Saxophones Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal?

ChrisC

Member
Hi I was looking in Sax.co.uk and saw a Selmer Conn CTS280R Tenor for £969 which is apparently reduced from £1930.

My knowledge of saxophones is still very limited but I thought Selmer (and Conn especially) were a good make so this would on first sight appear to be a good deal which fits my £1000 budget nicely.

Trouble is I am a complete newbie to the sax so "playing it and seeing how it feels" is not something that I can actually get any value from.

So my question to you educated fellows is pretty much along the lines of is this as good a deal as it looks? Or is there a reason why this is less than half list price? I cant really ask the shop this 🙂

Thanks Chris C
 
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Hi Chris, I too am a relative Newbie but the advice to "play it and see how it feels" is good even for us.

Bought my first tenor a couple of weeks back and did just that. I went to Windblowers in Nottingham full of trepidation knowing that I would probably make a prat of myself. Believe me they couldn't have been more helpful and although I only managed to play 'Three Blind Mice' at the time, it was still worth it to get the feel of the ergonomics and to reassure myself that I could at least get a note out of the thing.

If you get the chance to try a few then go for it. Worrying about looking silly happens to everyone - even the Pro's.
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

Thanks - a number of people say this and so I will do that - it just feels..... silly as I have no idea what 'good' feels like.

So I am thinking that if i can remove the rubbish or 'pure sales pitch' from the list then I only have to see which of the few that are left I sort-of-kinda like the feel of.

I just dont want to make an expensive mistake
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

In our position it may not be easy to differentiate between similar models in the way the experts can. It is however not difficult to feel whether something is right. As you say the main objective is to feel that your hard earned cash is being spent on something that suits you...
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

Hi,
I think if it's your first saxophone then your fingers will learn their way around the horn which ever one you choose,once you've been playing a couple of years and you pick up a pro horn you will feel the difference, its a matter of you getting to know the saxophone rather than if the sax is right for you. Having said that £969.00 is a reasonable price for your first sax, it maybe worth trying a student grade Yamaha and a Trevor James at the same time to see which feels more comfortable with weight ect,
My son is learning on a Trevor James alto and i think it's more than adequate.
Hope i have been helpful.
Good Luck.
saxman80 :thumb:
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

good advice above. Selmer own Conn and have done for quite a while. My guess is that this is a sax from the far east, either stamped with their name, or better made to their specifications. Are you doing better by buying a brand? Hard to tell. Ideally they add design, QC and future support/spares. But who knows? Price reduction may be because it's a discontinued model. You'd have to ask. But having the name on the sax will probably make it easier to sell in the future, should you decide to do so.
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

A thing is only worth what people will pay for it. A saxophone that wouldn't sell at £2k isn't a bargain because it's offered for £1k.

If you're not going to do your own servicing and repairs buying something from a reliable, local, well established retailer with a service department might be more important to you than a label on a bell.

You can get a very playable new student horn from as little as £250 so it better be a sweetheart for £1k.
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

I can't comment specifically on this saxophone since it appears to be marketed only in Europe and not the U.S. The U.S. made Conn/Selmer student saxophones that I have worked on have all been an embarrassment to my country. Their design, construction, and quality of materials were well below that of Taiwanese saxophones in the same price range.

I would ask where the CTS280R is made. It should be stamped somewhere on the body of the saxophone. Don't be misled by the advertising highlighting the Conn and Selmer names attached to these models. The best Selmer saxophones were made by Selmer Paris, not Selmer U.S.A. and the last good Conn saxophones were made in the 1950's.
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

It's certainly different in it's colouring

http://www.sax.co.uk/acatalog/NEW-Selmer--USA--Conn-CTS280RC-Tenor-Saxophone---Engraved-Yellow-Brass-Bell-Copper-Body-226136221.html

I think you'd have to see it in the flesh to decide whether it's something you like to look at as well as play
 
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Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

Heed post #8. Stephen Howard withdrew his recommendation for the Conn Selmer Prelude due to poor build quality.

You can check out the Bauhaus Walstien tenor at the same store. If you get one of those you will be able to join the Bauhaus Walstien Owners Club on here. Happy hunting.

Jim.
 
Re: Selmer (USA) Conn CTS280R -a good deal for a first sax?

Many thanks folks - it wasnt the brass and copper one I was looking at but thats an aside - what I am getting from these replies is "buy what you like the feel of - and dont be led by names" so I guess its time to wander into a shop and let them all hear me play B-A-G-A-B a few times 🙂

There are quite a few instruments around the £1000 and less bracket so I will set myself some time and go try them all...

Cheers
 
This is stating the obvious, really, but bear in mind that list prices are often a fiction, or a marketing ploy. They often seem to be inflated simply so that retailers can show purchasers what a good deal they're getting.

Whatever you end up getting, I hope you love it, and that you quickly become more competent than I'll ever be.
 
🙂 I think I have been nudged away from the Selmer now - and will probably focus on Trevor James (as their factory is not too far from me), Yamaha (the YTS280) but I will take a look at the
Bauhaus Walstien offerings as folks here seem to like them

This is almost a mid life crisis but I can be flexible around the cost and would prefer to have a half decent instrument to start with. I know from my guitar days that good instruments do make a tangible difference

 
I have to admit I picked up a sax pretty much as a mid-life crisis effect, but now that I have I'm happy I did. I've been thinking about it for quite some time on and off, but never commit thinking I can always do that later. Hey at least it's better than getting a ridiculously over-powered car or motorcycle and risk your life on a daily basis :sax:
 
If returning to the saxophone is my mid life crisis, then I'm going to outlive Methuselah. That is if I don't crash my bike.

knowsley002-2.jpg


I think I must have been a magpie in a previous incarnation. Very attracted to shiney.

I like to think of it as my second childhood, though I would have had to grow up in the first place to have one. Not guilty.
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

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