Hello from Houston

[JimmyB]

Actually from Conroe which is just North of Houston. I'm a retired mechanical engineer but have continued to play since 5th grade. Started out on sax and have added clarinet, bassoon and flute. I play in a horn cover band, local community theater and occasionally in church. I have 3 altos (Selmer Hummingbird Ref 54, Yamaha Custom Z, and an old 1920s Buescher True Tone), 2 Tenors (Yamaha Custom EX, Yamaha YTS52) and Yanigaswa soprano and bari. Also have a bassoon, flute, a bunch of clarinets and two Yamaha WX5 Wind Synths. My wife is looking forward to selling these someday.

 

[Jeanette]

Welcome to the Café

Jx

 

[saxyjt]

Hello Houston, do you copy?

With such a fleet of instruments, you're going to blow us all into space!

Welcome to the café. Enjoy your visits and visit often.

 

[andyjb]

Hey Jimmy. Enjoy the site. You must have a great music room.

 

[nigeld]

Welcome to the Café

 

[GCinCT]

Welcome to the Café, Jimmy. You've got the Hummingbird, huh? I remember when those Bird themed Ref 54's came out. I wanted one but lacked the funds at the time. How do you like it?

 

[Greg Strange]

Welcome to the Café, Jimmy. You've got the Hummingbird, huh? I remember when those Bird themed Ref 54's came out. I wanted one but lacked the funds at the time. How do you like it?

No doubt has a feathery response and plays "Ornithology" a lot...

Welcome Houston from the South Pacific..

Greg S.

 

[Tenor Viol]

Hi welcome. That's a splendid collection of instruments. I have several friends who are bassoonists and that's a very expensive hobby...

 

[kevgermany]

Big welcome from me, have fun here.

 

[MikeMorrell]

Hi Jimmy and welcome to the cafe!

I'm not a collector myself (I just have 1 sax) but there are plenty of other members who are

Mike

 

[2toneblew]

Hi and welcome to the cafe. That’s quite an impressive collection, any favorites?

 

[Alice]

Hi, welcome to the Café!

 

[Justin Chune]

Hello Jimmy, a warm welcome to the cafe.

 

[SaxoFREAK]

Welcome to the Cafe, have fun and enjoy your stay

 

[JimmyB]

Welcome to the Café, Jimmy. You've got the Hummingbird, huh? I remember when those Bird themed Ref 54's came out. I wanted one but lacked the funds at the time. How do you like it?

Welcome to the Café, Jimmy. You've got the Hummingbird, huh? I remember when those Bird themed Ref 54's came out. I wanted one but lacked the funds at the time. How do you like it?

Sorry for the late reply- didn't get any e-mail notifications of replies to my original post. Is there a setting for that? Anyway, regarding the Hummingbird, I was playing on a Yamaha Custmon Z and heard about the Hummingbird. I thought it would be around for a while, so I started saving gig money, birthday money, etc for a few years until I had enough dough to buy it. Imagine my surprise to find they only offered the Hummingbird model for a year, followed by other types of birds each following year (Firebird, Kookaberra, etc). I was really only interested in the original one. One day, I got an e-mail add from WW&BW with special closeouts and a Hummingbird was listed so I grabbed it as fast as I could type. I never expected to get it, but it showed up on my doorstep. Turns out there were two different offerings of the Hummingbird - a Standard version and a Limited version that had different accesories and more extensive engravings. What I giot was a Limited - only 75 sold in the USA. It is a beautiful horn and I love the way it plays. Of course, at the end of the day, it is just a Ref 54 with hummingbirds engraved on the bell. I had played my Mark 7 for many years but never liked the intonation - the Ref 54 fixed that.