There is a very rare saxophone up for auction right now. If you’re a saxophone collector, this just might be for you.
A seller in Washington state is selling a Selmer Padless tenor saxophone. The ones that I’ve seen up for sale in the past have been anything other than pristine, but this one looks like it is in very nice condition.
Source: eBay.com
Here is how this rare vintage sax is being described:
Here is an amazing piece of Saxophone history – all original, and it performs! The serial number is 27355, indicating that it was manufactured in early 1939. It was made for Selmer by The Buescher Company and the body tube is similar to an early Big-B or Buescher 156 with the narrow bell. The lacquer is original and 98% flawless. The engraving is gorgeous and goes from the lip of the bell all the way to the bottom of the curve. The neck has never been pulled down. There are no signs of repair or reattachment of key guards, etc. It is a truly beautiful instrument and it plays – from high F to low Bb. The tone is medium-bright due to the fact that the keys act as large resonators (no pads). The leather pad-rings appear to be original, but that would be hard to know. It is the best example of a Selmer USA Padless we’ve ever seen, and deserves to be in a professional collection or saxophone museum. The original case is the ‘Pullman’ style, so called because they are wedge-shaped and fit well on the overhead luggage rack of a Pullman train car. Included is the original instrument care brochure. The small, round button-shaped form on the lid of the accessories compartment is an integrated cork lubricant container – the only one of those we’ve ever seen. Now, the caveats. The bell key felts have been replaced with cork and felt combinations – quiet and uniform. There are slight scratches and a small, dime-sized wear area near the thumb rest. There are two pencil-point pings near the neck strap ring. There are three minor pings at the base. There are two tiny blemishes on the player’s side of the bell. The exterior of the case shows some wear, however it is clean inside with no musty smell. All l;atches work. The two handles have been taped and could easily be replaced. It requires a little more finger pressure than we would prefer, to get the low notes out, and would be improved by more playing time and, perhaps, minor key adjustment. It’s a dandy! It is difficult to know how to price an instrument of this type as there are so few of them. We’ll put on a $2,495.00 buy-it-now, and see what happens.
In this photo you can begin to see the ornate engraving that was done on these padless horns.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Here you can see the low B and Bb key guard assembly that was like those on Selmer’s Radio Improved model. Also, note the left pinkie cluster from the Buescher Aristocrat—which these padless horns are actually descendants of.
According to CyberSax, the Selmer Padless saxophones were:
… Buescher stencils [that] had the Aristocrat body tube, but as much True Tone (1920’s) keywork as could be used, given the left bell keys.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Now the seller refers to the pad rings as being made of leather, and most likely being original. This is most likely not the case. According to CyberSax, these padless horns had rubber seals. So if indeed these seals are made of leather, they were replaced at some point in time.
Naturally rubber seals break down over time. Bear, the owner of CyberSax, mentions that he has been unable to come up with a suitable replacement for these rings. If this horn is playable from top to bottom as the seller claims, then someone who worked on this sax has come up with an idea for replacement rings.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
In the next 2 shots you can see the Selmer name, but also the US designation. Selmer clearly wanted to make sure that these saxes weren’t mistaken for Selmer Paris horns.
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Although the seller has put a Buy It Now price of $2,495.00 on this vintage horn, at present the offers are less than half of that amount. At the time of writing there were 6 bids on this Selmer Padless tenor. The high bid is $1,061.36. The auction runs until March 17.
If you’d like to find out more about these Buescher-made, Selmer padless saxophones, check out both the CyberSax page, as well as the page about this model on The Vintage Saxophone Gallery. That will give you a place to start your research.
Hi Helen,
Phillips message reminded me of my long lasting curiosity on the sound of the padless.
As finding and restoring a padless will take forever, I just want to convert a standard saxophone into a padless.
Using the technology of the wooden pads.
I just start with the first four tone holes on a Amati and decide if it is worth the trouble to do the whole saxophone.
No saxophones will be harmed during this process.
Glad to hear you’re doing this on an Amati Theo. I wouldn’t want to hear of you doing this to one of your Presidents. On the Amati on the other hand, it could likely only be an improvement. 😉
Halfway on the Amati ( a tyoe ii nr 179003) and now I know why they are so difficult to play. The design requires pad sizes between 3.6 an 4.2 mm thick. They used 4.2 mm everywhere. So where 3.6 mm pads are required there is a 0.6 mm deep ring made in the 4.2 mm pad using too much pressure. It is an easy fix that will leak in a few months.
