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Just one more time ...

Gandalfe

Striving to play the changes in a melodic way.
Staff member
Administrator
Couldn't resist ...

AnotherSax.png
 
Couldn't resist ...

9034
I am sooo lucky that my wife tolerates my saxophone purchases. Of course, it was obvious what she was getting into when she met me. Also, I usually sell saxes for more than I paid for them. My next sale will help to finance a new car for her - probably good for years of saxophone good will.
 
I feel good about how many saxes I have then, as it's less than all of you who posted. =P
I "just" have a Soprano, Two Altos, and a Tenor.
Other instruments might be a bit different though, considering I have bought a bassoon, 2 clarinets, and a trumpet in the last 3 months.
In my defense, they cost less than $750 total, and one of the clarinets I bought only for the mouthpiece with it...
And I "only" have 7 Clarinets of all shapes and sizes...here...with around the same number at home...
(several of which need repair and some of which will be sold.)
 
What are you selling Randy?

Oh, and I'm not confessing how many saxes I have.... I'm actually not sure anymore. Somewhere north of 30.

Thing is, I don't buy mine for top dollar. I like buying mine locally from the original owner--if at all possible. For the most part they are minty--or pretty close to it--or at worst, in extremely good condition, but in need of restoration. I then get my tech to do overhaul/restore for them me... Or not.

Some are not restored, and perhaps never will be. I just play them in the condition that they are. (Like my Pierret and Kohlert tenors).
 
1 Alto
1 Euphonium
2 Eb Clarinets
2 C clarinets
23 Bb Boehm system clarinets
1 A Boehm system clarinet
2 Albert system Bb clarinets
2 Oehler system clarinets
1 Bass clarinet
1 Flute
1 Bass Recorder
1 Bagpipe chanter
3 classical guitars

Some of these are restored, some not. Some will be sold.
 
Flutes
  • Armstrong 104N - needs overhaul.
Clarinets
  • Leblanc Noblet 40 (main)
  • Leblanc Noblet 27 - needs work,
  • Buffet E-11 - needs work
  • Vito 7214 - repadded. plays well, but failed the suction test. tried to improve, but ended up melting a hole that I am now trying to replace
  • Yamaha YCL-34 - thrashed, with a large chunk of the bell tenon missing.
  • La-Rue wooden clarinet - needs overhaul, bought for $10 at thrift
  • Noblet Bass - work in progress....
  • Martin Freres Albert System - not even sure where this is. needs overhaul, but its probably the lowest priority.

Saxophones
  • Heimer Curved Soprano - bought at pawn for $100, small adjustments got it playing. could use some further work.
  • Conn Director Alto - needs overhaul
  • Vito 7141 Alto - just a few adjustments needed
  • Yanagisawa A880 (main)
  • Buescher 400 floral Alto - playable, needs work
  • Rene Duval Alto (orsi stencil) - non original neck. currently in pieces
  • Champion Alto (orsi stencil) - needs overhaul
  • King 613 Alto - in pieces. might make this a dedicated horn for experimenting on since it is neither interesting nor well-liked
  • Selmer Bundy - needs overhaul

  • Buescher 400 floral Tenor - (Main)
  • Selmer Bundy Tenor - undergoing torture...I mean...repairs.. playable in a pinch
  • Conn 16M - frankenhorn, non original bell guard. needs overhaul
  • King Zephyr Tenor (1929) - Needs overhaul. bent upper body, stuck high Eb key.
  • Buescher TrueTone Bari -
Cheap Rogue guitar
a small handful of pennywhistles.

I'd really like to eventually get rid of ta lot and have maybe two of each...SATB,
 
With an alto clarinet and two C mel saxes, I don't even know how many instruments I have.

You have an alto clarinet and 2 C mels as well Jim? Or you were referring to John? I thought I was the only one who had such an oddball collection among us... It is pretty weird after all....

That said, I'm glad Jim that I'm not the only one who is unsure about the number of instruments they own. When people ask me, I always get weird looks when I say: I'm not sure. Somewhere north of 30.

I used to know exactly how many, but after the vintage market crashed around 2009 or so, I got a whole bunch at really prices, so that's why I lost track. I'm not in the market for any anymore, and could even be persuaded to part with one or two... Provided the price is right. But the ones I am willing to part with, are not the ones that people would want.

