"True Tone" was the brand name of the first line of saxophone

Saxophone

The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...

s produced by the Buescher Band Instrument Company

Buescher Band Instrument Company

The Buescher Band Instrument Company was a manufacturer of musical instruments in Elkhart, Indiana.-History:The company was founded by Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher . He accompanied his family to Goshen, Indiana and then to Elkhart in 1875. In 1876 he found employment with C.G...

 between 1905 and 1932. The name was stamped into the back of the instrument below the thumb rest, combined with a stylised tuning fork

Tuning fork

A tuning fork is an acoustic resonator in the form of a two-pronged fork with the prongs formed from a U-shaped bar of elastic metal . It resonates at a specific constant pitch when set vibrating by striking it against a surface or with an object, and emits a pure musical tone after waiting a...

 logo. The instruments were made in the company's factory in Elkhart, Indiana

Elkhart, Indiana

Elkhart is a city in Elkhart County, Indiana, United States. The city is located east of South Bend, northwest of Fort Wayne, east of Chicago, and north of Indianapolis...

.

True Tone wasn't really a brand name. By the turn of the past century they were a mix and match of tuning pitch, A=446 (high pitch) A=440 (low pitch) A=438 on older horns... A number of musicians, music institutions and instrument makers begun to realize the need of a standard pitch, "one for all" throughout the world. Ferdinand August "Gus" Buescher started to make his instruments available in both commonly accepted pitches (high and low) but sometime around high 1890s and mid 1900s he made a decision about what pitch system should be the one. He started to label his horns (which included clarinets, and the whole brass family) TRUE-TONE. This stamp is never present on High Pitch horns (he made very few HP horns and I've never seen one Buescher's in HP made past 1910) and it's there even when horns start to have different (as in real) model names: Aristocrat, 400's, and such. Around 1938 or so the True Tone logo gets redesigned (stylized letering, loses the pitchfork, triangle and bell) and you find it in his entire production from the early 1900s to the Selmer bought out era in 1963~5

Why the early horns stuck with the True Tone model name? because many other makes were advertising fancy names, like "Wonder" "Handcraft" and such, and in newspaper ads and such, Buescher always presented his instruments with the True Tone speech. The horns are clearly branded THE BUESCHER - Made in Elkhart, IND (some will say USA and some don't)
Models available were:

• Sopranino (straight) in E
• Straight Soprano in C (one octave above C-Melody)
• Straight soprano
  Soprano saxophone
  The soprano saxophone is a variety of the saxophone, a woodwind instrument, invented in 1840. The soprano is the third smallest member of the saxophone family, which consists of the soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, baritone, bass, contrabass and tubax.A transposing instrument pitched in...
  
   in B
• Curved soprano in B
• "Tipped Bell" Soprano in B (very short serial lifespan, around 205XXX to 220XXX)
• Alto
  Alto saxophone
  The alto saxophone is a member of the saxophone family of woodwind instruments invented by Belgian instrument designer Adolphe Sax in 1841. It is smaller than the tenor but larger than the soprano, and is the type most used in classical compositions...
  
   in E
• Straight Alto in E (very short serial lifespan, around 205XXX to 220XXX)
• "Melody" tenor in C ("C-melody")
  C melody saxophone
  The C melody saxophone is a saxophone pitched in the key of C, one whole step above the tenor saxophone. In the UK it is sometimes referred to as a "C tenor", and in France as a "tenor en ut". The C melody was part of the series of saxophones pitched in C and F, intended by the instrument's...
  
  
• Tenor
  Tenor saxophone
  The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor, with the alto, are the two most common types of saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B, and written as a transposing instrument in the treble...
  
   in B
• Baritone
  Baritone saxophone
  The baritone saxophone, often called "bari sax" , is one of the largest and lowest pitched members of the saxophone family. It was invented by Adolphe Sax. The baritone is distinguished from smaller sizes of saxophone by the extra loop near its mouthpiece...
  
   in E
• Bass
  Bass saxophone
  The bass saxophone is the second largest member of the saxophone family. Its design is similar to that of the baritone saxophone, with a loop of tubing near the mouthpiece. It was the first type of saxophone presented to the public, when Adolphe Sax exhibited a bass saxophone in C at an exhibition...
  
   in B

Finishes available were:

• bare brass
• silver plated (satin body, bright keys and accents)
• silver plated body (satin) with gold plated keys
• gold plate (satin body, bright keys and accents)
• thick quadruple gold plate, all hand burnished (shiny)
• Same as above but engraved from the underside of the bell rim to the neck, with Ivory rollers.

History of changes to the True Tone model

• Bare brass and silver-plated versions were manufactured in roughly equal numbers, though a few models were silver-plated and then coated with burnished gold.
• Early True Tones had a range up to High E.
• In 1921, Buescher patented a new invention called the "Snap-On Pad". This innovation is important as it is considered the first real "resonator". Pads are snapped into the keys with metal discs that secure their positions.
• Until around production number 190XXX, True Tones had circular G keys with a mother-of-pearl insert i.e. they look similar to key-covers on the main body of a saxophone. However, from serial numbers 190XXX through to 270XXX, the G key was crescent-shaped with a roller.
• Around the introduction of the crescent-shaped G key, the alternate-F key (front-F key) became standard. Most instruments made before that time do not have the alternate-F key, although some may have been fitted with one, and the front F mechanism was offered as optional by the factory. There's also many horns that, fully factory refurbished years later, will have the crescent, the snaps, the front F mechanism, some even will have norton springs retrofit.
• True Tones typically have drawn tone holes with parallel (straight) sides, but there was a period in which you could choose to get your horn made with thick beveled soldered on tone holes. You could get either drawn or soldered on tone holes. They didn't continue with the soldered on holes past the '20s. Reportedly this was one of the grudges that Gus had with the board of is company, they didn't allow him to offer that anymore. The reasons were that it cost way much to manufacture, produced less consistent results and had a million of issues afterwards, maintenance wise. This led to versions of Buescher stenciling Martin horns, but martin tone holes has a different bevel and thickness and the tubes (body parts) are clearly different.

Neck styles

(Altos only!)
There are multiple series of necks on the True Tone.

• #1
• #01
• #02 (sometimes written as two stars or two 'X's)
• #03

• General views on the quality of these different series are that #1 and #02 are viewed unfavorably, while #01 and #03 are thought to have the best intonation and altissimo, respectively.