Playing high notes was difficult before I reduced the 6 cm long neck cork to 3 cm. These and other quirks show that the main goal of Amati at that time was quantity.
As a positive note: it is one of the easiest saxophones to assemble.
The Amati is now converted to probably the first padless alto saxophone made after the patent elapsed. As you predicted it is an improvement.
Several people played it. The consensus is that it is easy to blow, bright but not sharp.
Next project is a tenor.
I may be resurrecting a dead thread here, but I disagreed with Bear on rubber rings on the Selmer padless horns, and I told him so. I inherited my tenor from my father, who bought it new, and I know for a fact that everything is original. The o-rings are goatskin. My father always told me that he kept them saturated with neatsfoot oil because they had to be soft in order to seal easily. Unfortunately, as he got older he neglected the horn and the rings are now hardened and do not seal well. I am currently researching ways to fabricate new rings from – you guessed it – goatskin. The other Achilles heel of these horns is that if you bump a tone hole plate or catch it in your clothing, you immediately lose the parallelism between plate and ring, and the horn leaks. In the past, fixing that involved trial-and-error bending, but I am hoping to use a modified laser level to make such corrections a little less random. On another topic, my other horn has now also suddenly and sadly become a collector’s item – my Aquilasax modern C-mel, now that Aquilasax has gone out of business.
Hi Philip,
Is it possible that the rings are made from artificial leather?
There is a Selmer US brochure with some info on these rings in saxophone.org.
It is possible – but I don’t know much about artificial leather in ’41 and I have always been too afraid to damage the horn to actually tear off a ring to look at it. I will have a look at saxophone.org. Thanks for your response!
Dupont started with fabrikoid in 1910, a porous immitation leather.
Around 1940 leather was replaced on a large scale in technical aplications.
Hi there Philip. Oh you’re not resurrecting a dead thread. Nothing ever dies around here. That’s why I never close comments. 😉
Thank you for your insightful comment about the pad rings on the Selmer Padless. Lots of people disagreed with Bear over the years on stuff. (As they have with Pete Hales, me, and anyone else who owns a site like this that provides info on saxophones.) What you’re saying makes sense, and I wish you luck with getting your dad’s vintage baby restored.
As for your Aquilasax, I did not know that the company had gone out of business. Last time I corresponded with them—and that was a few years ago—they were talking about making a C-pitched bass sax. I think they were taking names for possible orders. IIRC, were they not also the company thinking of reintroducing an F-pitched alto?
In any event, I’m not really surprised that Aquilasax didn’t survive. I know he had some QA issues with certain orders—Mal-2 might know more about that, since he had at least one of these horns at one time—but at the end of the day, there’s a reason why the C mel didn’t survive past the Great Depression. As long as there’s no music being written for the instrument, and the sax market is as crowded as it is, making a go of this type of business almost becomes a labour of love. You then need to find enough people who share that love with you—and therein lies the rub.
I can’t believe I missed this two years ago, but here’s my reflection on Aquilasax quality, and of a defect in Steve’s original business plan.
The actual build quality was not bad. It was not on par with a good Taiwanese horn, but it was still much improved over the Amatis and Orpheos coming from the same area (and possibly the same factories). It had some design defects though. The first is that it was based on a 1926 Conn, but with modern keywork. This in and of itself is a perfectly good idea, but the bottom bow they copied was so tight that the modern keywork for the low B key interfered with the right hand middle finger. I had to grind the adjustment screw part of the key arm off and alter the linkage to make up for it, so it would stop pinching my finger. The paua shell touch on the left thumb rest was pretty, but not smooth. The three ways of fingering Bb (12+Bb, 1+1, 1+bis) were all completely different pitches. The neck I got with the horn was badly out of tune, and when I looked at the “Inspected By” tag, it had been inspected by Steve himself. He apparently was not a sufficiently good player to distinguish between a good horn and a merely functional one. The replacement neck didn’t match the finish, but I knew it wouldn’t before I accepted it. That one was much better, and I sent the original back to China. A rose brass neck on a nickel plated horn looked pretty sweet, to be honest. I certainly don’t think it made the horn any harder to sell on.
