The company was founded as the "H.N. White Company" in 1893 by Henderson White, an engraver and instrument repairman.[1] White designed a trombone for Thomas King, a local player.[1] It became the company's first successful model when it was adopted by Al Pinard, then a famous trombone player.[2] White later designed other brass instrument models, including cornets and baritones. In 1903, The H.N. White company hired Foster A. Reynolds, a talented brass instrument maker at the J.W. York & Sons company. He worked with White to further develop instruments.[3] H. N. White sought to expand its offerings to woodwinds starting in 1908, importing Evette & Schaeffer saxophones and clarinets manufactured by the Buffet Crampon Company of France. After the import rights for Buffet products were lost to Carl Fischer of New York in 1910, White started importing woodwinds from the V. Kohlert Company, then located in the Czech province of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.[4]
The First World War interrupted the trade of the Czech instruments, so White sought a domestic supplier in the Cleveland Musical Instrument Company in 1916. Many of the earliest saxophones supplied by Cleveland Musical Instruments were made for military bands as the United States entered World War I.[2] H. N. White built a plant to manufacture orchestral woodwinds in 1917.[2] Subsequently, the "Cleveland" and "American Standard" brands were used for less expensive instruments marketed to schools and marching bands, while the "King" brand was reserved for professional grade instruments. In 1925, H.N. White acquired the Cleveland Musical Instrument Company.[2]
A disassembled King 606 trombone
In 1935 Foster Reynolds left his position as General Manager of the H.N. White Company, and founded the rival F.A. Reynolds company. Reynolds would later design the extremely successful Ambassador line of brasswind instruments for F. E. Olds.[3] The H.N. White Company began producing stringed instruments in 1935.[1]
Henderson White died in 1940. His brother, Hugh E. White, acted as president,[2] and his widow, Edna White, took over as president in 1941.[1] During World War II, the company received government contracts to assemble radar units and fuses.[5] Edna's daughter, Cathryn White Ludwig, married William F. Ludwig, Jr of the drum-percussion company W.F.L. Drum Company. Cathryn was named the Vice-President of H.N. White in 1945, making it one of the few companies in America headed by two women.[5]
H. N. White became a major player in the saxophone market dominated by Buescher, C.G. Conn, and Martin during the interwar years. King saxophones had brazed-on tonehole chimneys, which have significant advantages over both the soldered-on and drawn types used by other manufacturers. Brazing was also a relatively high cost process. The King Saxello was a soprano saxophone with a downward curve near the mouthpiece and a bell curved 90 degrees from the body, for optimal playing position and acoustic qualities. With improvements to saxophone design embodied by the King Zephyr in 1935, H. N. White's position as a leading manufacturer of saxophones was firmly established. In 1937 the Zephyr gained a double-socket neck that eliminated the large collar on the body tube at the neck joint and the Zephyr Special was introduced as a deluxe version with a changed bore, improved keytouches for the left hand table, and mother of pearl inlay on all keytouches. Sterling silver necks and bells became available.[4]
King Super 20 tenor saxophone
The King line's run of success continued after World War II, with highly desired lines of woodwind and brass instruments. Several famous musicians were featured playing King instruments, including Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, and Harry James.[5] The Zephyr Special was rebranded the Super 20 in 1945, with a changed lever mechanism for the neck octave key. With improved left hand cluster mechanisms introduced around 1949, the Super 20 represented the zenith of H. N. White's achievements as a saxophone manufacturer.[4] The visually and aurally striking horn was one of the most desired ever. However, new competition from Selmer (Paris), aided by the exchange rate between the French Franc and the US Dollar in the postwar era, put price pressure on the American manufacturers and H. N. White was no exception. Through the mid-1950s into the 60s, the imperative of cutting costs grew and features were dropped to simplify manufacture.[4] During that same period, the Zephyr was sold as a student-line instrument.
Starting in the early 1960s King imported saxophones from Strasser Marigaux & Lemaire (SML) of France, to be sold as the King Marigaux, as the profitability and market niche of their domestically-produced saxophones became increasingly problematic. Some saxophones from the Julius Keilwerth company of West Germany were imported to be sold as the King Tempo. Some saxophones from Amati of Czechoslovakia, and Kohlert, then located in West Germany, were imported to be sold as the King Lemaire.[4]
In 1965 the company was sold to the Seeburg Corporation of Eastlake, Ohio and the name was changed to "King Musical Instruments", reflecting the long absence of models produced under the "Cleveland" and "American Standard" brands. In 1968 Seeburg moved production to Eastlake and instituted a new round of cost-cutting that effectively ended the era of the Super 20 as a professional quality saxophone. The Zephyr model saxophone was discontinued during the early 1970s, followed by the Super 20 model in 1975.
