Saxophones How do you like your's?

[Melissa]

I would be very interested in finding out how you prefer your saxes to look!

Some prefer that "Rat" look and others prefer the glistening like new look. That Keilwerth with wing guards I have is pretty much the Rat look, yes it would cost a lot more to get it sparkly and looking as good as..classic example is Helen Khalke? is it, she has the Toneking Tenor and it looks rather like new.

I have found some do look better glistening-like my Pierret in silver plate, yet the Keilwerth, I have pretty made up my mind made up to keep it as is, and just have it re-padded.

Saleability wise. In the Antiques trade, the preferred say piece of furniture shows all the old woodworm and patina from it's age, some would restore it and hide all the holes and repairs.

Original ratty or Brilliant shine?

 

[aldevis]

Original all the way.
Unless you like the "Dolly Parton" look.

 

[jonf]

Just however they are. I've got some saxes which are shiny, some which are tarnished. I'm only really interested in how they play, not how they look. I adopt the same policy as with my bikes - maintain mechanically to a high standard, and to hell with the cosmetics. I've never polished my saxes, just as I've never cleaned my bikes.

 

[Nick Wyver]

I'm perfectly happy for old saxes to look old. What I really don't like are new saxes looking old. The sort of "antiqued" finish that you get on some modern horns just looks naff to me. Apart from that I don't mind what colour they come in.

I'm not too hot on aftercare, though. My Keilwerth Shadow looked a real treat when I got it 6 or so years ago - shiny black with silver keys. Now it's grubby black with mostly black keys. But that's fine. I don't mind a used look if it's as a result of being used. It's the faux ones that irritate. It's very similar to the pre-worn jeans look or the guitars that are replicas of ones that had 20 years of use by some famous guitarist.

 

[Ads]

I have to be honest that after owning a horn for the best part of 30 years which despite being Ding-Free had heavily scratched up laquer and messy patches of raw brass that I totally don`t get the current craze of owning saxes which look like they`ve just been hauled out of the Mersey and the "Fakin-it" look as on DavidUK`s Ex Buffet 400 and others is so damn cheesy it`s unreal.. As Nick said - I`m fine with old saxes which look old, it`s new ones faking it and people going out of their way to make new saxes look old which make me laugh

The only reason I`d buy a RAW Horn would be if it sounded better than the Laquered version next to it on a demo and only then if there was no way of getting a Laq or Silverplate version which sounded as good , also RAW horns can leave you with messy hands and may not gain the patina you require (just go green and mingey) .. the First thing I did when getting the 62-AG Tenor from Davey was to polish it (I seem to remember him saying sacrilage at the time - LOL) , it looks Fantastic to me and I just pull it through and wipe it down after a session . as Pete suggests, polish it every 6 months ..

Rat Horns bought for little cash as a kickabout are a different matter entirely but I`d prefer tidy ones of those also ........ this "HornsThatLookLikeShyte" fad will either die out or go to another stage of companies adding cosmetic dents to Bells and bows ............ YIKES

 

[Ivan]

I'm with Mr Wyver on this one

 

[fibracell]

I don't like the new horns with the antique finish either. I had a chance to get a nice alto but it was in black - don't think I could put up with anything other than gold lacquer or maybe silver plate finish. Don't mind old horns with 80% lacquer, so long as they play well.

 

[Colin the Bear]

I do like a clean instrument but a thing should look like what it is to my mind. A good wash and oil to make it play and get rid of decades of biological accumulation and detritus from someone else's spit pump is only common sense to my mind, but no need to start with the metal polish. If it shines, it shines. I have no idea why they make instruments with the painted on vintage look. I'd only buy one for a very special price same as a coloured one. Some colours would have to be free though.

 

[jazzdoh]

I have horns in most finishes,but its how they sound and play that counts,i don't really have a preference and like the look of all the finishes including the RAW which is like its been plucked from under the earth,i think the hardest of all finishes is black plate,my Yani sop is about 15 years old and still looks like new.
I am too idle to spend hours polishing horns much prefer to play them.

 

[zootsaxenberger]

Just however they are. I've got some saxes which are shiny, some which are tarnished. I'm only really interested in how they play, not how they look. I adopt the same policy as with my bikes - maintain mechanically to a high standard, and to hell with the cosmetics. I've never polished my saxes, just as I've never cleaned my bikes.