I’ve kept all this to myself, save for a somewhat acrimonious interchange between us that got smoothed over, as I had every hope that Steve would see it as a critique and not a personal attack. Even if I thought he was a bit optimistic (to put it mildly) about the factory he employed to make them, I still thought it sucked when they were pushing them out the back door under the “Mason” name long before they could fulfill his revised design orders — revised to address two of the three problems I had mentioned, but NOT including the low B clearance problem (which was the easiest one to fix, it just required altering two key arms to meet somewhere other than where your finger needs to be).
The primary reason I sold it on though was that I did some recording with it and the hybrid 1919 (body)/1923 (neck) Buescher on the same day. Listening back, I could immediately tell which was which, and I didn’t like the Conn sound. It sounded like a big alto instead of a small tenor like the True Tone.
helen theres a padless on ebay they want 4999.00 it has extra leather rings which i offered to buy ,no deal.this tenor is from japan,go figure.looks real good but i think the photo is a little deceptive,anyhow i sure hope they get the price.no way hows it going health wise ?hope you have a great CHRISTMAS and a good gig for new years eve ,money time ,im still the same but thats a good thing.keep your blog going i love it. your sax bud
sam 😐 🙄
Hi there Sam.
Yes, I saw the Padless on eBay. I chuckled at the price. I said to myself: No way. Not in today’s economy. It would have to have been made by Selmer Paris to demand that kind of price.
Actually, reading the ad made me think that the seller didn’t realize that what he had there was a stencil horn made by Buescher. I’m wondering if he thinks this thing was made by Selmer.
The same seller also has a couple of very interesting horns: a gold plated Mark VI alto, an VI alto keyed to low A, and a tenor with all kinds of extra keys on it, like a Fork Eb. The tenor struck me as very strange. I’ve never seen one like it before. (Not that I’m a Selmer expert by any means. I think Pete Hales holds that title.)
I’m hanging in health-wise. I’m still paying for my solo performance last week. (I mentioned that in my rather late reply to your comment. Sorry about that. I was really behind.) I hope to be back to normal by the weekend.
I too hope you have a Merry Christmas Sam. I wish you and your wife a happy and safe holiday season.
Warmest Regards,
Helen
a vito bari with double low c for 1,200.00 i guess i live under a rock never heard of the double low c concept although the d does get a bit stuffy with some saxes but usually compensate with opening the c#or a different mouthpiece,also a dolnet bari for parts a d511 dont know if it will fit the one without a neck but so far that bid is only5.50 so who knows? life is good,hope the same for you.your sax bud
sam
helen hello,theres a vito bari with a double low c buy it now 1200.00 kinda neat,also a dolnet bari d511 for parts or to restore 5.50 could be used mabe for the one with no neck.what do i know.anyhow thanks for your blog. your sax bud sam
Hello Sam my friend.
I’m glad to hear from you. It’s also good to hear that you’re doing alright.
How are you liking your Selmer Padless saxophone these days? Now that you’ve had it a while, what do you think of it compared to your other horns?
Life around here is really crazy right now. With this move hanging over my head, and basically living out of 2 houses, it’s a bit stupid really. All the really important things are with me under the same roof, but so much other stuff is still at the other house. Whenever I go to file my paid bills, my folders are not with me. Or whenever I go to look something up, the folders are inevitably in the filing cabinet at the other place. It’s frustrating actually.
I’m just emotionally wiped out. Going through my mom’s and dad’s stuff and having to get rid of things is not easy. Doing it while not well… Well that’s of course even harder. I’m sure you have an idea what I’m talking about my friend. But we’re all given challenges right? It’s how we rise to them, and overcome them that’s important.
I’m thinking of you, and sending you lots of positive thoughts.
Be well, and take good care…Helen
so sorry my sax bud yes i do know and hope you are ok it will be easier with time but the memories will be there and i think thats a good thing if i can help let me know.another padless on ebay alto i bid but really have enough already saxes the bid is at about 900 so far i dont play the one i have so what the heck do i need another one for ,yes i know you know the answer to that one.if you google navy musicians assoc. then go to the 70s you will see one of my pictures when we backed up dina shore,what a great person,anyhow thanks for keeoping in touch and will always be your sax bud
sam
Thank you Sam. You’re really a very nice man. Your sentiments are very much appreciated.
