard design, key layout, octave mechanism type, serial number markings and more. Speaking of serial numbers most stencils did not follow the parent companies serial number range so it is hard to tell the year it was made. Unfortunately, little, to no, documentation is available for these instruments.
This list is not all inclusive. There may be a Conn stencil with a name of any music store or small company that may be sitting in someone's attic somewhere waiting to be discovered. This list is constantly growing, but at least it's a starting point if you see a sax you are interested in and want to know who probably made it. You will notice that some stencils like Wurlitzer and Lyon & Healy are listed more than once. This is because at one time or another they were made by more than one manufacturer.
Buescher Made
- American Artist
- American Capitol
- Artist
- Bundy
- Cafaro Special
- Carl Fischer
- Crusader
- Elkhart
- Elkhorn
- Getzen
- Harwood Professional
- Legionnaire
- Lyon & Healy
- Royal Artist
- Sherwood
- Silvertone
- The Yankee
- USA
- Vega
- Vocotone
- Weymann
- Windsor
- Wolverine
- Wurlitzer
Conn Made
- Abbott Premier
- American Hagar
- American Perfecto
- American Triumph
- Bandmaster
- Bruno
- Cavalier
- Cole & Dunas
- Continental Colonial
- Elkhart
- Grand Opera
- Gretsch
- Hamilton
- Harry Pedler
- Harwood
- Horace
- Jenkins
- Kalashen's Kleartone
- La Pacific
- Lefleur
- Liberty
- Olympian
- Pan American
- Perfection
- Pride
- Sears & Roebuck
- Selmer (US)
- Supertone
- Symphony
- Vega
- Velvetone
- Werlein Special
- Wurlitzer
- Xcelo
- York
Holton Made
- Rudy Wiedoeft
King Made
- American Standard
- Gladiator
- Vega
Martin Made
- Abbott Premier
- American Artist
- American Perfection
- American Professional
- Beaufort American
- Bruno
- Commander
- Champion
- Colonial
- Concertone
- Couturier
- Dick Stabile
- Dorn & Kirschner
- Gary
- Gold Star
- Harmony
- Honercomb
- Horace
- Indiana Band Instrument Company
- Kingston
- Knickerbocker
- Lyon & Healy
- Lyric
- Manhattan
- Melody Master
- Oliver Ditson
- Pedler
- Perfacktone
- Reynolds
- Sherwood
- Standard Artists
- Supertone
- Symphony
- Tempertone
- Wurlitzer
- Vega
Malerne Made
- Acme
- Buffet Dynaction
- Cartier
- Linton
- M. Pierre
Selmer Made
- Adolphe
- Deville
York Made
- Wolverine
Keilwerth Made
- Couf Superba 1 & 2
- Royalist
- Conn DJH
- Buffet
- Edgeware
- Marco
- Vincent Albert
- Martelle
- Winsall
- Bundy Special
- Armstrong
- Heritage
- King Tempo
- Champion
- Calvert Deluxe
Keilwerth "Copiers"
(Amati, Dörfler & Jörka, B&S)
- H. Genet