I have been holding out for a reasonably priced Pedler alto, or any good antique alto, and finally I hit pay dirt with one from Taylor Music, Inc. in South Dakota;- in business since 1956. I like it when I get to deal with a company with a little history.
It's Harry Pedler 175A (low Eb key) model with a nicely engraved bell, but no other marks I can find and no serial number. It does look like the same wood as my Harry bass, reported to be rosewood in the 1920s catalog, and the manual double register is the same kind of mechanism. It's a miniature of the bass, except only two plateau keys, the left thumb and the LH-4 tone hole. This might take some stretching to get used to, but the trade off is that it will be as easy to set up as a soprano Boehm with rings.
This is my first alto and with no mouthpiece yet (need one to fit a 24.4mm socket), all I can say is that it looks like it should play as is. Of course there's room for some tweaks everywhere, there are some newer pads mixed with the old and a couple with some mold to kill. It needs cleaning up. There is the typical flatness on what should be a round bell bow, but it isn't crushed inward. That kind of work goes to Charles King here for correction.
Visible previous repair is one (lowest on the body) key cup replacement done so well that the only clue is that the cup is not quite the same shape (looks like a silver plated sax key cup). The rest of the metal is original. I really like the compact case it came in, which is original and in great condition and very sturdy. These were the seller's photos and better than usual.