Thank you for that tip about the padless alto. I hadn’t seen it. The selling price was interesting. At $1,383.20 I thought it was a decent price.
I haven’t yet had a chance to look for your Dinah Shore photos. When I get a moment, I’ll do so. It seems to me that you’ve had a very interesting musical history Sam.
Take good care. Talk to you soon…helen
dear helen,my sax bud hope this mssg finds you well.there is a 1939 selmer alto on ebay looks like its a padless but the sell does not know.check it out said he has extra pads may be worth while for someone with a padless alto,i ask him so check out his response .im doing ok not buying as of late just playing what i have.do you subscribe to jazziz magazine?let me know cause i get a discount for another person when i update my account where are you playing lately?still think your blog is great
. sam
Hi Sam.
I missed your comment going up. I’m sorry about that.
I checked out that alto. Funny thing that “my puppy at the mother of pearl button before I could get it” comment. But the horn still sold for $1,075.00. I don’ know what music store would tell him that it would be worth $5,000 when restored, but that’s of course not true.
The band I play in, Deception, has a dance coming up in May, and we’re currently also working on a recording. I’m trying to get my baritone and soprano chops back into gigging shape. Long tones has become a big part of my practice routine, since I’m now doing them on all 3 horns, rather than just my tenor. I haven’t played bari in a while, so I’m finding that my notes are just a hair off in their timing. Not enough to be noticeable to anyone most likely, but I notice it, and it bugs me. 😡
I don’t subscribe to the magazine you mention. What is it?
How are you doing Sam? Are you playing much right now?
Take good care of yourself. Be well.
Warm regards…helen
hi helen,have sent several emails and they may not have gotten routed correctly,anyhow the magazine is jazziz email——–to mail@jazziz.com-phone 561-893-6868 im not a agent just a subscriber and i think its a good mag.sent you a heads up on a grafton on ebay we missed out sold for 1500 two bids all from the same guy ,i did not have the money but think we missed out
oh well we cant buy them all hope alls well and you get your chops back,
your sax bud sam a yea im still here
Hi Sam. Thanks for the visits. I’m so sorry I didn’t answer your last comment before now. I’ve been really busy with so much other stuff in my non-saxophone life, that I’m barely able to keep up with my emails. This has left me falling behind on my blog comments. I’m just catching up on them today.
I did email you back about that jazziz magazine. I’d have to check when though. It was quite some time ago however.
I healed up fine from all my dental work. Eight days after my 4.5 hour surgery I played a 4 hour dance with my band. I was still pretty sore, but I had my chops back. I was even able to rehearse 6 days after my surgery. So all in all I only lost 1 week of horn playing.
I think Graftons are interesting, but I would never buy one. I’m too much of a tenor player to really get any enjoyment out of a Grafton. One of my favourite eBay dealers, Quinntheeskimo, has had a Codera tenor for sale for a few weeks now. That sax has interested me a great deal. I just bought my new JK Toneking though, and I’m a bit over the top on tenors already. (I think I’m around 8 gigging horns now, but I’m I’d have to count them to be sure. Yes, when you can’t remember how many you have, you probably have enough. Or so @ least that’s what I’m being told by my better half. 😛 ) But I admit, the Codera is very pretty tempting though… 😈
I’m glad you’re still here Sam. You take good care of yourself. Be well…helen
hello my sax bud.still here helen and doing okay and enjoying your blogg,just to let you know
sam
I’ve only seen one example of a paddless saxophone in my life. I saw it in a community band and was playing next to the woman. Didn’t think much of it at the time (6 or 7 years ago).
I’m still wondering if the play with the same tonal qualities as a regular saxophone would have. With that being said it must be hard to find any cork replacements, making this a do-it-yourself horn.
tonal quality is the same didderent mthpce different sound with harder or softer reed combo.upper register sound is a hard coltrane,and im not comparing myself to mr.c in anyway.as far as replacingthe rings ill work on that but a person who worked for b&s saxes did padless for them and is now on his own(wolf codera)so im sure there is an answer out there especially now in our computer age only 1200 selmer padless as i understand 1937-41 so im sure the rubber seals have been upgraded to who knows what.my horn does have a few leaks but so do i and over all shes a bute bought for 2500.00 and think right now as she sits worth about4500.00 she is a beauty and fun to play thank you for the question
sam
helen,no more chemo.still playing the padless ,great sound,using a rico mthpc 2 1/2 olivera reed gets the job done the selmer artist ltd52 has no mfg mark do you know where it was made as i once said this is a sleeper sax and has a big sound but im easily impressed keep in touch
sam
Hi there Sam.
