Saxophones Saxophones, rarely discussed

[wakyct]

Everybody knows the nice horns that get talked about all the time (Selmer, Martin, Yamaha, etc). Then there are the good instruments less talked about but I would say still fairly well known (a Yamaha Vito stencil for example).

How about a topic for those worthy saxophones (I'll leave the definition of worthy alone for now) that are rarely discussed?

Yesterday I 'discovered' the F.E. Olds Super:

https://reverb.com/item/95146976-f-e-olds-super-alto-saxophone-very-rare

Obviously beauty is in the eye of the beholder but I have to say that is a very cool looking alto! With an interesting story as well, that you can find if you dig a bit here or at the other forum.

So, what other models might fit the topic?

 

[JayeNM]

I think perhaps 25% of forum posts discuss the non-grail models of sax actually...you may not be perusing the appropriate subforums.

Olds Super is an enigmatic model which over the past twenty years has gotten, as you discovered, a fair number of threads on SOTW, pre-regime.

I have only refurbed one, and that was back when they had not yet achieved their mythic reputation. Interesting horn, good horn. Its somewhat nebulous, Martinesque pedigree and the accompanying lore attempting to assign it a concrete history has elevated it to an unusual status among vintage sax ner-- um...aficionados

 

[JayeNM]

that reverb listing is a CRAZY GOOD PRICE for one even if it needs an overhaul...

Someone should grab it. (Seller has few feedbacks, which might be making folks understandably hesitate...but also accepts offers)

 

[JayeNM]

but gosh, you are asking about GOOD MODELS which rarely get (or have gotten) much attention ...that list can get really long...
Holton
Desidera
Boiste
some Beaugniers
some Pierrets

jump to mind....

Then familiar companies who made some good models which didn't 'catch'....

Conn 5m, 7m, and 9m
Buffet S-1
Grassi Prestige
The last Beaugnier/Noblet/Vito tenor, was it the 38 or 39 ? The one with the modern keywork better than their Duke...
The first non-THC version of the Buescher 400, which retained around 90% of the THC specs but
has been dismissed because it is thought to be post Selmer buyout...
Some B&S's
Hohner President
Selmer USA 162 and 164

In contemporary horns, Allora makes the Vienna and Paris 'intermediate' models which are quite good, I mean you can peg a used one for a few hundred less than a Yama 23 and the latter cannot go toe-to-toe with either of those...

A lotta good Jupes get no love...

A few of the more obscure Yamaha models, the Allegros, which turned out to be 62's with a few less bits of bling....

 

[mark_addy]

I didn't have a tenor (I didn't need one, really...) and a late 20s 'York' turned up pretty cheap recently, and I bought it. I am meaning to do a thread some time if someone is interested? I probably bought it because it had a Selmer scroll shank HR mouthpiece with it, and I like my one of those on alto - this one is a lot more closed but I might have a go at it. And the sax - blows very well, right down to the bottom. It's a bit wierd with an extra octave hole just for middle D.

 

[JayeNM]

That would be a a 'real' York then, one actually made at their factory before the company got bought out and the subsequent owners started sourcing their saxes from other companies...thus making York saxes essentially stencils from the 40's forward.....yeah the York-made Yorks have some interesting details...