United States · since 1894
Conn serial numbers
Elkhart's founding workshop, and the first maker to publish its numbers.
C.G. Conn founded the Elkhart band-instrument industry in 1875 and published serial tables while most makers kept ledgers closed. Woodwinds follow a reed-instrument sequence from 1895 to 1962, a short letter-prefixed window from 1963 to 1972, and a saxophone sequence that resumes in 1976.
The numbering
- Conn woodwind sequence (Reed Mouthpiece Instruments), 1895-1962
Saxophone · Clarinet — 66 ranges - Conn saxophones 1976 and later (official Conn-Selmer table)
Saxophone — 16 ranges - conn-letter-prefix-1963-1972
Saxophone · Clarinet
Conn kept separate sequences for 'Reed Mouthpiece Instruments' (woodwinds: saxophones, clarinets, flutes, oboes, bassoons) and for 'Cup Mouthpiece Instruments' (brass). This is the woodwind sequence, official Conn-Selmer tables, 1895-1962; block boundary = first serial of the year. From 1963 Conn added a letter prefix (see the letter-prefix series).
Official Conn-Selmer table 'C.G. Conn Saxophones (1976 - present)'. From 1987 on, add 50 to the serial-number PREFIX to get the year (e.g. prefix 38 = 1988); the 1988 row of the source lists two alternative ranges. The table's own footnote says the 1980-1986 numeric bands are for student trumpets/cornets only, so the saxophone rows in that span are prefixes, not numbers.
Official Conn-Selmer table lists woodwind serials with a letter prefix: c00501 = 1963, c73854 = 1964, e54106 = 1965, h31247 = 1966, k35274 = 1967, l20454 = 1968, m = 1969, n = 1970, p = 1971, r = 1972. The letter is a block counter, not a plain year letter (d, f, g, i, j, o, q are missing and one letter spans two years), so a date needs the letter AND the number. Formal decoding belongs to the code-table layer; no numeric ranges are emitted here.
Codes, eras and engraving
Engraving era: portrait / Naked Lady / Shooting Star — 1905-1970 (woodwind line)
Bell engraving changes with the model generation: the 'Naked Lady' (a nude female portrait inside a pentagon) marks the M-series Artist horns; the 'Shooting Star' design marks the 14M/16M Director student/intermediate horns; the Deco-style 'art deco' pattern is associated with the Transitional period. From about 1920 Conn also recorded the instrument type with a letter in the serial (M = saxophones, B = trumpets, H = slide trombones), and 'HP' / 'High Pitch' was stamped above the serial number on high-pitch horns made until about 1940.
Engraving dates the MODEL ERA, not the instrument: an unmarked bell can still be a Naked-Lady-era horn (factory and aftermarket engraving vary), and the same design spans a decade. Use it to pick the model, then the serial for the year.
| art deco / 'Transitional' bell engraving | ||
| 'Naked Lady' (nude female portrait in a pentagon) | ||
| 'Shooting Star' engraving | Introduced with the 16M tenor and 14M alto Director models (about 1955). Do not confuse a Director with the 50M student model that shares the engraving style. | |
| 'Perfected Wonder' / Portrait model engraving (finish 00/000) | The heavily hand-engraved, gold-plated New Wonder finishes: finish 000 'Virtuoso Deluxe' (1922, all models by end of 1924) and finish 00 "Artist's Special"; the elaborate engraving echoes the New Wonder Victor brasswinds. 'Perfected Wonder' properly belongs to Conn cornets, not saxes. | |
| 'HP' / 'High Pitch' stamped above the serial number | Conn built high-pitch horns (around A=457) until about 1940; players cannot use them with modern instruments. Low-pitch horns carry no such stamp. |
Finish codes printed in Conn catalogues — 1922 catalog through the 1960s
A finish code dates nothing by itself: it records what the horn was ordered in, and after 1955 most other finishes became custom order.
Bell-key layout as a series marker (split vs one side) — about 1920-1935
The switch from split bell keys to bell keys on one side of the body (left-hand side for alto and tenor, right-hand side for baritone and bass) is the physical boundary between the New Wonder and the M-series Artist horns. It started at about s/n 220xxx for baritone and bass (late New Wonder), about 237xxx for the alto (which also brought the underslung octave key), and about 263xxx for the tenor, which is the generally accepted start of the 'Naked Lady' series.
| split bell keys | New Wonder layout: bell keys split across the body. Split-bell-key baritones continued through the early Aristocrat era at Buescher and through the Conn New Wonder and early Transitional horns. | |
| one-side bell keys, left-hand side (alto, tenor) | Alto from about s/n 237xxx (with the underslung octave key), tenor from about 263xxx. | |
| one-side bell keys, right-hand side (baritone, bass) | Baritone and bass moved to one-side bell keys from about s/n 220xxx, i.e. before the alto and tenor did. |
Student-line numbers do not follow the pro sequence — late 1950s-1970s
Conn student instruments generally carry a four- or five-digit number followed by a letter (for example 1338V). These numbers bear no relation to the professional Conn serial sequence, so they cannot be looked up in the Conn-Selmer table, which covers the reed-mouthpiece professional sequence and the 1976+ saxophone series.
Resolver rule: if the number reads as digits+letter and the horn is a student model, use the era evidence (keyguards, engraving, country of origin) and do not force it into the pro chart.
| four or five digits followed by a letter (e.g. 1338V) | Student-line numbering; unrelated to the professional sequence. Conn moved most student/intermediate saxophone production to Nogales, Arizona after acquiring Best Manufacturing in 1959/60, and production left Elkhart entirely in 1971. |
Models in the archive
12 models catalogued — Minimal catalogue: only the models the era/decoder layer needs. Full catalogue and prices are chat-4 work.
Questions
Can this archive date Conn instruments from the serial number?
Yes — the archive covers 2 numbering sequence(s) and 82 dating ranges from 1895 to 1991, compiled from published maker records and reference charts. Every answer states its source and confidence.
Where is the serial number on a Conn instrument?
For Saxophones the common location is on the lower body tube near the neck receiver, or at the bell bow — lightly engraved, sometimes two numbers on one horn.
What if my Conn serial number is not found?
Recheck the characters exactly as marked, including any letters. Letter prefixes often belong to student or stencil lines. Some periods may not be covered yet — every refusal here says why.