Good to see you back. That’s great news about you finishing your chemo. I’ve been wondering how you were doing. If you hadn’t stopped by soon, I would have sent you an email to check in.
I’m a bit confused. You’re asking about which? The mouthpiece or the sax? Do you only use the Rico mouthpiece on your padless? Or do you have a Selmer mouthpiece as well?
thats me,always confusing the issue.the mthpc (rico)is used on the padless, the sax i am asking about is the selmer artist.it is a ltd 52 and does not say where it was made unlike the new ones that are made in tiawan the 52 is a great horn and for the price i will tell anyone to buy but still do not know much about the model but as i said its a pro horn(at least to me)let me know if you find any thing out.it is a older model.thanks for the reply helen good hearing from you.keep up all the good work your doing
sam
Well Sam, you have an ability to dig up the really obscure saxophones. I really like the Selmer padless you recently bought, but with this one, I’m going to have to disagree with you. I hadn’t heard of this model Selmer before, so I assumed that it was one of the Conn-Selmer USA models, so it would be made in Taiwan. After doing some research on the sax, I found the only references for them were on Dominic’s website. He was selling a new and a used alto. Because there were no other references that I could find on the Internet, I started to get suspicious. If these were indeed Conn-Selmer USA horns, why are there not more of them on eBay?
I searched through Sax On The Web, and even there, there were only a couple of references to Selmer Artist ltd horns. What I found there was a bit all over the map, but quite a few people were very unhappy with their Selmer Artist saxes. However, what really made me sit up and take notice was this thread, in which it was mentioned that these saxophones have no connection to Conn-Selmer USA at all, but rather were knock-offs. If this is true, then I’m surprised that Dominic hasn’t been swatted by Conn-Selmer USA.
Obviously your horn works for you Sam, and in the end, that’s all that counts. However, I would caution anyone thinking of buying one to be very careful. It is very unclear what you are really getting. If these were indeed built for Selmer-USA, why are there not more of them around? I would just advise a potential buyer to do their homework, and play test the sax before plunking down their hard-earned cash.
Sorry if that’s not the information you wanted to hear Sam. I actually feel quite yucky when I have to write stuff like this. But like I say, if the horn works for you, then really that’s all that counts. For example, for some, the Martin Handcraft is an antiquated, ergonomically challenged piece of vintage scrap, but for others, it’s their holy grail. In the end, the sax is just a tool. It’s what we make with it that counts.
helen,sorry i have not replied sooner.no more chemo lady,so things are looking up.thank you for the research on the selmer ltd.52read some where this was there attempt at a less expensive copy of the old mark6 i am not dissapointed in any way with your remarks love to hear from you let me say if a sax player can get his hands on one they will not regreat doing so .still visit your site and tell all my fellow sax players about you.the old padless is still honkin away and have found no replacememt pads,although i havent looked that hard.so many saxs out there and so little time but its fun is it not?lots(at least to me)of bass saxs lately on ebay thats one horn im sorry to say i have never played,probably a good thing the way i collect.stay in touch helen
your sax friend sam
Hi Sam. Thanks for checking in again.
Did you happen to see the B&S Codera model tenor on eBay that I mentioned a couple of days ago? It used a system very similar to the Selmer Padless, however did so from Eb down to low Bb. I was very tempted to bid on the sax, but in the end decided to let the sax pass. I will keep my eyes open for a B&S Medusa instead I think.
Yes, there certainly have been a fair amount of bass saxes on eBay lately, but most of them have been new ones. There is only that beautiful restored & refinished Buescher that represents the vintage horns.
