Buescher tenor

[tom9437]

Hi i have just picked up a buescher tenor no.650884 aristocrat. can anyone offer any info on it please???? also it came with a ebonite m/p and metal lig. but getting a sound out of it is hard b,a, not to bad the rest is just not good sqeekkkkk then no sound ect i do play alto and i know about embouchure ect but its just soundin bad. thanks tom.

 

[jonf]

I've got one similar, 606XXX serial number. It was my first sax, had it for the best part of 30 years and kept it for sentimental reasons.

To be honest, they're not the greatest of saxes, made after Selmer bought the company. Yours (and mine) date from some time in the 1970s, by which time American saxes had gone from great to frankly pretty poor. However, they're reasonable enough student standard saxes, with a pretty OK tone. I had mine repadded about ten years ago, and it plays easily from top F down to bottom Bb. Sounds like yours has a catastrophic leak in the top stack. With a bit of luck it'll be something a decent repairer wll be able to fix quickly and cheaply. Then you'll have reasonable tenor to blast on. I found mine worked best with raucous high baffle mouthpieces. If not, I'd suggest not spending a fortune on it as the sax will never be worth a bundle.

Jon

 

[RedBottom]

I've got one too, c. 1931-32. I call it my 'beastie boy' because it's an absolute beast to play. It has a character all of its own, it's stubborn and does its own thing if it can get away with it. It weighs a ton and doesn't like the letter 'p' at all. Much like me, really, which is why I love and keep it, plus I absolutely adore its sound.

I don't know much about the later ones, so I couldn't comment there. Mine was given a thorough service by its previous owner just before he sold it to me, so I'd advise spending a little and getting yours given the once over.