Saxophones New Martin Alto, and others!

[jonf]

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

 

[Jules]

I challenge you to find any information on Paul Cavour horns- we had a tenor in the shop a year or so ago and I spent ages trying to get any background or history inforamtion on it... to very little availl
THe more I read aout Martins the more interesting they seem! Mild GAS rumblings toward tracking down a nice big honking Martin tenor one day....

 

[thomsax]

To get new saxes sound nice to me. I haven't bought a "new" sax for the last two years except a Corton Deluxe alto (Yanagisawa made). I cuoldn't resist. I bought it on an real auction and I got it cheap, c £ 100.00 (1200 s e k). Just used a couple of years in the 70's. With new pads, corks and felt it played great.

Talking about Martins, two of my friends are going to buy new saxes. They are going to join the Mariat club!! They are both playing in big bands so they want something that blends better to Yana, Yamaha, Selmers saxes. Both have "The Martin Tenors" and they have asked if I'm intersted in buying them. A -59 and -58 in good shape. If the prices are right I think I'm going to by them. I'm going to sell my C-saxes to get money for new saxes.

Thomas

 

[jonf]

Getzen

Well, got the Getzen working. It actually plays very well, right through the range, with a good tone. Ergonomics pretty good, at least compared to my old Bueshcer True Tone. Nail file G# is a big improvement over the TT's button key. Looking up.

 

[Mikey B]

Hey Jon,

interesting haul you got there! I would like to say I might be interested in having one of them off you cos I only have 5 horns at the mo! However dont think her indoors would appreciate another one coming along just now!

Also I am holding out for a King Super 20 Silversonic Tenor, but you are right you can never have enough saxes!

Regards, Mike.

 

[jonf]

Hey Jon,



Also I am holding out for a King Super 20 Silversonic Tenor, but you are right you can never have enough saxes!

Regards, Mike.

I think that might just cost a little more than my recent aquisitions:shocked:

 

[cmelodysax]

I think that might just cost a little more than my recent aquisitions:shocked:

I think the exchange rate is about 18:1 ? Possibly even more ;}


- Has something changed ? I'm sure I used to be a “Junior Member” - now I seem to be a “New Member” – that’s better, it's embarassing being a “Junior” anything at my age. Or am I just having another "senior moment" ?

 

[saxismyaxe]

Grab those The Martin Tenors (or at least the better of the two). These are superb horns, and you will be very pleasantly surprised I am certain.

 

[jonf]

Well, I have been trying

An update on this thread and my attempts to deal with G.A.S.

So, I've sold the Paul Cavour and the Getzen, and the Martin is now up for sale. I decided to keep the Vito, it's a great sax, built like a tank. So the rationalisation was going very well, until I accidentally bought a Yanagisawa A6 stencil, badged as Astro. Oh well. I suspect I'm a hopeless case.

 

[kevgermany]

pm sent

 

[saxismyaxe]

An update on this thread and my attempts to deal with G.A.S.

So, I've sold the Paul Cavour and the Getzen, and the Martin is now up for sale. I decided to keep the Vito, it's a great sax, built like a tank. So the rationalisation was going very well, until I accidentally bought a Yanagisawa A6 stencil, badged as Astro. Oh well. I suspect I'm a hopeless case.

Selling your Martin......boo hiss. How could you?!

Seriously, different strokes for different folks. I hope you are successful in finding "the one".

I would however suggest that you give each candidate plenty of time and consideration before dashing to the next. The honeymoon period can seriously cloud one's opinion of a horn either way. Once the example is gone, it's gone, and many a person can recount memories of the one that got away.

G.A.S. can be a very dangerous thing.;}

Cheers.

 

[jonf]

I would however suggest that you give each candidate plenty of time and consideration before dashing to the next. The honeymoon period can seriously cloud one's opinion of a horn either way. Once the example is gone, it's gone, and many a person can recount memories of the one that got away.

Cheers.

Funny thing is, I've got some saxes that I would never, ever sell. There are some that I seem to just bond with. It's hard to pin down a reason, as they're a pretty diverse mix - Yani T992, 1920s Buescher true Tone alto, Buescher Aristocrat tenor and a couple of others. With all these I just knew from day one that they were keepers. On the other hand there have been a number over the years (and there've quite a lot of years!) that I know after just a few weeks that they're not really for me. I've never regretted selling a single one of these.

Anyway, despite protesting about it, I actually quite like G.A.S.

 

[Mikey B]

Hey Jon,

I saw the Getzen on ebay when surfing the other day, hope you got a good price for it, and yes I understand what you mean about bonding with your saxes.

I love my 3 tenors although they are all very different and it would be a very hard decision to choose which one to get rid of god forbid it should ever happen!

I have a Yani S900 soprano, and alas I dont get on well with it, just doesnt work for me

What do you reckon to the T992?

Mike.

 

[jonf]

Hi Mike

Yes, the Getzen sold for a reasonable price.

I think the T992 is fantastic. I was in a fortunate position a couple of years ago when I got an unexpected windfall, which decided to spend on a tenor. I wasn't too concerned about cost for the first time in my life, so I made three visits to sax.co.uk, and tried loads of different saxes from all the major manufacturers. I had thought of getting a T901, but the 992 was just so good in every respect I couldn't resist it. It's the combination of a thick, strong tone, perfect (for my hands) ergonomics, peerless build quality and finish that sold me on it. I haven't for one second regretted buying it.

Jon

 

[AlanU]

In my opinion fellow musicians are the nicest people to deal with.
Earlier this year I sold a beautiful semi-acoustic bass guitar, purely because it wasn't being played and I thought it deserved better.

The chap who came round and looked at it was obviously very keen, but was sensitive enought to say 'are you sure you want to sell this?'

I thought that was pretty sweet.
We've all sold instruments and regretted it later.

 

[jonf]

Sold the lot.

Well, in the end I sold all these saxes. Am just so pleased with my others I passed these all on. Still, total outgoing on the initial purchases was about £440. Total incoming on the sales was £885, making £445 net profit. I ended up paying about £230 on my Yani alto, a new neck and getting it fixed up, so I reckon that leaves a clear £215 to blow on a Christmas pressie to myself. What to get? Hmm, decisions, decisions.