Thanks Helen. I will take your VI from the calender in a heartbeat.
I'm sure you'd like the Porsche too. ;-) Better chances of that, then of of the horn.
I have nothing against VIs but my experience with buying vintage tenors on ebay have been rather mixed, because of packaging issues. Most people simply don't know how to pack a sax in a way that carriers (save for USPS, which I have had good experiences with) will not destroy it.
I can understand that. I am very leery of buying horns on-line. I've never bought anything through eBay. I have however, bought a few horns through on-line dealers--my Mark VI bari was actually one of them--and just recently 2 vintage saxes through a SOTW friend in Europe. So far I've had luck with all my purchases. No damage, unless you count a slightly-bent rod on the high E key of a Klingsor tenor as damage.
You have every right to be. As a matter of fact, so am I.
I have never (touch wood) damaged a horn, and don't feel like starting out with one that needs a load of repairs.
Understandable. That of course limits your choices. In the case of a vintage horn, you would be better off buying from a reputable on-line dealer such a Gayle at Vintage Sax, or Sarge at World Wide Sax, etc. You know they are going to pack it right, and you're going to get a sax that is coming to you in top playing condition.
I have only ever bought 1 horn new: my Medusa bari by B&S. It was a bit like a new car: it depreciated the minute I took it out of the store. The advantage of buying any horn slightly used, or vintage (Mark VI , BA, and probably a few other models I can't think of off the top of my head notwithstanding) is that someone else has already eaten the depreciation.
Not having a lot of time to run around to play test saxes is rather problematic, because even if you went new, of course there are a lot of factors to consider. You might like a certain horn's sound, but the ergos don't work as well for you as another horn's. Sometimes it comes down to trade-offs. Also, I might like the Medusa, you might hate its key layout, and not be able to work with it. So while looking for our input might be a useful guide, in the end, you will still have to play test the sax for yourself, and YMMV drastically from ours.
Do you have some holidays coming? Perhaps you should plan a saxophonist's holiday and go to a city that has some shops. Play as many as can--new and old--and take lots of notes. Perhaps the horn of your dreams is waiting for you somewhere; just waiting to be found.
The tenor of my dreams was waiting for me in Seattle. I thought I had it for the last 25 years in my VI. Then on a whim, I played a bunch of Zephyrs that Sarge had. I feel in love with the ugly duckling in the bunch. Its sound was like nothing I had ever heard before. My VI tenor has now been relegated to back-up horn. Go figure...
