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Saxophones Boosey & Co Regent alto sax

noelweston

Senior Member
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68
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Hessle, East Yorks
Another curiosity has appeared... someone's just posted about a Hawkes & Son alto, and I've just been given a Boosey & Co Regent alto to assess.

It's in silver plate, stamped Boosey & Co Ltd makers London, 29xxx serial number, British throughout, I.P., "The Regent"

Single auto octave key, compound bell keys, black "pearls", weird articulated LH palm keys with a link to the low D key. Mostly rolled toneholes, apart from the 2 bell keys.

It plays some notes, and does appear to be low pitch. It's complete apart from the crook screw assembly (currently has a nice jubilee clip in place). There are some dents and a couple of guards to resolder.

I need to go back to the owner - does it have any value as is, or is it worth investing to get it overhauled and playable? I'm presuming it's not worth doing to sell, and the owner doesn't play (he's clearing his late uncle's house), but it is quite tempting to try and save it.

Any thoughts? I'll try and upload some pictures later on.
 
I've worked on a few sopranos - turned out to be very nice horns indeed. No reason the alto shouldn't be.
The I.P (L.P) indicates low pitch.

Don't get a naked flame anywhere near those black pearls - they'll go up in smoke almost instantly.

Probably not worth investing in it if it's going to be sold - it won't fetch much...but a keen collector/player might not mind shelling out for an overhaul.
 
The I.P (L.P) indicates low pitch.
Likely indicating International Pitch - which amounts to the same thing.

Probably not worth investing in it if it's going to be sold - it won't fetch much...but a keen collector/player might not mind shelling out for an overhaul.
If the price is right I might be just such a collector (player ... not so much); with appropriate contribution to the Cafe of course.
 
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Thanks to you both. I learned something - I'd never heard of International Pitch before yesterday!

Photos attached, including one small bell section cleaned up a bit.

There are also some dents on the bow that would need sorting, but no major damage.

@stitch - do you have any idea what your price point might be, or is it better if I put you in direct contact with the owner?

Apropos of nothing, there's a similar but older version listed on ebay this morning at £650 starting price, but at least it's shiny!

Noel
 
Sorting out that crook socket will be a fairly major job. I don't think think it has a separate clamp ring - rather the screw lugs are (or at least were) silver-soldered directly to the tube. The whole assembly will have to come off the horn - along with the pillars and fittings attached to it.

Not sure why the lugs have disappeared, but I guess there's a chance they could have cracked off in the past...in which case it's an even bigger job to put it all right.
 
@stitch - do you have any idea what your price point might be, or is it better if I put you in direct contact with the owner?
I'm afraid, having seen it, I'm rather less interested, a bit too much work for me ... sorry.
there's a similar but older version listed on ebay this morning at £650 starting price
Wow! There's optimism for you!
 
@stitch - no problem, I'm sort of the same at the moment. Just trying to find options for the owner.

I did have a look under the jubilee clip, and it did look as if the solder for the lugs had failed - it was too neat to have been deliberately butchered.
 
Price wise in current condition I'd say £100-150. It's a curiosity, not sought after.
The work needed may well outweigh the finished value as with many of these old "rare" horns. Rare often means unwanted unfortunately.
I'd be torn between polishing it and leaving it be.
 
Price wise in current condition I'd say £100-150. It's a curiosity, not sought after.
The work needed may well outweigh the finished value as with many of these old "rare" horns. Rare often means unwanted unfortunately.
I'd be torn between polishing it and leaving it be.
If it was mine, I'd agree with you.

I could probably buy it cheap - but I don't have the time for a(nother) project, and I don't need a(nother) funky-keyed weird vintage sax at the end of it - even though it did sound sweet on the notes that work.

(I'm pretty sure the upside down interlinked LH palm keys would drive me doolally as well!)

The owner knows nothing about it and just wants to find a home for it.
 
I've bought a few cheap horns in the recent past in the £50-200 price range but I generally look out for well regarded makers such as Yanagisawa, Yamaha, Selmer, etc. So I can read reviews beforehand and there's a good chance they'll play nicely and be worth investing in.
That's not to say I haven't bought a few cheapie horrors in the past, but I stop myself buying weirdities nowadays, like you say.
Having said that, Steve's Boosey reviews often reveal good players so someone should step in and save it. Personally I'd struggle to be interested at any price. I'm out.
 
I'd say even the low £100-£150 is a bit optimistic. Essentially, it's a broken saxophone. Shame really.
 
What was "International (Standard) Pitch" when this sax was made? A= 440?
Yes.
I wish I could remember where I came across 'International Pitch'; it would be good to have a reference. I'm pretty sure I didn't make it up!
 
Back in the 70's we we had someting that was called "american pitch" (A=440) and "european pitch" (A=444). When Buffet S1 reached the market there were two pitches. A grand piano is often tuned A=443 here in Sweden. So a sax that is tuned after a grand piano is not A = 440!! That is adjust with the mouthpiece.
 
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