Pretty impressive list Jon. Did you record pros and cons as well?
Here's the list with my brief annotations
Soprano
Buescher True Tone 1 Bough when I was 19, played ever since. Great sound, awful ergos
Bauhaus Walstein Bronze curved 1 Plays very nicely. Keys soft and easily bent. Pads sticky when new
Cheapo no brand Chinese 3 £60 each. All played great
Blessing curved 1 OK player, nothing good or bad
Bentley Curved White 1 Played in tune but went out of adjustment quickly
Song Lin 1 Played great, looked naff
Elkhart Series 2 1 Good soprano, recommended for anyone. Top value
No name curvy 1 Played just fine, better than expected
FF Straight 1 Good player, felt a bit fragile
Da vinci 1 Also good but poorly finished
SMS Academy pre production prototype 1 A really good soprano, well made too
Trafford/Weltklang 1 Lousy ergonomics, questionable adjustment, brilliant attack and tone. Ace.
Total 14
Alto
Buescher True Tone 1 Creamy, lovely tone. Bought for £100. Ergos poor, palm keys tiny
Yanagisawa Astro stencil 1 Best alto I’ve ever played. End.
Bauhaus Walstein Bronze 1 Played very well, but had sticky pads. Once cleaned up, a good sax
Selmer Bundy 1 Poor build quality and assembly. Tone and intonation passable
Holton Collegiate 1 Bought from SOTW seller. Badly packed, arrived crocked. Sold as spares/repairs
Cheapo no brand Chinese 1 OK player. For £75, amazing really.
Martin Indiana 1 Bought from SOTW seller. Badly packed, arrived crocked. Sold as spares/repairs
Conn 1917 1 Bought as an absolute wreck, amazingly it kind of played. Nice tone
Earlham Pro 2 1 Poor quality Taiwanese sax, poor build. Not recommended
Voss Dorfla & Jorka 1 Rolled tone holes warped. Sold on as needing repairs
Getzen 1 Awful sax. Thin tone, badly made
Vito (Yamaha YAS21/23) 2 Brilliant alto, flexible and great to play
Salem Selmer copy 1 Surprisingly tolerable. Played OK
Yamaha YAS23 4 Brilliant alto, flexible and great to play
Selmer Bundy II 3 Just about OK, better than Bundy I, tough materials badly assembled.
Fairfield 1 Fine but felt poorly made and fragile
John Packer JP041 2 Good basic student sax, good value. Tone a bit thin but OK, played well
Lindo 1 Better than expected. Fine as a basic sax. Would not expect to last for years
Elkhart Series 2 3 Excellent student saxes from Taiwan. Tone good, build solid.
Kalashan Kleartone Conn Stencil 1 Elderly Conn, great tone, poor ergonomics. Needed work!
Sakkusu 1 Excellent student saxes from Taiwan. Tone good, build solid
Trevor James Artemis 1 TJ Chinese model. Corrosion prone, but played fine
Pro Sound Jazz II 1 Played fine. Likely to be fragile long term
Odyssey 1 Felt really good under the fingers. Bought for £50, bargain
King Cleveland 1 Really not that good. Clumsy and not great tone
Hanson Gulf 1 Most basic Hanson was an OK player
Evette Buffet Crampon 1 Historic name used on bog standard Chinese student sax. OK
Ferris 2 OK, adequate learner sax. Case pretty poor.
Corton 1 Usual combo of iffy ergos and blaring rock sound. Fun.
Locto 1 Better than I was expecting. OK, adequate, evidence of poor build but played OK
Martin Busine 1 Not very good. Thin, reedy tone. Badly assembled
Arbiter Jazz 1 Another OK Chinese sax. Played quite well, looked OK too
Unnamed Chinese 1 Played just fine, OK for the money
Olds Parisien Ambassador 1 Not a good ‘vintage’ sax, outplayed by a cheapo Chinese
Orsi 1 Awful sax. Make a good plant pot.
Conn stencil 1 Elderly Conn, nice tone, poor ergonomics. Tuned fine with modern MP
Benson 1 Cheapo Chinese, not as good as Roy Benson. OK though
Fortissimo 1 Cheapo Chinese sax, played fine. Fragile feel
Yamaha YAS 21 1 Excellent sax.
Intermusic Rikter 1 Good basic sax. All good for the money. Avoid bright mp or will sound thin
Hohner 1 Chinese basic sax. Bright tone but OK
Weltklang 1 Very crude and coarse. Good rocker tone
Amati Corton 1 Crude, basic, blasting tone. Liked it!
SMS Academy 1 Good basic student sax. All good for the money
American Standard (King) 1 Waiting to be delivered
Total 55
Tenor
Buescher Aristocrat 1970s 1 My first sax, doesn’t play that great. Action a bit squidgy, tone OK
Yanagisawa T992 1 Just fabulous in every respect. End
Selmer Pennsylvania 1 Surprisingly rorty tone. Enjoyable.
Paul Cavour 1 A curiosity, needs work, could be good when restored.
Dearman President 1 Lousy sax, poor tone and action. Badly made
Chinese Kaeriner in black 1 To my amazement played well. Cost £60!
Weltklang Solist 1 East German rocker. Crude but good blaring tone
B & S Sonora 1 East German rocker. Crude but good blaring tone
Sakkusu 2 Superb quality for the money. Played very well
B & M Champion 2 East German rocker. Crude but good blaring tone
Lady Ga Ga! 1 Non player. Currently planted with herbs
Earlham 1 Not great in terms of assembly, finish or tone.
Saramande 1 Another Chinese made sax which played OK
Venus 1 Another Chinese made sax which played OK
Gear4Music 1 Another Chinese made sax which played OK
J Michaels 1 Another Chinese made sax which played OK
Milton 1 Another Chinese made sax which played OK
SMS Academy 1 Good quality student sax and good value
B & H Lafleur 1 Eastern European rocker
Corton Amati at school 1 Battered but OK. Got me started
Armstrong 1 Surprisingly snarly tone, better than I expected
Vito YTS 21 1 Superb sax, really good to play
B & H Powertone 1 Another E European sax, more snarly rock
Signature Series 1 Not a T James, played fine though. Clumsy feel to some keywork
Corton Amati 1 Best Czech sax I’ve played for a while. Great tone, ergos not too bad.
Total 27
Baritone
Buescher 400 1 Battered, tone variation between octaves, but man, it rocks
Bauhaus Walstein 1 Plays really well. Some bad finish. Nice light action. Good tone
Kohlert/Pennsylvania Special 1 Rocks, but badly balanced. Sling ring needs moving
Total 3
C mel
Conn 1920s 1 Sounds great, like a slightly high tenor. Rasping, rock tone (modern pads, etc)
Unbranded 1 Old school C mel. Sounds like a cow.
Total 2
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