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The ones that got away...

Adrian63

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Morning folks..
Having a rare day off today as it is both my Nephew Luke's Birthday ; also the funeral of my friend Peter who passed away recently due to covid complications : very sad .
So anyhow just filling in an hour or two and will pose this question . What did you sell or trade that you really wish you had kept ?
I think of balanced action baritone and low digit Selmer 6s that would be worth a lot of much needed cash right now but it's not about the money . I spent a few months one summer years back playing a Chu Berry tenor with a Florida link : a fabulous combination that was effortless to play . I was going through a real Stan Getz phase at the time and was well on the way to getting that sound together ; it was a great summer. A Martin Committee III also comes to mind for no other reason than it was a stunning horn and I've had many many many....
A couple of mpcs also including a Gale " companion " I have mentioned before . I saw this non descript looking rubber tenor mpc in Johnny Roadhouse probably almost twenty years back and wondered why it was priced at two hundred quid which was a crazy ammount at the time . Johnny was still around then and answered to the effect of " when you have played it a while you will understand " ; I bought it . It was a beautiful mpc with these inflections of its own that came out of nowhere . Hard to explain but sometimes you will hear Ben Webster and think how does he get that great " fall away " : this Gale had the answers . Also Phil Barone gave me a one off stubby he doesn't remember making . An odd looking thing in that it was all shank and a tiny chamber but man did it pack a punch . It came in at an 8 which was wide for me in those days but yeah another sadly gone .
Other bits I remember are the small things : a great sling or an accessories box . One last thing was a leather tenor case from Valencia . I say case and not bag as it had these wooden panels that zipped in and out at each side : you could either use it as a gig bag or a semi hard case when taking the train . I had offers for that case from as far as New York but it went with a tenor in the end so far as I remember .
I will take the time to suggest to those who are lucky enough to be just starting this great journey to consider what I have said and to think before you let something go . I always used to think there was something better around the corner . In the Chu / Florida I should have stuck with it but thought I could sound more like Stan if I changed to this or this....before I knew it I was a million miles away from where I thought I wanted to be playing Dukoffs on Conns and Kings ; a whole new chapter but still all great...
Out of all of it though that Chu / FL aside that Gale mpc will always remain a great memory . I sounded like I'd never sounded before and was really the start of something .
So before I go put on my black suit I'll ask what about you ? What did you let go and either regret it or remember it as a defining part of a great journey ?
@Pete Thomas : be interesting to hear your tale mate...
Have a good day folks....;)
 
I regret selling my SA80II alto. It was mint. It was the culmination of my journey to find the best horn for me after maybe 50 different altos by that point. I went off playing a few years back and my tutor emigrated to the IOW, and I thought that signified the end of yet another "hobby", hence the sale.
But it wasn't to be, it slowly came back.

But... had I kept the Selmer I wouldn't have started once again searching for my ideal horn. Strangely I've kept away from Selmer's this time, not sure why. But if you read my early posts I'd kind of fallen for Buffets to start, with a 1973 SDA, then replaced it with a YAS-62 Purple Logo, with only the SA80II being good enough to better those. The Selmer had a bit more volume and flexibility than either. And once again that search has ended (for now) with my fully overhauled 1958 SDA. (See: Saxophones - Buffet "Barn Find" - here we go again... )

If it turns out I keep playing tenor too (recently given it more time) I may come to regret selling my Grassi 2000 Pro to a fellow cafe member. But I think I'll always favour alto so that's not a worry right now. Other than the Selmer, I don't regret parting with any of the other 90+ horns I've had.

I'll still keep buying and trying other, mostly unusual, "bargains" I find as GAS had me in its clutches from the very start.
 
Didn't realise you had sold the Grassi David : no worries ; next tenor has to be a 10M !! A life changing experience....
 
Over the course of the last 10 or so years I've been buying and selling things, there are really only a rare few things I regret selling.

  • a really nice modified STM NY Link
  • Theo Wanne Gaia (first model)

Everything else was either not a fit or "just ok" for me. I'm lucky that the two I've listed aren't really that big a deal in the grand scheme of things.
 
I'm sorry to her about your friend Adrian. The one thing I regret selling, although it was more stolen than sold, was a silver Lawton tenor piece, I assume it must have been plate. I had it for sale in a local shop, long before eBay, and it didn't seem to be selling so I went to get it and they didn't have it. I had the receipt, they had no mpc, disgruntlement ensued on both sides and finally they paid me but I wish I could have just got it back.

I sort of wish I still had my Buescher Aristocrat alto, but I doubt I would be playing it so maybe it's better wherever it is.
 
Yes Adrian, condolences regarding the loss of your friend. For certain he is in a better place, now.

As a dealer/flipper, this gets hard to answer because over the years I have had a lotta great horns come thru here....pretty much, dare I say, every classic model as well as at least 60% of all contemporary, highly-reputed ones.

the one which STILL sticks in my mind, although this was 12 years ago, was a King Marigaux (SML Rev D stencil, might have been a Gold Medal actually) from the 60's-70's....original lacquer 90%, almost perfect condition, engraved near the pantguard with its former owner, a Reverend.

