The Wichita Band Instrument Company, currently has a vintage bass sax up for auction on eBay that caught my eye. I first noticed this horn on December 22nd. It is a very pretty Buescher bass, and somewhat unusual in a couple of respects.
Firstly, it is in seemingly pristine condition—something one hardly sees in these big behemoths. And secondly, it lacks gold wash in the bell (most of the silver plated Buescher bass saxes I’ve seen all have had this feature).
Source: eBay.com
This horn was originally listed for sale until December 28th, but the sale ended early on the 23rd. Now it’s been re-listed, and the auction is running until January 3rd.
Source: eBay.com
Here is how the Wichita Band Instrument Company describes the horn:
RARE AND SUPERB SILVR PLATED BUESCHER BASS SAX, MADE IN ELKHART IN 1918, ALL ORIGINAL.
Vintage saxes from Selmer, Conn, Buescher and King are usually in our collection in Wichita, but this one’s special. The original satin silver finish is worn less than one percent, it’s never sustained any serious dents, minor dings have been burnished out by us and it now wears all new pads and corks.
Rare Buescher “True Tone” B-flat bass saxophone, #42,151, made in Elkhart in 1918.
This one’s quite original, still has 99% of the original satin silver finish, bright silver inside the bell.
ALL tone-holes have been removed and re-soldered, keywork has been swedged tight and all pads are new, from our shop in Wichita.
Never any major dents, minor dings have been burnished out in our shop in Wichita.
Case is new.
Previously owned by a fellow who bought it more than 30 years ago, this one’s unusual because it’s never had any major dents or damage. Perhaps as fine a bass as you’d find anywhere.
Our shop’s been in business since 1953, originally a woodwind and saxophone repair facility. We do seem to see one, sometimes two, basses every year. Of all that we’ve repaired, bought and sold, our opinion is that the American instruments from C. G. Conn and Buescher are far superior to all others. We have found homes for six or eight Selmer instruments and some folks do, we’ve got to admit, think they’re the finest basses ever built. But OUR choice is either a pre-1935 Conn or Buescher. The bell sections are bigger on them, which means the low B and B-flat speak without any resistance at all.
Not certain what bass that Adrian Rollini used. Am certain the American-Danish virtuoso Sigurd Rascher used a Buescher. Haven’t spoken to Vince Giordano for quite a while, do think he’s now using a Conn. Somebody out there will know…
Buescher was considered by many pre-war players to be the finest of the classical saxes, although only few jazzers ever used them. Aside from Rascher, I believe British “society” saxophonist Victor Sylvester also used a Buescher alto in his pre-1950 BBC radio broadcasts.
My teacher and best friend for half a century, Richard G. Helt of Wichita also preferred Buescher altos. In his early days with the Gus Arnheim and Charlie Barnet bands, he used a Selmer Balanced Action. But in his mature years, after his return to Wichita, Dick told me he liked the flexibility of the early Bueschers. Dick used a Brilhart three-star when he played alto and I use an identical alto mouthpiece to this day.
This particular gorgeous Buescher bass gets our 100% highest recommendation. It’s been used very little in the past 90 years, has never had any serious damage, comes with a new case and plays about as well as any bass ever made. Top recommendation!
“Buy it now” price on this one is a mere $8850.
OK, I’m not so sure about the “mere” part, and some of the other stuff in there is a bit over the top & rather irrelevant as well, but none the less, the horn looks very pretty. I guess I’ll just chalk the rather exuberant prose up to flowery advertising.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
I am curious though, why a horn with such little wear would need to have its tone holes removed and re-soldered.
My Buescher bass, which has way more mileage on it than this one has, didn’t have all this work done to it when Paul Coats restored it, with the help of Steve Goodson. It simply didn’t need it. Yes, there was some leaking at a couple of the tone holes, and those were repaired, but that was all.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
If I were in the market for a “new to me” vintage bass, this one would certainly be a contender, but I’d be calling the seller, and asking them some questions about the work they did, and why they did it.
I’d also be asking about the new case. What kind it is, for some photos of it, and for some photos of the horn in the case. I’m also curious what happened to the original case. A horn in such good condition, would most likely have an original case in good condition as well. Is that case still available?
I’ve attached a photo of the logo of my silver plated Buescher bass for comparison.
Update: The auction for this bass ended on January 3, 2008, with 0 bids. My prediction: we will see this horn up for auction again, but I don’t think we’ll see a significant price drop.
Hi Matt. Welcome! Thanks for your thoughts.
I too wondered about the finish, but like you say, it’s hard to tell from the photos. My Buescher has the logo exactly the way you describe it, not the way it appears in these photos.
Ah yes, bass saxes aren’t the only thing you have that I’m interested in. I still covet your roth. Maybe someday if the market ever picks up again… 😮
Yes Jim, there is no doubt that playing a horn before buying it is the way to go. Even when I flew to New Orleans to buy my bass, I wasn’t 100% committed to buying it. If I hadn’t been totally sold on it, I’d have flown back without the horn, and called the trip a vacation.
Now that I live back on the West Coast though, and that I’ve met Matt, all I’ll ever be out is a trip to Seattle to try a horn, since he’ll most likely have the sax I’m looking for anyway.
Doesn’t look original to me. The Buescher logo, as well as the highlights, should be in bright silver and should contrast sharply with the satin silver body. While it is difficult to tell from these pics. I’d guess it’s been replated. It’s pretty pricy anyway-why not buy an early Mark VI bass from me instead 🙂 I’ve also got a very nice Buescher (nicer than this one) awaiting a rebuild, and a terrific Conn 14M waiting to arrive. It’s bass sax heaven here (I’ve currently got 7)
M.
Helen, QuinnTheEskimo would know, but this looks to be replated, not an original finish. I could be wrong. Still, it is a rather nice looking instrument but the proof would be in the playing wouldn’t it.