I also have various record of mine. I have an inventory of my music gear on an Excel spread sheets. I have a few copies actually--including on 2 different thumb drives in a fire safe. Included with these are photos of all my horns. The pics are also backed up on the server my site lives on... Yah... Call me slightly paranoid. ;)
 
There was a brief time in the 1980s when I had about a dozen saxes and clarinets, a WX-11 wind controller, two keyboards, and two or three sound modules. Well, it was the 80s.

I believe I have the list of Paul Cohen's horns from many years ago. Over 100. G'head and top that :p.
 
IMO, museums tend to be the worst place for instruments, with some possible exceptions of really big museums (e.g. MOMA, Smithsonian). I've looked at horns from a bunch of museums and most of them are in unplayable condition. That's definitely true for the Musical Instruments Museum out here in Phoenix. At least dust the horns every now and then!

For years, I've had the thought that if I did win the lottery, I'd buy a whole bunch of vintage horns and let folks come in and try 'em out. If they're not being played, they get put back in a sealed glass case so people could at least look at them. If you're out-of-state and you want to try one, no problem. Just give me a credit card number so I can bill you the replacement cost if you don't send it back.

I'd also hire out a photographer that has a full 360 degree camera set and start photographing everything I could get my hands on. There are too many nice horns out there that are in bad shape or the owner doesn't know how to take a non-blurry picture (I'm looking you, you 90% of the folks on ebay). Some of these are uncommon enough that I'll never see one again.
 
There are too many nice horns out there that are in bad shape or the owner doesn't know how to take a non-blurry picture (I'm looking you, you 90% of the folks on ebay).

It would be nice if someone like Quinn made a YouTube video on how to properly photograph an instrument. I found one video for an auction house for stringed instruments, but that was it. I did see one useful video that talked about proper lighting for still subjects using diffusers.
 
From a photography perspective, there is simply no comparison between Dave Kessler's photos and Quinn's. Dave's win hands down. Dave has virtually no reflections/distractions in his pics, while Quinn's are nothing if not full of them.

Whose are perhaps even better than Dave's are Stephen Howard's. I spoke with Steve about how he did his for the Saxophone Manual, and was quite surprised at the simplicity of it--an old claw foot bath tub.

I have gone the light box route for the last number of years. For the most part that has reduced reflection "noise" on the shiny surface of the horns. What I really ought to do is re-photograph all of my horns that I did outdoors in 2008 (?) at our old place that are full of weirdly reflected distractions ranging from the maple tree to our back of our house.

That's the challenge photographing horns: their finish. Unlacqured saxes are not an issue, but the newer and shinier they are--and the bigger they are--the harder they are to get a really good photo of.

FWIW, I use Panasonic DSLR cameras (well, technically they're not DSLR because they're mirrorless, but let's not go down that rabbit hole ;) ); a telephoto lens; and yes, a tripod. For the last number of years I have shot each image in multiple exposures--ranging from 3 to 7--(bracketing) and then combined them together using a separate HDR program. Then I finish each image off in Adobe Photoshop Elements. The next time I have to replace Elements, I will move away from it and switch to Lightroom with a my HDR plugin already included. This will save me a number of steps.

In case you're wondering what my saxophone images look like, they look like this...

Front-View.jpg
 
The main thing I like about Quinn's pics is that he takes an awful lot of them. Dave, not so much. Unfortunately. Of course, Randy Cole is better than the both of them. WorldWideSax.com and GetASax.com do a pretty decent job, too.

Two related things:
My next purchase is a 35" to 43" 4K HDR IPS 10-bit color TV to replace one of my dying 27" monitors. That's hopefully going to be by the end of the year.

I had the fun opportunity to compare, side-by-side, a decent 1080p Dell display, a 2K iMac (1440p), a 4K iMac (2160p), and a 5K iMac (2880p). Going from the 1080 to the 2K is a significant difference. 2K to 4K is noticeable, but not earth-shattering. 4K to 5K is worth the (IIRC) extra $100 or so for the screen update, any more than that ... not so much. There are also 8K, if you want to get to stupidly high-priced TVs ($73,000 for a 70-inch).
 
My profession and passion is also the computer world. I did build a new computer this year, as my old one was slowly dying. That was about $1000. However, it should last as long as my last one (5+ years) and it's tax-deductible.

Last year, I bought a used (1 or 2 year old) Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro laptop, because my personal iPads are no longer being updated by Apple and my work laptop is junk. That was around $400, which was a steal, and also a tax deduction.
 
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