Saxophones New Saxophones - Goldington

[DavidUK]

Spotted an alto for sale yesterday and what caught my eye was the elaborate all over engraving. Then I looked at the name on the bell... Goldington.
Hmmm... not one I'd heard of before.

The ad reads "Brand new, never been played alto saxophone. It's a "Goldington" brand which is a copy of a Selmer sax at a fraction of the price. I'm a sax teacher so you can be sure that this plays really well. for details call Lynden on [hidden information]. Thanks"





Googling "Goldington" took me to the web site of Lynden Blades and so I guessed he had decided to import his own brand (he lives in Goldington Green) but wondered why, it's a big step to take. So I messaged Lynden and he came back with:

"Hi David. Yes, that’s right. It’s easy comparable with a good quality Trevor James and the brief was to make as close a copy of a Selmer as possible. They’ve done an amazing job and these horns are extremely good.
After years and years of teaching and new students asking me where to get a great but not expensive horn, I created these. I have mark 6 tenor copies too. They’re extraordinary."

He sent me a link to the tenor version being played too:

View: https://youtu.be/rv3TqROSipI

I have a thing about Chinese copies being passed off as Selmers or Yanagisawas (or Hansons even) as you may have noticed from other threads, but I'm fully supportive of anyone in the UK who has the entrepreneurial spirit to bring out their own brand, albeit made in the far east, Pete's upcoming "Cafesaxophone" brand included naturally.

So, are these Selmer-like? I've no idea. Lynden says they are but I guess we need a few to be tried, played, bought, to have more of an idea of what broad appeal they'll have. Anyone reading this who has one, please post your impressions.

I had a look around in Lynden's Youtube channel. I think he knows what he's doing, have a listen to him on his old alto (MkVI?)...

View: https://youtu.be/P9wuzVwvbcY



NB. I have no association with Lynden or his new saxophones whatsoever.

 

[Hammie 1982]

Id like to hear some reviews of them from people that arent necessarily "invested" in them.
We have all heard the "these are incredible" claims from people invested in a venture into something before then 6 months time they are getting awful reviews.... I hope this isnt the case this time cause i applaud him for trying to do something like this!!!
No idea what he's charging for them by any chance (just for curiosity sake)

 

[DavidUK]

Tenor £750
Alto £550

 

[Hammie 1982]

A little more expensive than i can get a JP042 for locally.
Not extortionately expensive, even after you budget for Setup and mouth piece change.......
(i budget for a technicians time with anything i would be shipping in from outside Ireland as we all know that couriers and postage handlers arent exactly sympathetic to the boxes in transit)

 

[DavidUK]

Here's his ebay links:

Selmer Mark Six replica tenor sax, shiny finish. Brand new, sounds amazing. | eBay

It has been set up and tested by a professional sax technician and plays beautifully from top to bottom. It sounds fantastic! Has a lovely rich and full bodied tone. It's well made and very pretty to look at.

www.ebay.co.uk

Selmer Alto replica saxophone . Brand new, sounds amazing. | eBay

It has been set up and tested by a professional sax technician and plays beautifully from top to bottom. It sounds fantastic! Has a lovely rich and full bodied tone. It's well made and very pretty to look at.

www.ebay.co.uk

I wonder if he has any students on here?

 

[DavidUK]

I'm having a running chat with Lynden on Facebook...

As they arrive, each sax is play tested by Lynden and if they need any adjustments or setting up they go to a nearby sax technician, Graham de Vere White.

I've not heard of him personally but someone here may know of Graham?

 

[nigeld]

If each of the saxes has been properly set up by a good technician, then they look like a good buy.

 

[DavidUK]

Well that's difficult to say but from Lynden's Youtube videos he sounds good so you'd think he'd have chosen and tweaked wisely. And his idea of offering his students a model which he knows will be a "standard" design, with a good base sound, is an excellent one too.

 

[h4yn0nnym0u5e]

Hmmm. Just down the road from me. I'm not a good enough player to evaluate the quality or playability except at a very obvious level, unfortunately. Graham previously operated from the John Myatt music shop, in Hitchin. That closed about a year ago, but he's still doing repairs. I only had one minor thing done by him, adjusting an older Yamaha tenor crook so it worked on a newer instrument and re-corking it, so not massively indicative of much, but he has a good reputation.

