Saxophones Should I buy a 1970 Conn 10M?

[DavidUK]

Yes, yes..... I know..... hooked again!

1970 10M, sheet metal guards, "C" bell brace, underslung neck, not a "lady face", in as new condition.
Some doubt in my mind as to where these were made.

£500.

Too much for a late'un?

😵

 

[aldevis]

You shouldn't.

 

[DavidUK]

You shouldn't.

Expand?

 

[jonf]

He's right. Don't.

 

[Plod]

David, Best put your hard earned cash towards the real thing, pre 1948 with RTH

 

[DavidUK]

OK, thanks for the advice.

You're right. I should be patient and pick up an early RTH version for £100 at some point in the future.

😉

 

[DavidUK]

David, Best put your hard earned cash towards the real thing, pre 1948 with RTH

Aha.... great minds!!

 

[aldevis]

Pretty much covered:
1- It is unlikely to be the horn of your life
2- It is not the most re-sellable horn, nowadays.
3- You will start looking for a RTH immediately, and you will be £500 short.

Two horns worth £500 usually are not as good as one worth £1000

 

[Ads]

and you`d be lucky to find a nice RTH 10M for a grand thesedays on the usual haunts - in the UK Anyway and I doubt there`ll be many fixer-uppers out there too as they`ll have likely been snapped up and rebuilt... the USA likely a different matter .

 

[Clivey]

Yerp, Buy Good and and Buy Once. I`ve had my 1935 baby for 29 years now.

 

[U CAN CALL ME AL]

My own 10M is a silver plate gold wash bell RTH naked lady. Save your money 'til you you see a good one. But be prepared to pay £1.5k

 

[majordennis]

1970 is near the end of the 10M run, it is quoted elsewhere that all the "Artist" models were made at the Elkhart facility. It depends what you want to do with it, if you want it as a keeper you may be pleasantly surprised but as someone else has said re-sale on these is not special which is a shame as they are very good.

I have A-B'd my 1963, no lady, no RTH, no lacquer, no shine (no talent) against the earlier models and at my level of experience found very little difference, as I have said before the 10M keywork design is very comfortable for me.

 

[DHM]

Buy Good and and Buy Once.

This will become my new mantra when I place those Eppelsheim and Inderbinen orders. 🙂

 

[Saxdiva]

This will become my new mantra when I place those Eppelsheim and Inderbinen orders. 🙂

Ah, back to the reason you should become a T9932J owner 😀

 

[altissimo]

late Conn's just aren't built as well as the 1930's ones, and while locking screws, microtuners and rolled tone holes aren't in themselves desirable features, they are indicative of an era when Conn made stuff as well as they possibly could. By 1970 all the people who did such great work on the older instruments would've retired.

 

[jazzdoh]

Yes, yes..... I know..... hooked again!

1970 10M, sheet metal guards, "C" bell brace, underslung neck, not a "lady face", in as new condition.
Some doubt in my mind as to where these were made.

£500.

Too much for a late'un?

😵

Sensible answer is NO as others have said wait for a RTH pay a more for a sax you can keep for years.

 

[Fraser Jarvis]

The ergonomics really are truly dreadful, particularly as you are now used to a modern tenor, mine went back in it's case as soon as I got my Selmer and barely saw the light of day again until I sold it a couple of months ago.

 

[dooce]

I had a 58 tenor for a while, it was nothing special apart from getting a few kudos points. Can't imagine that a later model would be any improvement.

 

[thomsax]

I don't think the late Conn Elkhart production is that bad. Not a pre WWII 10M but still a 10M. If it's like new then the price is IMO right? Play before you decide. And look around what you can get for the same money. The late 12M and 11M (lowA) baris are good. And when UMI introduced the 13M and 14M (lowA) I think they redesigned the late Conn Elkhart baris. But they were made in Nogales ,AZ .

 

[DavidUK]

It was up for double what I offered. The USA seller's keeness should have been a warning?
Here it is with him playing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_czPUUFdQoM

But you're right of course. Hang on for a real bargain buy. £500 for a 1970 10M (including shipping and taxes) is not worthy of my divi status.
I'll sniff out an earlier one for that money. But I really cannot see it being better than my Charlie Connolly built Grassi tenor.
Having said that, at the moment I intend to keep the 58M alto as an alternative to the SDA, so a nice old vintage tenor would keep the Grassi company. Now, who am I trying to convince!?......