In 1972 Seeburg-King acquired the Benge company, which produced a distinctive line of trumpets in Los Angeles, CA, shortly thereafter moving production to Anaheim. King was divested of its Anaheim operation in 1983, then used the Benge name for a different model of trumpet produced in Eastlake.
King emerged from the 1979 bankruptcy of Seeburg under the ownership of Seeburg's creditors. In 1983 King was sold to Daniel J. Henkin (1930-2012), owner of C.G. Conn. In 1985 Henkin sold his companies to the Swedish investment firm Skåne Gripen, who placed them under the new parent company "United Musical Instruments" (UMI).[1] UMI revived King's efforts in the student saxophone market, reintroducing the former Cleveland models 613 Alto and 615 Tenor, as well as assembling some Super 20s from pre-1975 stock.[6] Ownership of UMI passed to Skåne Gripen partner Bernhard Muskantor in 1990. Muskantor's interest in King was not merely as an investor; he had family roots in the music business and respect for the company's past accomplishments.[7] His ambitions for restoring King's status as a top-tier instrument manufacturer were reflected in the King Super 21 development project that produced between one and two dozen prototype saxophones for professional testing in 1995. A hard-headed view of production costs and the state of the market for high-end saxophones convinced UMI that the project was a no-go and production was cancelled.[4]Steinway Musical Instruments acquired UMI in 2000. Since 2003, King brand brasswinds are manufactured under Conn-Selmer, Inc., a subsidiary of Steinway MI.[8] Use of the Benge name for brasswinds was discontinued in 2005, although Benge models continue to be manufactured in Anaheim and marketed under the brand Burbank.
Related Research Articles
The saxophone is a type of single-reed woodwind instrument with a conical body, usually made of brass. As with all single-reed instruments, sound is produced when a reed on a mouthpiece vibrates to produce a sound wave inside the instrument's body. The pitch is controlled by opening and closing holes in the body to change the effective length of the tube. The holes are closed by leather pads attached to keys operated by the player. Saxophones are made in various sizes and are almost always treated as transposing instruments. Saxophone players are called saxophonists.
C. G. Conn Ltd., sometimes called Conn Instruments or commonly just Conn, is a former American manufacturer of musical instruments incorporated in 1915. It bought the production facilities owned by Charles Gerard Conn, a major figure in early manufacture of brasswinds and saxophones in the USA. Its early business was based primarily on brass instruments, which were manufactured in Elkhart, Indiana. During the 1950s the bulk of its sales revenue shifted to electric organs. In 1969 the company was sold in bankruptcy to the Crowell-Collier-MacMillan publishing company. Conn was divested of its Elkhart production facilities in 1970, leaving remaining production in satellite facilities and contractor sources.
Conn-Selmer, Inc. is an American manufacturer of musical instruments for concert bands, marching bands and orchestras. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Steinway Musical Instruments and was formed in 2003 by combining the Steinway properties, The Selmer Company and United Musical Instruments.
Henri Selmer Paris is a French enterprise, manufacturer of musical instruments based at Mantes-la-Ville near Paris. Founded in 1885, it is known as a producer of professional-grade woodwind and brass instruments, especially saxophones, clarinets and trumpets. Henri Selmer Paris used to be family-owned but was sold to Argos-Wityu in 2018.
Holton is a brand owned by the Conn-Selmer division of Steinway Musical Instruments. The original business was a used instrument shop began in 1898 by Frank Holton, a trombone player, in Chicago, Illinois. The firm built brass instruments for ten years in Chicago, then in Elkhorn, Wisconsin from 1918 until 2008, when production of Holton-branded instruments moved to Eastlake, Ohio. The business remained independent until it was acquired by Leblanc in 1964. Leblanc was acquired by Conn-Selmer in 2004 and its properties became subsidiaries of Conn-Selmer.
The Buescher Band Instrument Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments in Elkhart, Indiana, from 1894 to 1963. The company was acquired by the H&A Selmer Company in 1963. Selmer retired the Buescher brand in 1983.
The Martin Band Instrument Company was a musical instrument manufacturer in Elkhart, Indiana. The firm produced band instruments, including trumpets, cornets, fluegelhorns, trombones, and saxophones from 1908 through the 1960s. The brand was acquired by the Leblanc Corporation in 1971 and discontinued in 2007 after Leblanc's 2004 acquisition by Conn-Selmer.
