Not often you see one of this in this condition. Many people would probably call this "almost mint", but you can see a few minor little things and as I'm scrupulously aware that the word mint means brand new, still in its wrapping, that many people throw that term around when they shouldn't.
But this is in very good nick, and that makes it rare. The slightest ding in a brass horn can be invisibly repaired. The slightest ding in a Grafton alto means a big nasty crack.
That's what makes this Grafton so rare - it has no actual damage beyond some teeny lacquer spots on some keys.
I had the pads replaced, not because they were old (they were almost new looking) but because Stephen Howard persuaded me to (he will deny that) as the...