Vito Alto Sax s/n 281A

This may be among the earliest Vito altos made in Japan.
My thanks to Gary Thompson, GT Custom Pro Sax Shoppe, for bringing it to my attention, taking the pictures and allowing me to share it with you.

Mechanically this sax is identical to a YAS-21 alto, except:
- The keyguard is Vito Kenosha.
- The lefthand thumbest is Vito Kenosha.
- The serial number is in a different place.

It does not say "Made in Japan" on it.
And the serial number '281A' fits into the Vito Kenosha series.

This sax may have been made early on, when Vito was first contemplating outsourcing to Yamaha. Maybe Yamaha sent them a series of prototypes and the guys in Kenosha, slapped on a Kenosha keyguard and thumbrest and engraved a Vito serial number on it.
The Yamaha website says the yas-21 was in production 1971 - 1979.
Again, just guessing, I would conjecture that early in the YAS-21 production run, Vito (LeBlanc) was working with Yamaha on specifications for the Vito-brtanded, Yamaha-made horn.