Last year, a reader emailed me to inform me on his unique Selmer Cigar Cutter saxophone pitched in E. It turns out it was a high pitched alto saxophone. Selmer was not in the business of manufacturing high pitched saxophones, based on the information from Selmer there were only 10 made in the year of 1932. But it turns out that is not quite the whole story. I just got an email from Bernd, a saxophonist in Germany, who also has a high pitched alto from Selmer.
From the picture above, the differences in body size is quite apparent. The high pitched saxophone has been relaquered so the detail in the engraving is not quite as sharp. The serial number is 154xx, which dates it to 1931. Unlike the previous high pitched saxophone, this one does not have any high pitched or “AD” markings. And with the right mouthpiece, this saxophone can also be played in the key of E.
So what is going on? Was Selmer in the business of making high pitched saxophones? This is all during the Great Depression, did they expand the effort to make high pitched saxophones for financial reasons? Did they buy from other manufacturers and stamp their name on the bell? That theory is unlikely because there are too many Selmer details on the saxophone to attribute it to another manufacturer. I found another Selmer saxophone from 1931, serial number 15459 at Getasax.com. It is helpful to compare the body styles and the details, and it’s gold plated. Another detail unique to Selmer at this time period is the addition of a trill key, right above the E flat key. This detail was missing from the other high pitched saxophone.
So what is going on? How many more high pitched Selmers are there? We now know of two in existence, I have a feeling there are more.
the Operatic Saxophone 
Most HP saxes made in the 1920s/’30s turn up in Australia. I know nothing about how they might have been used there, but evidently there was a demand for them, however small.
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