Saxophones Vox Victor baritone

[Stephen Howard]

Got an interesting bari in for a service - a Vox Victor. Not seen one of these before. No identification on it save for the name on the bell and the word "Foreign" stamped on the bottom bow ring.
It was, apparently, bought from Rose Morris in the sixties - and the connection here might be that Rose Morris sold guitars and amps under the Vox name. Equally it might just be a coincidence because I've never seen a Vox sax before...and if it was a Rose Morris brand I'm pretty sure I would have (they later sold Weltklang horns under the Berg Larsen badge).

The first thing that caught my eye was the distinctive bellbrace. Looks very much like the one fitted to my (very) vintage Rampone bari.

 

[Stephen Howard]

Here's a shot of the bell/palm keys and the octave mech:

 

[Stephen Howard]

And the lower stack layout...and a three-piece side Bb key...

 

[JiJi]

Stencil Orsi

Italian Makes & Models / Orsi / Left Bell Keys - Sheet Metal Keyguards / Eb Baritone (low Bb) Serial # ? |

 

[Stephen Howard]

That's it!
I looked around Helen's site but never thought to have a look at Orsi.

Cheers!

 

[JiJi]

Thank you, the shape of the C Guard !

 

[JayeNM]

yes bellbrace and keyguards give it away as an Orsi.

How is its intonation, Stephen ? Cannot recall servicing an Orsi Bari, but some of their Altos and Tenors could be a bit quirky.

 

[Stephen Howard]

Finished servicing the Vox Victor bari today.
I wasn't expecting good things from it but ended up being very pleasantly surprised. Nice, rich tone but with plenty of grunt. Reasonably even across the range - and certainly better than I imagined for a budget '60s/'70s bari.
Build quality wasn't too bad - the standout feature being the wall thickness of the key barrels. Not a horn you'd want to swedge lightly.
Toneholes rather 'meh' - but it's an old horn. Action quite nice, if quirky in places.
Tuning fine - very usable indeed.

I haven't got time to run up a proper review of it, unfortunately - which means it'll be a while before folks suss that it's worth more than they thought.