Saxophones What is this mystery sax?

[tmesis]

My mum bought a secondhand alto saxophone a few years ago and now she wants me to sell it. I know nothing about saxophones and can't even find the make and model written anywhere on the instrument or on the case.

This is the sax in its case:


The front has a floral engraving:


Close-ups of the pattern:



The serial number is 8182:



The neck, also engraved with serial no. 8182:


Can anyone help? I have no idea how much to ask for this instrument, I can't tell if it's worth £50 or £500! Any advice appreciated.

 

[Pete Thomas]

More like £50 I'm afraid.

It's most likely a Chinese copy of a Selmer. If it's unbranded then people buying will assume the worst, that it's a one of the cheap, ones, some of which aren't very good, rather than one of the good quality ones which would be branded.

 

[tmesis]

Thanks for the info. Couldn't tell you if it plays well - I can just about get a few notes of "Baker Street" out on it and it sounds okay to me, but then I am a flutist. Hopefully someone'll shell out for it, it's great fun!

 

[kevgermany]

Any markings on the rest of the sax? Even if they're symbols/logos.

Any markings/name on the mouthpiece. You may be lucky and find it's got a decent mouthpiece. Could be worth splitting them to sell. But if the mouthpiece is a no-namer, don't bother.

 

[tmesis]

There's nothing on the mouthpiece unfortunately. Just the flower engraving on the bell and the serial number stamped on the underside of a few of the keys and the side of the neck. Even the serial number looks dodgy - on two of the keys the '1' is printed upside down!

 

[kevgermany]

Pity. Sax looks as if it's in good condition, but that's about it. If you can get someone to test it properly with a decent mouthpiece, and it plays OK, then it may help a bit on the price (but don't buy a mouthpiece to sell with the sax, it's not worth it). The standard mouthpieces on these bottom end chinese saxes tend to be barely playable.

 

[angie54321]

Looks awfully like this one: http://www.fortissimoinstruments.co...hones/atlanta-eb-alto-saxophone-by-fortissimo (look at the gallery for close ups) which is the one I own.

The case is identical to mine too (although I appreciate that there is probably not much difference between cases!)

A sax teacher examined it yesterday, and pronounced it fit for use, and producing quite a decent sound. As yours is older though, it might be different - from what I have heard, they have improved a lot over the last few years.

 

[dooce]

The engraving looks like a pretty typical generic pattern - not unlike the one you will find on Bauhaus, Gear4Music and John Packer instruments. Just because no-one has bothered to stamp a brand name on it, there's no reason why it shouldn't be a quite respectable instrument; just depends on the detailing and set-up and only a techy will be able to give an opinion on that.