It was as close to a 'like-new' vintage horn as one could ever get. That thing had been well-cared for.
Plus it was an SML, which of course meant it completely rocked.

There's that one.

Second would probably be a Couf Low A....it wasn't as immaculate, but it was in really good shape, 85% lacq, also clearly cared for...

But again, as a former GF reminded me on occasion: "you are a repairer and seller, not a collector !"
 
Well, and this is slightly off topic.. I sold my Vincent Black Shadow for 3 thousand 25years ago....I spoke to the new owner recently who contacted me and was informed that it was insured for 50 thousand..I dont regret it actually as I now have clean fingernails and my hearing is a lot better..Regards
 
...and I had a 1964 Mini once. Still that didn't so much get sold as written off when a German woman in a Bottle T-Boned me at a T-Junction... write off!
 
Conn Transitional Tenor, which sounded great
Grafton Alto, which looked great.
Both to pay legal fees [see my profile pic]
 
je ne regrette rien

Well, I do regret that I just broke the forum rules about not posting in English.

Maybe a mint Grafton I bought for £50 and sold for £75. They've inflated even more than MKVIs.

I did mange to buy another one a few years backand it has a certain character.
 
Maybe a mint Grafton I bought for £50 and sold for £75. They've inflated even more than MKVIs.

I did mange to buy another one a few years backand it has a certain character.

And they're useful for threatening @Stephen Howard too.

In the mid 80s I answered an advert in Exchange & Mart for "3 Grafton saxophones" and travelled about 100 miles to discover that it was actually I Grafton in need of repair, one with a cracked body and a bag of keys. Anyway, I still have the one Grafton in playable condition and it's a nice thing to own. I realised the other day that i have owned it for more than half its life.

Rhys
 
I regret selling my Buescher Tenor even though I used it to get a Couf. And then I had a Vito Alto that was made by Yamaha that I should never have sold. Again, I was young and ignorant. But, hindsight is always 20/20 and today is today.
 
Well, and this is slightly off topic.. I sold my Vincent Black Shadow for 3 thousand 25years ago....I spoke to the new owner recently who contacted me and was informed that it was insured for 50 thousand..I dont regret it actually as I now have clean fingernails and my hearing is a lot better..Regards
Very off-topic. You’re also killing me. As a fellow Sidecar racer.... I can attest to the Black Shadows in this region are $100 K+. In 1986 I sold one for $6500. I still have my G-12
 
Favorites that float to mind include:
’65 Stratocaster
‘68 Les Paul Custom
’73 GIbson ES-335 (red, purchased new)
’85 Gibson ES-347
Franklin Jumbo (Nick Kukich)
Selmer Balanced Action tenor that I bought from Fred Lamberson in the ‘80s
Selmer 5-digit Mk VI tenor (closet queen condition)
King Super 20 (full pearls, overhauled by Aaron Barnard)
’74 BMW R90S in silver smoke

Good times. I am fortunate to have what I need, and enjoy what I have.
 
Very off-topic. You’re also killing me. As a fellow Sidecar racer.... I can attest to the Black Shadows in this region are $100 K+. In 1986 I sold one for $6500. I still have my G-12
That has illuminated what sort of 'black shadow' y'all are talkin' about. Until now I thought it was a contraceptively expensive condom
 
Yes Adrian, condolences regarding the loss of your friend. For certain he is in a better place, now.

As a dealer/flipper, this gets hard to answer because over the years I have had a lotta great horns come thru here....pretty much, dare I say, every classic model as well as at least 60% of all contemporary, highly-reputed ones.

the one which STILL sticks in my mind, although this was 12 years ago, was a King Marigaux (SML Rev D stencil, might have been a Gold Medal actually) from the 60's-70's....original lacquer 90%, almost perfect condition, engraved near the pantguard with its former owner, a Reverend.

It was as close to a 'like-new' vintage horn as one could ever get. That thing had been well-cared for.
Plus it was an SML, which of course meant it completely rocked.

There's that one.

Second would probably be a Couf Low A....it wasn't as immaculate, but it was in really good shape, 85% lacq, also clearly cared for...

But again, as a former GF reminded me on occasion: "you are a repairer and seller, not a collector !"

Favorites that float to mind include:
’74 BMW R90S in silver smoke

Good times. I am fortunate to have what I need, and enjoy what I have.
You would remind me of the 79 R100 RS Blue /silver sold in 82
That has illuminated what sort of 'black shadow' y'all are talkin' about. Until now I thought it was a contraceptively expensive condom
A Black enamel instrument with twin pipes and a very distinct note. Unique and very fast fingering. I don’t think they included the accessories mentioned above.;)
 
Sorry to hear about your mate Ade, very sad indeed.

Where to start: pristine silver plated Martin Comm III (US Navy), pristine Martin Searchlight alto, King Super 20 full pearls tenor, Mark 6 baritone to low Bb, SML Rev 3(or 4?) tenor, Yamaha YSS62, Morgan Excalibur mouthpiece... these are the ones I regret selling, I'm sure there are more!
 
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