Glad to hear that you’re still doing well. Take good care of yourself Sam. Talk to you soon…helen
i bought a b&s cordoba a few years ago on ebay and sent it back due to the fact the bell was dented and not advertised,no problem getting my money back but was dissapointed ,pd$2000.00 so the one advertised to me was a great buy.i was watching on ebay and it did not sell,could not afford to buy so i offered a trade of some sort within the laws of ebay i would not violate there rules cause i buy too many items saw a medusa alto actually 2 on ebay but the one by peter ponzol looked like a good dear i bought my medusa tenor from him did i mention i have the selmer artist soprano and its another sleeper same as the alto only ltd.53
13005
aj016ss
all this is just below the right thumb rest came with the straight neck only and no case$400.00 picked up a curved neck$50.00 and a selmer case $25.00 also meyer usa mthpce and rovner lig once again i will tell anyone to get this horn it is a player and great intonation
keep in touch and your blog is still#1(these horns cant be a clone,and have to be selmer great feel no sharp edges and solid)
never say never though right? your sax bud
sam
Yes, I’ve seen some of the Medusa and Peter Ponzol B&S stuff lately too. I’m not in the market for an alto, but I’m always (well almost always) in the market for just the right new to me tenor. I have a rule for my tenors though. Any tenor I get can’t sound like one I already have. That’s why I’m reluctant to buy one on-line–unless it’s something completely different like a B&S Medusa or the Codera that was just listed–because I need to hear what the sax sounds like compared to my others.
For me, I see my tenors much like a painter sees their pastels or paints (or in my case it would be crayons!) 🙂 The horns each have their own unique tonal palette, and no 2 of my tenors are exactly alike. As a matter of fact, I’ve chosen my tenors very carefully to ensure that they are quite different from each other. I carefully choose the right tenor for whatever show I happen to be playing, and for whatever band I happen to be playing it with. Increasing my tenor count just gives me more crayons for me to colour with! 🙂
The new Max Keilwerth-made Hohner President that I bought just a few days ago is the darkest of all the tenors I have. I can’t ever see myself getting anything darker. It is a beautiful looking and sounding sax. Truly a piece a fine art, as well as craftsmanship. Now I just need to get my jazz band back up and running, because I see (and hear) it as the perfect jazz horn.
Be well my friend…helen
helen,that darn b&s codera is back on ebay for$1300.00 starting bid and no one bid last time im tempted but already have the padless wish i knew if that spare set of resoblades(pads,whatever)would work on my sax i did contact him for a trade as i told you have a 2006 buffalo $50.00 proof gold coin i was willing to trade recently sold for over$1400.00 on ebay but he said he needed the cash,i can understand that.i like the latest tenor you purchased with the dark sound that other b&s also showed up again so many horns such little time(money)doing great here and hope you are too
sax bud
sam
hello helen,as usual your webb site is great almost 2+mths without chemo,life is good,as i probably told you i have infoed a lot of friends about your site please keep up the great work your sax bud
sam
Hi there back at you my friend.
You are such a great cheer leader Sam. Thank you for your kind words.
I’m so glad to hear that you’re still doing well. My wish for you is that it keeps on that way!
Take good care…helen
its me again,thought i would say hello and am alive and well,have no new saxophones think i am saxed out,still lots of horns out there but cant own them all.i have a great golf club collection,so if you know of anyone who wants to trade their sax for some of my golf clubs or putters let me know.i knom,im a mess
your sax bud
sam
Hi Sam. Good to hear from you.
I know about that “all saxed out” feeling. I’m that way at the moment too… Although there is a horn that I am somewhat interested in. It is an alto, and I don’t play alto very much, but it is a collectible, so… I might very well give in to temptation. 😈
Apparently I’m a mess too.
I’m glad you checked in. Keep doing well my friend.
Take good care…helen
hello helen im still kicking,although the cancer has come back in other areas.not to worry i will get over it,just thaught you should know a selmer mark 6 bass on e bay a little over 9 grand deal? silver and refurbished you are no doubt already aware of it but a excuse to say hello,hope you had a good holiday
your sax bud
sam
Hi there Sam.
I’m sorry to hear that the cancer is back. I’m sending some really positive thoughts your way my friend. May you fight this off like you did the last time.
Yes, I saw the Mark VI bass on eBay. It looks like it will be a very nice sax when it is all put back together again. The price is reasonable as well, for what it is. I’ve seen them priced higher.
You never need an excuse to say hello. You are always welcome to drop in. Also, my email is at the bottom of every page where it says Contact Us. Just drop me a note any time you like. I’m always happy to hear from you.
Take care my friend. Let me know how you’re doing.
I hope you had a good holiday with the family & enjoy your weekend.