 

[DavidUK]

I wonder how the Cafe sax will compare for price? The big advantage is we'll have copious sound clips and a fair few invited testers I'd hope. Hopefully Lynden can add some full length recordings of each model to his channel.

 

[Pete Effamy]

I wonder how the Cafe sax will compare for price? The big advantage is we'll have copious sound clips and a fair few invited testers I'd hope. Hopefully Lynden can add some full length recordings of each model to his channel.

With everything I've read about Pete's own Cafe Sax I can't see the price being at the lower end of the market so not a comparison to be had in that respect.

 

[jbtsax]

Before getting too excited about this brand I would like to see a review after Stephen Howard has had a chance to dissect one or put another way "to perform an autopsy". On lower end saxophones the quality of materials can play a big part even though the design and quality of manufacturing is well done. This quality is not readily observable by a player or seller without sufficient professional repair skill and experience.

A relatively new saxophone in the States that has caught my interest is the "Wilmington" designed, set-up, and sold by Music Medic. It is unusual in that it has a body made of "nickel silver" that is harder than brass. The selling price is $1335 US which is about £1060. I have ordered one to try out and will report back when I have more information. Saxophone players are very fortunate to have a choice of so many quality saxophones at affordable prices. Flutists, violinists, and bassoonists are not as lucky as their top of the line instruments cost many times more than even the highest priced saxophones.

 

[Morph]

The engraving looks really great. Shame he didn't play both horns in the comparison video (although you can rarely learn too much from a video anyway). I'd be interested in hearing what a tech thinks of these horns too

 

[DavidUK]

Lynden made another video comparing his new sax to his MkVI:

View: https://youtu.be/JDLQx-HQWlc


Then an explanation as to how the new ones came about:

View: https://youtu.be/wtLsZbvJ07Y


Love this one...

View: https://youtu.be/2oqLS5_dsTc

 

[Hammie 1982]

The more i look at these, the more tempted im getting to give 1 a try!!!!!

 

[Pete Effamy]

In the comparison with his mk 6 it’s a much brighter horn, and that’s with a guy that is playing with a West Coast Desmond slant. With a softer, fluffier sound it will make far less difference from one horn to another imo. It doesn’t sound like a bad horn, in fact there’s nothing to dislike. The harder things to produce from a horn are the cracks and pops that an older horn like a 6 Might be more prone to do. If you don’t want to make those sounds it doesn’t matter. Making the Desmond-type sound is pretty easy (if you’re wired for it) on any sax imo.

 

[saxyjt]

A relatively new saxophone in the States that has caught my interest is the "Wilmington" designed, set-up, and sold by Music Medic. It is unusual in that it has a body made of "nickel silver" that is harder than brass. The selling price is $1335 US which is about £1060. I have ordered one to try out and will report back when I have more information.

I saw these but I'm not a fan of their looks! Perhaps they will offer more choice if they sell enough of them. The Goldington apparently comes in different flavours...

 

[DavidUK]

I saw these but I'm not a fan of their looks!

Which...the Wilmington or Lynden's Goldington? It was the latter's looks which made me look more closely at the ad.

 

[saxyjt]

I'm no fan of the Wilmington's looks.

 

[David Roach]

Of course, the proof of the pudding ....etc, but....
My view is you generally get what you pay for with musical instruments.
The alto sounds a lot thinner than his Mk6 and the intonation is not as good either, so, no, let's be real, it's not really a comparative instrument.
The Chinese and the Taiwanese can bang these instruments out by the thousand so any belief that they can compare with a good Selmer is mis-founded.
I agree with @jbtsax , until @Stephen Howard or someone equally qualified has pulled it apart, we are all hoping and guessing!
I know they are cheaper, but I can guarantee that the Sequoia, for instance, which is Taiwanese made but Italian designed and assembled, is a better instrument simply because I know that Roberto Buttus puts a lot of time into setting them up properly and improves the design all the time (and, DISCLAIMER - I play one and have done so for 4 years now )

Look, I'm not saying these horns are bad by any means, but please be realistic and know that anyone with a bit of capital can order a batch of saxes from China or Taiwan at very cheap prices and there is no guarantee that they will still be roadworthy in 4 years time. Look how many new saxes have cropped up over the last few years, and have any of them really matched up to even the cheapest Yamaha or Yanagisawa, never mind a Selmer?

However, despite my misgivings, at that price they still may worth it, even if they have to be re-fettled by another technician.