Saxophone Company, Saxophone Factory
Home > History
The story of LC (Lien Cheng) saxophones begins in the early’40 when Chang Lien-Cheng – a descendant of a family of farmers – decided to follow his heart and became a painter and jazz musician. At that time it was very unusual to play a western instrument but the passion for music kept him going.
Together with some friends he started a band called “Jazz Band” and they traveled trough Taiwan. But after a short time a fire destroyed their only saxophone. Saxophones were very expensive and rare in those days. The price of a saxophone was as high as the price of 1 acre of farmland. Lien-Cheng wanted to try and see if he could restore the precious instrument.
He decided to disassemble the damaged saxophone completely and rebuild all the elements one by one. To get the basic material tho make the saxophone he even took copper from doors and he melted a silver coin as soldering material. In the process of making his first saxophone, he even lost his right eye when a piece of metal bounced back… Yet Lien-Cheng persisted and after a a long time of research and a lot of experimenting he succeed to build the first Taiwanese saxophone. The buyer was a Filipino musician who offered a generous amount of money – enough to launch Lien-Cheng as a professional saxophone builder.
Until his death in 1986 Lien-Cheng passed his knowledge to numerous pupils. He was a very strict teacher who demanded perfection. He could not accept any errors, flaws and anomalies. When one of his students messed up big time he was so furious that the student got a beating and he promptly destroyed the saxophone. About 200 students completed their training from which many of them started their own businesses.
During the 70s, the Taiwanese saxophone industry peaked and 30 factories in Houli saxophone produced more than 30,000 instruments a year, representing about 1/ 3 of world production.
The quality of saxophones was already that good Yamaha wanted to work together with Lien-Cheng but ultimately they could not agree on the proportions of the shares. An interesting detail is that the Yamaha saxophone builders had learned their trade in the Chang factory.
The factories in Houli always manufactured saxophones and components for other brands, so they remained in the shadow. The Changs regret that “Jupiter” (which came from Yamaha) is the only independent Taiwanese brand that penetrated the global market.
The saxophone companies in Houli were mainly small family businesses, often with no more than 4 or 8 workers. Because of their small scale operations and little knowledge of marketing, they depended on agents.
In 1980 there was a big crisis when one of the greatest saxophone agents left and decided to produce saxophones on a large scale. Many saxophone factories were wiped away. China began to rise very strongly. The Taiwanese saxophone builders could not compete with the extremely low Chinese wages and mass production. Of the original 30 factories in Houli only 13 remained.
Even though China certainly can not match the quality of the Houli saxophones the Taiwanese saxophone makers are aware that they can not risk a second surprise, so they called in extra help.
With the financial support of the Taiwanese government the “Lien-Cheng” factory could cooperate with the research institute that was established to support the Taiwanese saxophone industry with in-depth research with all the possible scientific and technical resources possible to study the best saxophones available, in order to create even better saxophones and ensure a stronger position for the legendary saxophone builders of Houli.
The efforts of the research has yielded results and findings, and which led to including a new saxophone from 2009 has become for the European public. Tsung-Yao, the grandson of Lien-Cheng (who was 13 when he made his first saxophone) and his wife, Tsai Jui- are leading the company that Lien-Cheng more than 60 years ago founded.
The Changs are no ordinary copycats – no – they want and they will match and even improve the saxophone quality – following the legacy of grandfather Lien-Cheng. From now on they come out with their own brand, “Lien-Cheng.
Together with some friends he started a band called “Jazz Band” and they traveled trough Taiwan. But after a short time a fire destroyed their only saxophone. Saxophones were very expensive and rare in those days. The price of a saxophone was as high as the price of 1 acre of farmland. Lien-Cheng wanted to try and see if he could restore the precious instrument.
He decided to disassemble the damaged saxophone completely and rebuild all the elements one by one. To get the basic material tho make the saxophone he even took copper from doors and he melted a silver coin as soldering material. In the process of making his first saxophone, he even lost his right eye when a piece of metal bounced back… Yet Lien-Cheng persisted and after a a long time of research and a lot of experimenting he succeed to build the first Taiwanese saxophone. The buyer was a Filipino musician who offered a generous amount of money – enough to launch Lien-Cheng as a professional saxophone builder.
Until his death in 1986 Lien-Cheng passed his knowledge to numerous pupils. He was a very strict teacher who demanded perfection. He could not accept any errors, flaws and anomalies. When one of his students messed up big time he was so furious that the student got a beating and he promptly destroyed the saxophone. About 200 students completed their training from which many of them started their own businesses.During the 70s, the Taiwanese saxophone industry peaked and 30 factories in Houli saxophone produced more than 30,000 instruments a year, representing about 1/ 3 of world production.
The quality of saxophones was already that good Yamaha wanted to work together with Lien-Cheng but ultimately they could not agree on the proportions of the shares. An interesting detail is that the Yamaha saxophone builders had learned their trade in the Chang factory.
The factories in Houli always manufactured saxophones and components for other brands, so they remained in the shadow. The Changs regret that “Jupiter” (which came from Yamaha) is the only independent Taiwanese brand that penetrated the global market.
The saxophone companies in Houli were mainly small family businesses, often with no more than 4 or 8 workers. Because of their small scale operations and little knowledge of marketing, they depended on agents.
In 1980 there was a big crisis when one of the greatest saxophone agents left and decided to produce saxophones on a large scale. Many saxophone factories were wiped away. China began to rise very strongly. The Taiwanese saxophone builders could not compete with the extremely low Chinese wages and mass production. Of the original 30 factories in Houli only 13 remained.
Even though China certainly can not match the quality of the Houli saxophones the Taiwanese saxophone makers are aware that they can not risk a second surprise, so they called in extra help.
With the financial support of the Taiwanese government the “Lien-Cheng” factory could cooperate with the research institute that was established to support the Taiwanese saxophone industry with in-depth research with all the possible scientific and technical resources possible to study the best saxophones available, in order to create even better saxophones and ensure a stronger position for the legendary saxophone builders of Houli.
The efforts of the research has yielded results and findings, and which led to including a new saxophone from 2009 has become for the European public. Tsung-Yao, the grandson of Lien-Cheng (who was 13 when he made his first saxophone) and his wife, Tsai Jui- are leading the company that Lien-Cheng more than 60 years ago founded.
The Changs are no ordinary copycats – no – they want and they will match and even improve the saxophone quality – following the legacy of grandfather Lien-Cheng. From now on they come out with their own brand, “Lien-Cheng.
