Why did you chose the model of instrument you play?
- Thread starter Gandalfe
- Start date
My first alto saxophone in 4th grade was a Sears "Silvertone" ordered from the Sears and Roebuck Catalog. In 7th grade I went to a music camp at Gunnison Colorado and took a saxophone class and a private lesson from Fred Hemke. When I got home, I told my mom that I needed to get a Selmer Mark VI like the one Fred Hemke played. She scraped together the money and got me one for just under $1000 which was a lot of money in 1961.
I played the Mark VI through my master's degree in college, and then in 1980 I found an old black and tarnished alto with rotting pads in a smelly old broken case in a pawn shop. The clerk wanted $75 but I talked him down to $50. It turned out to be a silver plated 1950 Selmer Super Balanced Action with no engraving.
I had the skills at that time to refurbish and overhaul the saxophone, and I began to play it intermittently with my Mark VI. I found myself playing the Super Balanced more and more for both jazz and classical, and eventually sold the Mark VI because I didn't play it anymore. A few years back I had Jason Dumars engrave the bell and I repadded it with white roo pads. The engraving is a picture of "Hogwart's Castle" which Jason Dumars picked since my avatar on SOTW was Harry Potter because I was always fighting with "Voldemort" (a very "inside" joke). Pete was kind enough to pick my SBA alto sax to be "Miss September" in his "Saxpics" calendar a few years back.
I have lots of other saxophones in my collection by this one is still my "true love".
I played the Mark VI through my master's degree in college, and then in 1980 I found an old black and tarnished alto with rotting pads in a smelly old broken case in a pawn shop. The clerk wanted $75 but I talked him down to $50. It turned out to be a silver plated 1950 Selmer Super Balanced Action with no engraving.
I had the skills at that time to refurbish and overhaul the saxophone, and I began to play it intermittently with my Mark VI. I found myself playing the Super Balanced more and more for both jazz and classical, and eventually sold the Mark VI because I didn't play it anymore. A few years back I had Jason Dumars engrave the bell and I repadded it with white roo pads. The engraving is a picture of "Hogwart's Castle" which Jason Dumars picked since my avatar on SOTW was Harry Potter because I was always fighting with "Voldemort" (a very "inside" joke). Pete was kind enough to pick my SBA alto sax to be "Miss September" in his "Saxpics" calendar a few years back.
I have lots of other saxophones in my collection by this one is still my "true love".
Thanks everyone for the compliments. Jason Dumars is the one who deserves the credit. He is a gifted artist and craftsman of the highest caliber, and a real nice guy to boot.
Another quick story. I decided to sell an old Conn tenor on SOTW that I pieced together from two junker horns picked up in pawnshops. I took the best parts from each and made a playable sax that I named "Frankentenor". The lacquer had come off in many spots where the brass turned reddish brown and it was "butt ugly", but it played really well. To my surprise Jason Dumars jumped right on it and said he wanted to buy it. He and I worked out a deal where the tenor would be a down payment for a future engraving job (my SBA).
I though no more about it until in a thread on SOTW entitled "The most beautiful saxophone in the world", I saw a post contributed by Jason Dumars in which I recognized my "ugly duckling" Conn "Frankentenor" which he had transformed into a work of art.
Another quick story. I decided to sell an old Conn tenor on SOTW that I pieced together from two junker horns picked up in pawnshops. I took the best parts from each and made a playable sax that I named "Frankentenor". The lacquer had come off in many spots where the brass turned reddish brown and it was "butt ugly", but it played really well. To my surprise Jason Dumars jumped right on it and said he wanted to buy it. He and I worked out a deal where the tenor would be a down payment for a future engraving job (my SBA).
I though no more about it until in a thread on SOTW entitled "The most beautiful saxophone in the world", I saw a post contributed by Jason Dumars in which I recognized my "ugly duckling" Conn "Frankentenor" which he had transformed into a work of art.
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I actually asked Jason about engraving the BA sailboat scene & engraving on my bare VII alto. Price was too much for me and he was really busy doing some commemorative trumpets.
We're a little overly-focused sometimes, here. I learned long ago about intricately engraved brasswinds from my research into manufacturers whose focus wasn't primarily saxophones. Hey, you should see some of the TUBAS that are engraved. You've got a rather large canvas, there!
The good, the bad and the really ugly...
While an attractive engraving job is always something to be admired, I have not liked the engraved lacquered horns that I have owned. It always seems that the engraving offers corrosion a direct path to the brass beneath, and once it starts that's all she wrote. (That's the bad.)
I do have my gorgeous Conn with the less than gorgeous Helen Willson engraved in three-quarters profile (she's the ugly), but it's silver-plated, effectively sealing up the brass beneath (and that's the good). One of these days I'm going to have to take it outdoors and photograph the engraving work...one of these days...
While an attractive engraving job is always something to be admired, I have not liked the engraved lacquered horns that I have owned. It always seems that the engraving offers corrosion a direct path to the brass beneath, and once it starts that's all she wrote. (That's the bad.)
I do have my gorgeous Conn with the less than gorgeous Helen Willson engraved in three-quarters profile (she's the ugly), but it's silver-plated, effectively sealing up the brass beneath (and that's the good). One of these days I'm going to have to take it outdoors and photograph the engraving work...one of these days...
I can think of a lot of fairly elaborate engraved horns from the US that have lacquer problems: Martins, Buescher 400 "Top Hat" models, some Conn Standards and Connquerors. European horns? Mostly I've seen Buffets with that problem. All other European makes/models don't seem to have as much of a problem.
In any event, if I have a choice, I'd go for a plated finish: it's more durable than lacquer.
In any event, if I have a choice, I'd go for a plated finish: it's more durable than lacquer.