Old Conns and Bueschers are generally the best for the money. Bueschers have better intonation in the palm keys. Conns are more bomb-proof due to the double X braces. The earliest Conns have a smaller diameter neck that makes it easier to use a baritone mouthpiece, but many early Conns have soldered-on tonehole flanges which often leak at the joint. Conns & Bueschers both have notoriously bad C naturals, especially above the staff, necessitating using side C almost exclusively. Conns, except for the rare few with high E & F keys, are VERY sharp on D & Eb above the staff. I suspect those palm keys were alternate fingerings for D & Eb in the staff because many players have a problem with middle D "cracking" and producing a high A. Despite their faults, old Conn & Buescher bass saxes have a fantasic tone. My other basses were both Conn stencils, marked "Wurlitzer American" (first lacquer), and "Pan American" (satin silver.) They are identical except for the finishes. I sold the Wurlitzer but I'm keeping the Pan American. It's lighter than my Eppelsheim and harder to damage.