Saxophones Buffet SDA - My God!!!

[DavidUK]

Just tried the newly arrived 1973 SDA which I bought yesterday - a pawn shop find would you believe! Can't bring myself to tell you what I paid for it. Some here would have a heart attack! ;}

Lightning fast fingering, lovely sound. Now I know what the phrase "almost plays itself" means! This is the first sax I've played (and there have been a few!) which may eclipse my Buffet 400.

I had no problem getting air through it but compared to the Buffet 400 it is a little less...erm... raucous for the same amount of air. The 400's keywork is also not as lightly set as the SDA. Hadn't noticed this before.

Can't find a thing wrong with it mechanically. Strange that is has posts directly mounted on the body and not on ribs? Is that something to do with its age?

It came with a Selmer Soloist Style D MP but although I like my tenor F Soloist very much, the alto "Style" version wasn't my cup of tea. I think it's the original MP supplied with the SDA? Also tried a S80 C** I happened to have but again not good for me. It's probably me rather than these MPs!

This sax had been brought in to the shop by a lady who said it had belonged to her grandmother. For me, it knocks the YAS-62 I tried a few weeks ago into a cocked hat.

I'm impressed. I'll see what my tutor says on Thursday when he has a go. I need to spend a few hours more comparing it to the 400 too.

What have I done? The Buffet may have surpassed the Buffet!! :shocked:

 

[Ads]

It`s really wonderful when you find something which really clicks, we`re all different and there are hundreds of horns to choose from across the ages so it must be mindblowing to find exactly what you`ve been looking for in a pawn shop for next to nothing ! .
I`m hoping to discover something older and cheap in a cash converter store (or the like) for a kickabout backup Tenor

 

[DavidUK]

I'm keeping my fingers crossed I feel the same way about the Grassi 2000 Profesisonal Tenor that I'm restoring at present.


;}

 

[Stephen Howard]

Can't find a thing wrong with it mechanically. Strange that is has posts directly mounted on the body and not on ribs? Is that something to do with its age?

Sort of.
Ribbed construction tends to be more widely used these days but you can still find modern horns that use single pillars. A variation is the use of 'mini ribs', where two smaller, separate ribs are used instead of a single long one.
Does it make a difference? Nah.

Sounds like a cracking little horn though!

 

[jazzdoh]

Can't bring myself to tell you what I paid for it. Some here would have a heart attack!

O go on tell us, GTN spray on standby:shocked:

No seriously congrats on your new horn.

 

[Jane M L]

Nice one David!Congratulations! Any pics for us?

 

[ProfJames]

You lucky ba******!!!!!! Well done! How much time do you have spare to be able to search???? Photos please.

 

[DavidUK]

Some poor photos here: http://picturetrail.com/sfx/album/slideshow/24433790

Some slight scratching to the bell sides where it's been in a stand, and some solder bleed. No tarnishing. Lacquer 99% perfect.

 

[Jane M L]

Yummy....!

 

[Ads]

That looks in fantastic condition . What a find !

 

[Colin the Bear]

Ah! The seventies. I remember them well. Pretty little thing it is too.

 

[daveysaxboy]

If you sell I want 1st dabs now......

 

[MMM]

Glad you like it: I've had my SDA for 10/12 years now and every time I decide to sell it, I play it and decide to keep it! My model is slightly older than yours, it's a 60s model with the dark honey/coloured lacquer... has very old pads (so it's not even set up to perfection) but still plays really well.
But just to give you an idea of how different people's taste can be, I let an old pro try it and he loved it, I then let a young player try it while I was working on his newish Selmer SAII and he just hated it!
I also have an older DA (with the screw in pads) which needs an overhaul, when it's done I may compare the two!
Cheers and enjoy your new sax... I bet you find your newer Buffet quite thin sounding compared to the SDA!

M.

 

[TomMapfumo]

So two Buffets do make a Banquet........................;}


Very pleased for you. May be time to see if the A400 can have a different set-up.

 

[DavidUK]

Glad you like it: I've had my SDA for 10/12 years now and every time I decide to sell it, I play it and decide to keep it! My model is slightly older than yours, it's a 60s model with the dark honey/coloured lacquer... has very old pads (so it's not even set up to perfection) but still plays really well.
But just to give you an idea of how different people's taste can be, I let an old pro try it and he loved it, I then let a young player try it while I was working on his newish Selmer SAII and he just hated it!
I also have an older DA (with the screw in pads) which needs an overhaul, when it's done I may compare the two!
Cheers and enjoy your new sax... I bet you find your newer Buffet quite thin sounding compared to the SDA!

M.

I need to play both the SDA and 400 for a while longer to compare, and also try a few different MPs with both. Have you tried a 400? I found the 400's sound fatter than the SDA actually. The thing that impressed me most was the SDA's keywork compared to the 400's heavier action. I wonder if the 400 could be adjusted to be as light - I guess so but have not had the 400 "set up" since I bought it as I didn't know any different. Having said that, the Jupiter 565, Yamaha 275, Beaugnier Vito, Buescher 400, Jericho J6, Venus 512, have all had similar feeling keywork to the 400's and it's only with the SDA that I've discovered a new level of feather-touch playability.

I'll have to try an SA80 II to compare. The chap who bought my old Russian St.Petersburg Tenor told me he'd switched from a MkVI to the SA80 II and hadn't looked back so maybe that's another model which compares favourably to the "all conquering" MkVI? I know I shouldn't judge yet, but in all hobbies there tends to be "the one" that everyone should have, based on function and somewhat on hype, and the MKVI seems to have held this position for some time, pushing prices to an unreachable level for most. I wonder whether this king of saxes will ever fall?

;}

 

[DavidUK]

So two Buffets do make a Banquet........................;}


Very pleased for you. May be time to see if the A400 can have a different set-up.

Great minds....

Trouble is (and I had this with my gun collection - down to ten now!) that I'm already trying to justify having two "keeper" alto saxes! Perhaps one modern and one vintage? Then my mind wanders to having two tenors....

Found myself looking for a Tenor Super Dynaction this morning. £1000 is about the cheapest I can find which is far too expensive for my "bargain buy" mentality. Far more fun to keep an eye out for one yet to emerge from Granny's loft! Why rush, I have three tenors to choose from at present and the Grassi 2000 Pro re-furb may still turn out to be "the one"!

 

[Ads]

I`m definately trying to avoid this SAS (Sax Aquisition Sundrome) business as best I can which is why it took me so long to join a forum (Forums can be the cause of such behaviour - LOL) , when I`ve got a cheap backup tenor and upgraded my Alto I`ll be done , Honest ..

 

[DavidUK]

🙂


I've added some more photos: http://www.picturetrail.com/sfx/album/slideshow/24433790


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[kevgermany]

Some of the Buffets came in a sparkle/gold flake laquer, really tasty. Not sure if it was an option on the SDAs, maybe not.

Be careful with the Evettes. Nothing wrong with them, and the early ones may have been SDAs in stencil form. But the later ones were made by A Santoni in Italy, nice horns, but not SDAs in disguise - there's a lot of misinformation on the web. I've often wondered if the later S series was wholly made by Buffet, or if production was out-sourced (maybe in part?). Doesn't really matter. Just play what suits you.

 

[DavidUK]

Some of the Buffets came in a sparkle/gold flake laquer, really tasty. Not sure if it was an option on the SDAs, maybe not.

Matt Stohrer, the USA tech, reckons this effect could have been unintentional. Fast forward to 18:58 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EvpQBeK0NQ

If you're interested in the SDA watch the whole thing for some useful info.