I'm not sure I've played a "good" 10M, since I haven't played nearly as many as I have say, JK's, or even Hohner Presidents. (Talk about strangely backward, huh?
)
That being said, I have a 10M. Hate it. It is the only horn I own that I would consider selling. That said, other Conn owners who have played it said it sounds exactly like a 10M.... Huh??? I have long wondered: If this is what they sound like, then why are they such a big deal?
Don't get me wrong, the horn sounds fine. It has spot on intonation. Is so free blowing, a chimp could learn how to play sax on it. It does overtones incredibly easily, thus the altissimo notes are a snap. It plays evenly across the entire range. Blah, blah, blah.... The only thing I can fault the horn for, is that its tone is very
white bread.
I have a rather eclectic--and yes rather numerous--collection of personal tenors. Nowhere near the number that Sarge from WWS had mind you, but none the less, around the neighbourhood of 10. Sarge and I often talked of our love for obscure horns, and shared stories of the interesting tone and colour that these various makes, models, and even sub-models of horns--most of which players here in North America have not played for themselves--were capable of producing.
It is through this lens that I view the 10M as an incredibly boring horn. Yes, it does everything a horn should be able to do. That being said, it has nothing special that makes it stand out in the crowd of interesting-sounding vintage horns I own. It sounds just like any other tenor sax, with no discernible "something" that makes you say: Wow, listen to that sax! What could that be?
I should mention, Sarge was the tech who did the overhaul on my 10M. He turned a train wreck into a great working, great playing saxophone, which in his words: "Sounds exactly like a 10M should." To which I replied: "Really?" I nearly left it with him right then and there... That's when we had our first discussion about our love of oddball horns, and why the 10M was destined to disappoint me....
I should note, it was that same day I first play-tested what would become my main tenor: a 1950 King Zephyr. Now that is a horn with something "special"...