A Museum's Worth Of A Saxophones On eBay

Helen

Helen

Content Expert Saxophones
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I don't know if you've seen this auction on eBay, but it's time to get that 2nd or 3rd mortgage on your house if you want to keep up with the finest saxophone exhibits in the world.

In total, there are 15 vintage American saxophones, more details & pics on Dr. Rick's website.

Randy...Have you booked your flight to NY yet? ;-)
 
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I'm going to have to take some time to price out each of the instruments, but I think that $345K is a tad high. The most valuable, in terms of what people (i.e. quinntheeskimo) have been trying to get for it would be that Conn-O-Sax.

Maybe later :).
 
All righty, then.

* I'm not sure if the "Manzello" will really be part of the overall auction, but it's essentially a reworked King Saxello. Let's call that a $2000 horn. We've got two Saxellos in this collection, so $4K.

* Steve Goodson had been trying to sell a Buescher Straight Alto for $10K. Let's say that Dr. Rick's is worth that. (Note: the highest price I've actually seen paid for one of these is around $3K.) Let's call the tipped bell Bb also $10K, just for the heck of it. (Note that the highest I've seen one of these sell for is $4.5K. In gold plate.)

* 3 slide saxophones. Well, those are a bit hard to price. $2000 apiece? The Snub Mosley one might retail for more if you can prove he owned it -- and if his name is big enough to drive up the price.

* The bass saxophone would probably sell for around $10K.

* Our good friend Quinn has been attempting for about a year to sell his Conn-O for $100,000. Let's say that Dr. Rick's is worth that. (Note: the highest price I've seen paid for one -- about two months ago -- was $40K.)

* Conn F Mezzos generally sell in the $3.5K range.

* He's got a Martin-made Lyon & Healy Perfect Curved soprano. Junk to play, but collectable. I've seen these sell for $3500 a couple years back, so call it ... $3500 with today's economy :).

* In my opinion, the nicest looking horn is the Conn Virtuoso-Deluxe finished straight soprano. Cybersax sold one of these a couple years back for $2300. Let's call it $3000 for today.

* Grafton Alto. Average sale price is $3000.

* Curved Conn soprano. One around the same serial number range was sold at Cybersax in 2007 for $2850.

* Conn C soprano. Junkdude's got a nice one on sale for $1300.

Mmmm. About $157K.

===============

I've spoken with Dr. Rick in the past and we've shared data (see his serial number charts, for instance). I'm wondering if his list is missing a few horns and/or is some sort of charitable contribution.
 
Helen said:
Randy...Have you booked your flight to NY yet? ;-)
Click to expand...

Here's what saves my life:

First, money. No matter what it looks like, I'm a professional musician + blue collar repair tech. When you do the math, there ain't much money there. I got most of my horns by horse trading.

Second, I already have most of this stuff.

Third, I've recently purchased enough expensive saxes to keep me out of the market for some time.

I agree with Pete about prices. I just hope my tipped bell soprano is worth that much. It is, however a great playing soprano. The imitation Roland Kirk "manzello" might not be worth that much, or perhaps more. Are there enough Kirk nuts out there? The slide saxes interest me the most - not much interest but also not much supply. Who knows?

I've always said Conn-O-Saxes are not worth $100,000, but I own one more complete than Quinn's (Same horn, same finish, but I have the original case, end plug, mouthpiece, ligature, and cap, and mine has a fresh overhaul using Conn Reso-Pads, the original pads.) I hope Quinn gets a million dollars. There's nothing like it.
 
In my opinion, Randy, your Buescher straight alto shuld be worth considerably more than Goodson's or any one: it's factory enamel. That's a rarity on a rare instrument. $10K still might be stretching it, though.

Recent Conn-O-Sax sales -- that I've seen -- are $10K, $30K and $40K. I think that's high when, as I've mentioned, F mezzo sales are averaging around $3.5K.

One thing that can be said from looking at Quinntheeskimo's ads, primarily the Selmer ones, is that eventually you'll find someone that'll pay an extra-premium price on a horn that's touted as rare or extremely good. Again, it doesn't offend me that he tries to sell a Mark VI tenor for $15K; I just don't think it's anywhere worth that.

As Groove implies, this can only be good for him. If the Quinn gets $100K for his Conn-O and/or Dr. Rick gets $345K for his horns, Groove can start selling off his horns and ... buy a house or two. Hey, the real estate market is getting undervalued. (And you could buy a few dozen calendars, too.)

IIRC, Groove has all the horns listed in the ad but a "Manzello", slides and the Perfect Curved soprano. Although I know at least three people that own all of those horns, excepting the "Manzello" (and, again, it's just a horn that's been customized; it's not Roland Kirk's horn). OK, so their Virtuoso Deluxe Conn sopranos are all gold, not gold and silver ....

BTB, Randy, that Conn "dragon" soprano that Dr. Rick is selling looks suspiciously like one you used to own.
 
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Cool stuff. Big price tag.

You know if I didn't dislike Conn keywork so much . . . :p
 
Boring now.

Isn't it expensive to list items that pricey. I listed my mom's Mercedes a couple of years ago and IIRC the price was big for a "none sale' even with the opportunity to list it for free again. I haven't listed anything on eBay for a years now.
 
Someone should tell him that the world is in a recession. Prices for everything are coming down. Perhaps he should adjust his prices accordingly as well. :p
 
His horns, his decision, his folly (and his expenses).

He's probably shooting for someone vaguely familiar with horns who will see the museum designation and thinks "killing". They may be good horns, but they ain't that good...
 
Somewhat surprisingly, this is STILL for sale on eBay. It's now $355,000. That's a $5K increase.

Well, it's only been a year and a month :).
 
Inflation and all... Not to mention, the economy is now better as well. :-D

Oh, and my favorite part, well next to the price of course, is that you don't get 1 of the horns. It stays with the seller... Then why advertise it? Whatever... It's clearly just an advertising ploy. No one is going to drop 355K on a bunch of used horns. As we figured out last year: The whole set is somewhat over-priced. (Even if you did get to get all of them.)
 
It might be a good idea to buy a saxophone collection to diversify your investment portfolio, because sax prices, like everything else, are down. The price of this particular collection is very high, perhaps too high for an investment.

Why not do what the collectors, like me, have done in assembling their collections? Look for stuff at 1/2 the market value, or less, and buy these articles one at a time as they show up? It's a lot more fun, a lot cheaper, and over the years, you get thrill after thrill.

The oddball sax market seems to be the best, along with Mark VI Selmers in good condition.

Non-internet sources are usually cheaper, and condition is most important. If you get a great deal on something you already have, buy it. Selling my duplicates has enabled me to buy stuff I can't afford.
 
It was disappointing to me that I missed out on a number of worthwhile horns that have been selling for no reserve, starting bid at 99 cents.

And the auctions get no bids at all.
 
Keeping track of eBay is simply too much trouble, what with the ways that actual instrument identities are sometimes hidden on the service. I used to look them all over on a weekly basis, but now I just make a sweep of Selmer clarinets and Conn saxophones once a month or so and that's it.

If that's the price that he wants for the collection, then Godspeed to him. If nothing else, having the collection (minus one) listed periodically gives saxophone lovers something to look at.
 
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