I finally got my SDA tenor back a few days ago and I must say I'm having lots of fun with this horn. I had to wait about 6 months longer as expected, but my tech was very busy and we agreed on doing the work on this horn 'between jobs'. A longer wait, but evrything that had to be done this also saved me some.
The horn came out very well after having the full works done. After playing her for some days I'm getting used to it.
First thing to notice is it's weight, these are heavy. The ergo's are fine but need to get used to. Keytouches are rather spread, no problem with my right hand, the left hand needs some getting used to. Front F and the pinky cluster have to be reached for and with the inline keywork I need to watch not hitting the palm F key by accident. Just needs some getting used to, it's not a problem.
The action on this horn is really nice, feels a bit in between the smooth feel from my Crat and the more snappy feel from my Serie III.
Sound and intonation are incredible. This is a very mpc friendly horn and it speaks so easy all over the range. Not much resistance, comparable to the Crat. Lush dark sounding, at least to the players ears. Boomy low end, a bit spread. These seem to be very allround horns, capable on doing all kinds of work.
Somehow this is the kind of sound I like in a tenor. My Crat has this sweet warm sound but can roar when needed. The Selmer a have is really less focussed compared to most Selmers I played and it projects like crazy. This SDA does the same but is closer to the Buescher. There was no need for another tenor, but when I found this one it was in such bad shape and I thought this horns deserved to be brought back alive again. As for now I'm very happy with that decision and the end it was a steal aswell.
Some quick snapshots are
here
Oh and sorry Steve, this is one without any engraving exept for the BC logo.