Picked this one up locally for $75 (with a mismatched clarinet as a throw-in). Really hard to beat that for a tenor saxophone with no pieces missing. Here are my impressions:
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GOOD: very substantial neck brace.
BAD: parallel pivot screws. Insufficient reinforcement for a horn so often thrown into marching duties. Noisy action. lots of empty space between rods and posts.
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This was in unplayable condition with the palm keys and high-F pads completely moth-eaten
RH side palm-actuated pads were compromised.
Had a few dents that would complicate pad seating including the low Eb/C post pushed into the body.
Low C brace was partially off.
Missing a lot of silencing and regulating materials.
upper and lower stack pads leaking
Luckily, most of the larger pads are in fair condition and can be adjusted, same with those on the bell.
This thing has lived a fairly hard life. It has scratches throughout the body with dirt, dust, and other odd material hanging between the keywork. As is normal for the dilapidated instruments I buy, the nickle plate is coated with that grey icky tarnish. The last tech that dealt with the high F and low Eb keys did so choosing to work with the malformed instrument rather than remove the dents. This was my first foray into dent work, and for this very purpose I bought items N31 & N81S from Ferrees.
Trouble is I burned the lacquer trying to get the solder to flow juuuust right on that one post. Live and learn, I guess. I'm an amateur, after all. My other solders went well.
Don't really know what I'm going to do with this thing yet when it's finished. I learned on a comparable alto in school only to move onto a Yanagisawa for college that changed my perspective of saxophones entirely. These things are kind of clanky, even in certain places after the application of appropriate silencing materials...
Keep for nostalgia? Sell for tool money?
I may like it given that I like Bueschers and this thing is a scion of Buescher. It's funny, Buescher people say they love these things as student instruments, they say the Yamaha tone is soul-less and empty by comparison. For some reason, these same people talk down the other post-Selmer products (as if they weren't made in the same factories by the same machines and people), but talk these up????
Anyway, more to come on this after I finish the project.
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GOOD: very substantial neck brace.
BAD: parallel pivot screws. Insufficient reinforcement for a horn so often thrown into marching duties. Noisy action. lots of empty space between rods and posts.
---------------------------------------------------
This was in unplayable condition with the palm keys and high-F pads completely moth-eaten
RH side palm-actuated pads were compromised.
Had a few dents that would complicate pad seating including the low Eb/C post pushed into the body.
Low C brace was partially off.
Missing a lot of silencing and regulating materials.
upper and lower stack pads leaking
Luckily, most of the larger pads are in fair condition and can be adjusted, same with those on the bell.
This thing has lived a fairly hard life. It has scratches throughout the body with dirt, dust, and other odd material hanging between the keywork. As is normal for the dilapidated instruments I buy, the nickle plate is coated with that grey icky tarnish. The last tech that dealt with the high F and low Eb keys did so choosing to work with the malformed instrument rather than remove the dents. This was my first foray into dent work, and for this very purpose I bought items N31 & N81S from Ferrees.
Trouble is I burned the lacquer trying to get the solder to flow juuuust right on that one post. Live and learn, I guess. I'm an amateur, after all. My other solders went well.
Don't really know what I'm going to do with this thing yet when it's finished. I learned on a comparable alto in school only to move onto a Yanagisawa for college that changed my perspective of saxophones entirely. These things are kind of clanky, even in certain places after the application of appropriate silencing materials...
Keep for nostalgia? Sell for tool money?
I may like it given that I like Bueschers and this thing is a scion of Buescher. It's funny, Buescher people say they love these things as student instruments, they say the Yamaha tone is soul-less and empty by comparison. For some reason, these same people talk down the other post-Selmer products (as if they weren't made in the same factories by the same machines and people), but talk these up????
Anyway, more to come on this after I finish the project.