Best…helen
tried the contact us but did not have the required software they wanted me to subscribe to,anyhow a verry merryCHRISTMASand happy new year still kickindid i tell you i also have a taylor t-5 guitar wanted to learn but just dont have what it takes what a beautiful ax,mabe nxt year,liked your article about the high pitched bari.never dawned on me they would play so sharp,you would think the low pitch would play flat if that was the case.what do i know.i know its great to have friends,hope you are in good health and GOD bless\ your sax bud
sam
i know you tird of my ramblin misspelling cant get names right and so on but HELEN the sax just arrived it played right out of the case granted needs tweeking i dont care for 1939 (she) is in great shape glad i used buy it now the seller is a great ebayer great sound iused a meyer medium chamber 7m so far .like a kid at CHRISTMAS sure a few very small dings (small)tlc is my middle name and shes a light horn i like that the upper register screams and i just started man i made out for a changehope i have answered question ok selmer padless alive and well
sam
Hi there Sam. That’s great news my friend!
I’m very happy that your new sax arrived safe & sound.
Don’t ever worry about your misspellings, ramblings, or anything else. I’m very glad that you found me here. You can come for a visit anytime, and never worry about your chemo brain. I can relate. My medication for the nerve pain I suffer from, and the constant state of dizziness I’m in because of my neurological problem, allow me to understand a little of what you experience. I suffer from a type of “cognitive fog” some of the time. We make a team you and I. 8)
Keep on playing my friend. And do keep visiting whenever you feel like it…helen
this is about the ligature-mthpce cover combo or all in one made in pa.pat pending,bought one like it last year on a weltkling ,hope i spelled it correctly mthpce sorry i was able to pull up once on your site but cant do it again didnt pay much and actually a great idea holds the reed firm but not tight cant see why it did not make it,but for years and years i used two rubber bands go figure,todays the day for the padless to arrive,think positave sorry for spelling errors forgot to list my tenors that i have will do later also soprano guitars piano tuba trombone baritone susaphone trombone flute clarinets man im a sick puppy
did not mention my wife is canadian(google foss h.boulton)her father me the man about eight yrs ago what a great person
see you
sam
The article you’re talking about is this one about the reed protector/ligature thingy all-in-one.
It sounds like you have a lot of interesting instruments. I don’t think you’re a sick puppy at all. But then I’m the woman with 20+ saxophones, so maybe I’m biased.
still no padless in touch with sell and no later than wendsday sent me proof of mailing and insurance slip,nice guy did you go to http://www.wisemann.com for the bari,now they advertise the wts-400 as a intermediate a while back they only had the one mod and called it a pro horn interesting,but what do i know chemo brain but in my last month of treatment and no new tumors god bless had my yts 62 silver in to check for leaks did a few and man another monster ialso put my 7 in if he does the job as he did on the tenor ill let him(mabe)check for leaks on the b&s medusa
well waggle tongue sighning off still let you know about the padless sax,enjoyed the contra bass sax now your talking monster
several friends had bass saxes but sold them cause no one ever said bring your bass sax to the gig(thats funny)
sam
once again chemo brain strikes again i mixed up packages i was to get the package on the 19th was ups the sax is usps so it has not arrived as yet should have known since it was only shipped on the 17th probably monday or tuesday i will definately let you know ,i still miss playing bari as i played in a great navy band for 2 yrs on bari cause the other slots were taken used a berg mthpc on a old silver conn with a gold bell let me tell you i had a hard sound like frank hintner if ive spelled the name correctlt one of (to me anyhow)the hardest bari players ever
the mthpc im sure will make a big difference on my bari but they are so darn expensive now (a meyer new york alto for 2 grand)give me a break.well (chatty cathey)here i go again ,
will keep in touch as soon as the padless arrives thanks for all the correspondence
sam
now that we know its a wisemann the altos i have mk7 selmer old conn age?mabe the 30s selmer artist(ltd52)and surprise a good horn no info as to where it was made,a saxophone .com which is a stencil from all selmer horns ,old etude,has a r for a body-bell brace old horn modern look what do i know?one called modern design in usa? a helmke(white ,with gold keys) i know most of this is junk,but my junk,some play okay some do not but what the heck its fun and you never know when you find a sleeper,the artist for example it must be older model ltd52
35103
aj055as
all this below the thumb rest i had to send one back i purchased on ebay ,and it was advertised as a artist limited edition but it was made in taiwan by the thumb rest and did not say limited edition anywhere a piece of junk. i can tell you the artist i have is a heavy horn and plays as good as my mk7
if this is too much info let me know i ramble on and on
sam
No worries Sam. I’ll see if I can find anything on the Wisemann brand, and who might have made them.