I agree I have no real preference concerning finish,my latest tenor is shiny Rose brass
I did consider getting a vintage look one purely because when it starts getting knocked about,which it will
it won't be as evident.
But really it all comes down to how it plays

 

[Jamesmac]

I get the impression from the querie presented, that the op is looking to see how to maximise profit. As stated with antiques, best to be in as or as close to original as possible.
(Warts and all) Well as far as eBay is concerned all buyers will want a YAS23 in mint condition, and the age unimportant. but a 6M or 10M will probably be best selling it in as original condition. But a 1947 in a crap condition will sell for more than a 99% lacquer 1968. So it depends more on the sax in question that is being sold and not just the condition.

 

[Sue]

Looks like I'm in a minority of 1 (I often am- lol) but I really like the matt (antique?) look, also the bronze/brass and old battered look. I love the older silver look too but have never found one that I can play 🙁 due to ergonomics or weight.

 

[zootsaxenberger]

I like the antique look too, most of my saxes Have been old so I'm well used to playing horns with little plating or lacquer left.
And I don't find vintage look saxes cheesey I'd love a Custom Raw, but playability is still my main
Criteria when looking at horns.

 

[DavidUK]

The one that sticks in my mind recently was the mottled Cigar Cutter Tenor the chap selling the kitsch Borodi 6M had sitting on his sofa. I'm not sure what it had... maybe it just oozed an imagined glimpse of a life full of stories it could never verbalise. It was a little more mottled than this one, to give you an idea...

But, then again I actually went to see its brash silver and gold plate stable mate, so I must have thought that had some appeal. Then came to my senses, mainly as it's not an original Conn spec finish..

I liked the "matt" finish of my Buffet 400, but if you compare it to my SDA the latter is the more classically beautiful model. Just the odd blemish here and there which stops me worrying about damaging it..

 

[DavidUK]

Raw horns? Well, what do you do when it arrives looking like this?.....

You could just clean it I guess, but I preferred to get back to bare brass as the speckling and green bits were mostly caused by the remnants of the lacquer...

I could have re-lacquered it from bare, but I rather liked the idea of a Raw finish, so had it polished and protect it with Renaissance wax, as used by the British Museum to protect precious antiquities...

In summary, I guess I like ALL types of finish, but it has to look right for the model and age of horn. The Borodi 6M is one that just didn't suit its new suit.

 

[kevgermany]

Clean and shiney for me. Silver plate, rose brass, gold lacquer, black plate - all fine by me, but scruffy lacquer is not good. I hate the smell of my hands after playing bare brass. And the green/pitting feels terrible. I'm not keen on the cheap looking coloured lacquers, but still preferable to old, scratched lacquer.

But if profit/resale is your motive - as is/original finish all the time, but silver must be polished.

 

[thomsax]

I just keep the outside of my saxes clean. No polishing. I use real lemon oil on the outside. Some guys says you shouldn't, but I do. More important to keep the inside of the sax, neck and mouthpiece clean and shinny!

 

[Colin the Bear]

I just keep the outside of my saxes clean. No polishing. I use real lemon oil on the outside. Some guys says you shouldn't, but I do. More important to keep the inside of the sax, neck and mouthpiece clean and shinny!

Yes to that. I recently had a run of bad reeds. Poor tone and intonation. I tried all sorts, clipping , scraping, soaking. I had the sax on the bench and tweaked everything. I don't know why cleaning the mouthpiece was the last thing I tried. I couldn't believe what came out of it. This motivated me to clean the crook too. No more bad reeds and it played great.

 

[TimboSax]

Shiny and gold. That to me is what a sax looks like. I can appreciate other finishes, but they're not for me. Same with guitars, les pauls should be cherry sunburst, strats should be black and white with maple necks, teles should be sunburst and double bound, jazz basses should be sunburst...I think it's probably the look that I associated with these instruments when I was a kid.

Don't like relic'd guitars or saxes. Dings and scratches are fine if I've caused them, but not on new instruments.

 

[Ads]

I just keep the outside of my saxes clean. No polishing. I use real lemon oil on the outside. Some guys says you shouldn't, but I do. More important to keep the inside of the sax, neck and mouthpiece clean and shiny!

Easy on a new one but when you get a Minger how do you clean the insides without removing all the keywork and pads ?