Jason DuMars is a saxophonist, author of the Saxophone Buyer's Guide, and visual artist.  He began engraving at the age of 15 when he first saw a picture of a vintage Martin Indiana saxophone.  To the dismay of his parents, Jason began engraving everything metal he could find, including household objects.  As his obsession gained momentum, he drew engraving patterns over virtually every piece of paper he came in contact with including homework, textbooks and bills.  In 1988, Jason engraved his first saxophone, a King 613 alto, with the broken pointy end of a  stool leg.  Although the results were not very good, he kept engraving until the point was completely worn away.  Shortly thereafter, Jason discovered an electric vibrating engraver in his step father's tool kit and began furiously engraving everything previously unengraved in the household.  Again, this was met with some resistence.  During his college years, Jason continued drawing patterns and occasionally electrically engraving the entirety of horns that he bought for resale.  There are roughly 6 of these horns out there.

For several years engraving was left on the back burner.  In 2002, however, Jason finally discovered hand engraving tools for the first time.  Although he had seen the process firsthand on a trip to Elkhart, Indiana in 1998, he had never considered using the old fashioned hand tools himself.  He purchased a set from eBay and set about teaching himself how to engrave with the new technique.  His first experiments were on his 1939 Selmer Balanced action and were not very good.  After some practice, he engraved an Armstrong baritone saxophone and the results were well received.  The following horns became more and more elaborate as Jason gained mastery of the new tools.

In late 2002, Jason began engraving horns for other people for the very first time, and this is how this site came to be.

Jason At Work:

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