jonf
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Well, I think I might have gone a bit mad recently. I’ve bought four saxes in the last month! That makes a total of 11 in the saxophone room now. In this order
Paul Cavour Tenor
Bought this off eBay for just over £100. Needs a bit of work, but not too much. From the notes I can play on it, it has a really nice rich tone. Best thing about it is that it’s in a beautiful copper lacquer, and really pretty good nick for such an old sax.
Vito alto
Also off eBay for just over £100. This is actually a Yamaha YAS21 but with a couple of enhancements as seen on the YAS23. It’s built like a tank, blows right through the range, has a great tone and excellent intonation. Bargain.
Martin Indiana and Getzen altos
These came from a Sax on the Web seller. They were both advertised as playing out of the box. However, the seller was not being straight, as neither do. The Indiana has a non-functioning octave key. The Getzen also doesn’t have a working octave key, although in this case it’s down to the seller being a numpty and sending it without an end bung in. As a result, the inevitable has happened and the octave pin has got bent and the brass part of the mechanism now has a crack in it. There is good news though. The pair cost just over £200, and both have decent pads, springs, corks, etc.
The other good news is the Martin. The Indiana is often regarded as a bit of an intermediate model, although some have all the features of the pro models. Well, this is one of them. It has the heart shaped left thumb rest, the adjustable right thumb rest and bevelled tone holes. All in good order, and even the lacquer is pretty good. Action is incredibly light and fast. It should be an absolute stormer once it’s fixed up. Will see if I can get them into Griff this week.
I’d intended to try the three altos and decide which I like the most and flog the others. Instead, though, I think I’ll keep the Martin (surprise surprise) and the Vito. My eldest has been trying my Buescher True Tone alto, and is starting to make tunes with it even though she’s just been messing about and is really too young at just coming up to 8. The Vito would be ideal for her to try something that’s a lot easier to play than the Buescher (which sounds great but has pretty poor ergonomics). If she subsequently goes off the idea it’ll sell easily.
So, if anyone’s interested in the Paul Cavour or the Getzen, drop me a PM. I’ll let them go for pretty much what I paid for them. If they sell here, Pete gets a donation of course. I’ll try and get some decent pics sorted out of them all soon.
Jon(a man can never have too many saxes)F
Paul Cavour Tenor
Bought this off eBay for just over £100. Needs a bit of work, but not too much. From the notes I can play on it, it has a really nice rich tone. Best thing about it is that it’s in a beautiful copper lacquer, and really pretty good nick for such an old sax.
Vito alto
Also off eBay for just over £100. This is actually a Yamaha YAS21 but with a couple of enhancements as seen on the YAS23. It’s built like a tank, blows right through the range, has a great tone and excellent intonation. Bargain.
Martin Indiana and Getzen altos
These came from a Sax on the Web seller. They were both advertised as playing out of the box. However, the seller was not being straight, as neither do. The Indiana has a non-functioning octave key. The Getzen also doesn’t have a working octave key, although in this case it’s down to the seller being a numpty and sending it without an end bung in. As a result, the inevitable has happened and the octave pin has got bent and the brass part of the mechanism now has a crack in it. There is good news though. The pair cost just over £200, and both have decent pads, springs, corks, etc.
The other good news is the Martin. The Indiana is often regarded as a bit of an intermediate model, although some have all the features of the pro models. Well, this is one of them. It has the heart shaped left thumb rest, the adjustable right thumb rest and bevelled tone holes. All in good order, and even the lacquer is pretty good. Action is incredibly light and fast. It should be an absolute stormer once it’s fixed up. Will see if I can get them into Griff this week.
I’d intended to try the three altos and decide which I like the most and flog the others. Instead, though, I think I’ll keep the Martin (surprise surprise) and the Vito. My eldest has been trying my Buescher True Tone alto, and is starting to make tunes with it even though she’s just been messing about and is really too young at just coming up to 8. The Vito would be ideal for her to try something that’s a lot easier to play than the Buescher (which sounds great but has pretty poor ergonomics). If she subsequently goes off the idea it’ll sell easily.
So, if anyone’s interested in the Paul Cavour or the Getzen, drop me a PM. I’ll let them go for pretty much what I paid for them. If they sell here, Pete gets a donation of course. I’ll try and get some decent pics sorted out of them all soon.
Jon(a man can never have too many saxes)F