The Varitone was a woodwind pickup and effects unit, allowing direct amplification of the instrument and the introduction of various electronic effects. It was marketed in 1967 by the Selmer Company, which developed units for flute, saxophone, and clarinet. The system included an integrated pickup microphone and a control box which allowed the player to use effects such as tremolo, basic EQ, simultaneous sub-octaves and echo in conjunction with a purpose-built amplifier. The ceramic microphone was developed to withstand high sound pressure and moisture levels, and built into the head joint of the flute, the neck-joint of the saxophone, and the barrel joint of the clarinet. The pickup was wired to a preamplifier and control box which was either mounted to the bottom key guard, clipped to the player's belt, or hung on a cord around the players neck.
The Julius Keilwerth company is a German saxophone manufacturer, established in 1925.
Seeburg was an American design and manufacturing company of automated musical equipment, such as orchestrions, jukeboxes, and vending equipment. Prior to manufacturing their signature jukebox suite of products, Seeburg was considered to be one of the "big four" of the top coin-operated phonograph companies alongside AMI, Wurlitzer, and Rock-Ola. At the height of jukebox popularity, Seeburg machines were synonymous with the technology and a major quotidian brand of American teenage life. The company went out of business after being sold to Stern Electronics in 1982.
Leblanc, Inc. was a musical instruments manufacturing company based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. The company was a woodwind instrument manufacturer known mainly for its clarinets. In 2004 the firm was sold to Conn-Selmer, a division of Steinway Musical Instruments. As a result, Leblanc ceased to exist as an independent operation, becoming a brand.
Yanagisawa Wind Instruments Co., Ltd. is a Japanese woodwind instrument manufacturing company known for its range of professional grade saxophones. Along with Yamaha, they are one of the leading manufacturers of saxophones in their country of origin. The company currently manufactures sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, and baritone saxophones.
Steinway Musical Instruments, Inc. is a worldwide musical instrument manufacturing and marketing conglomerate, based in Astoria, New York, the United States. It was formed in a 1995 merger between the Selmer Industries and Steinway Musical Properties, the parent company of Steinway & Sons piano manufacturers. From 1996 to 2013, Steinway Musical Instruments was traded at the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under the abbreviation LVB, for Ludwig van Beethoven. It was acquired by the Paulson & Co. private capital firm in 2013.
The King 3B is a medium-bore trombone currently manufactured by Conn-Selmer, Inc and sold as the "King 2103 Legend 3B." Popular with professional jazz musicians, the older models from the 1960s are known for their brilliant tone and fluidity in the upper register. One of several models of King trombones, the 3B has a .508-inch (12.9 mm) bore and an 8-inch (200 mm) bell. It is available with a yellow brass, gold brass, or sterling silver bell, with an F attachment, or as a valve trombone. The King 3B fits a small shank mouthpiece,
Elden Eugene Benge, was the principal trumpet of the Detroit Symphony Orchestra from 1928–1933; he held the same position in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra from 1933-1939. After moving to Chicago he began to experiment with designing his own trumpet, taking measurements from his personal instrument, a French Besson. By the end of 1935, using pre-made components along with parts he fashioned, he constructed a trumpet for his own use.
F. E. Olds was a manufacturer of musical instruments founded by Frank Ellsworth Olds in Los Angeles, California in the early 1900s. The company made brass instruments, especially trombones, cornets, and trumpets.
The Bublitz Case Company was a manufacturer of musical instrument cases in Elkhorn, Wisconsin. Assets of the Bublitz Case Company were bought by G. Leblanc Corporation, a manufacturer of musical instruments in Kenosha, Wisconsin.
Ernst Albert Couturier was best known as a cornet player who toured as a "virtuoso" performer on the concert programs of bands of the day. He promoted the Holton Band Instrument Company for a decade in that capacity before applying his own unique inventions to the production of his own line of brass band instruments between 1918 and 1923.
Balanced action refers to new models of saxophones and trumpets introduced by Henri Selmer & Cie during the 1930s, and has different meanings depending on whether one is referring to the trumpet or saxophone model.
↑ There are examples of Super 20s with serial numbers consistent with late 1980s production dates. Pete Hales of saxpics.com has surmised that UMI assembled some from unused pre-1975 factory stock during that period.
↑ Bernhard Muskantor on the future of United Musical Instruments,The Music Trades, June 1990
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