I really like the Mark 7 tenor that a friend of mine has. I have never played an alto, but I suspect I would like them too. (Don’t tell anyone, or else they’ll take away my membership to the Mark VI club.) 😆
You sound a bit like me. I too have a lot of horns. All of mine are vintage, with the exception being the Medusa bari. I decided I should get a back-up bari, and thought a low A model would be wise. It turned out that modern was the most logical way to go, and I really liked the sound of the Medusa. Funny thing is, B&S really didn’t change their baris much from their old Weltklang days. So although I bought a new bari, in a lot of ways, it’s very similar to a vintage horn. Now that’s irony! No wonder I liked it so much.
Did your padless tenor arrive yet? Or did the delivery date get pushed back? Is it OK? Did it arrive safely?
still got it wrong as i stated chemo brain wisemann not will i ever get it correct?sorry
sam
the bari is a windmann not wisemann,sorry i have chemo brain last treatment coming up doing great hopefully cancer free the bari is a looker mabe i need more time and not a stock mthpce.bell dented not bad all other repairs taken care of still think the old conns were the tictet,now you can probably look up the horn sorry for the mistake
sam
forgot to mention im a x bari player,bought a windmann bari pd 800.00 a good deal? had to have repair work by my teck+the bell was bent(bought on ebay)although they advertised as new,i think it was a factory 2nd of some type low a heavy horn gheat case with rollers a real looker and thats where it ends although they advertise this horn for 3000.00 +
use to play the ole conns and use my knee for the a whats the big deal
sam
Never heard of the brand. I’d say it’s a stencil. Got any pics? Maybe you could upload 1 here with your comment, or send me a few to my gmail account: bassic.sax.ca@gmail.com
$800 for a new bari is a decent price. Now that it’s fixed, what does it play like?
my medusa is a tenor goldbrass(they probably all are) 3 neck(silver ,goldbrass and raw brass)bought from peter ponzol who used the horn to experiment making mouthpieces i know a little about the horn but will tell you it really is a monster(and a great looker)between my yts and the b&s they are both great horns
and im actually a alto player
sam
The Medusa saxes came in a variety of finishes including silver plate, black nickel, and sand blast. They really are monster players.
I saw one in a music store in Vancouver a couple of years ago, it was new, old stock. It too had the 3 necks, and a regular lacquer finish. I really wanted to try it, but at the time I figured I didn’t need any more tenors. Now I really regret I didn’t try it out. I would probably have liked it very much.
What kind of alto(s) have you got?
i bought the horn with buy it now on the16th will arrive on the 19th will let you know whatever this horn looks so good for its age as a sax player i could not pass up i have the b&s medusa yamaha62 to play so if this has leak problems ill address the issue if not ill just drool all over it if its as nice as the pictures
Hi Sam. Welcome to website.
You know, I was really tempted by this sax. I kept going back to the ad to look at it. I was going to get in touch with the owner, and ask some questions, but then in the end decided that I really couldn’t justify it. I have a beautiful, rare, silver tenor that needs a restoration, and that had to be my priority.
Thank you for posting, and letting me know you got the sax. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it arrives safe and sound. It certainly looks like a beauty.
Stay in touch, and send some updates when you get a chance Sam.
Oh, I meant to ask, is your Medusa a tenor? I also have a Medusa, but mine is a bari. It’s the only new/modern sax I own.
Regards,
Helen
yes quinntheeskimo has the codera tenor for sale ,has been there for over a month no buyers
he ups the price then lowers the price so who knows what you could get thye horn for,i bought one codera tenor from him and did not play it when it came because the bell was bent and not listed but he did refund my money i forget now if i lost shipping cost or not but the horn was super light.quinntheeskimo sure has a lot of horns for sale he has a lot of selmers but his price seems a little high to me.a loss felt by all that our fellow sax player passed away.thanks for the reply and glad your better.if you dont mind ill keep in touch all is the same here at my age i dont gig,guess i should but i practice every now and then,dog howls when i do so im limited either bad playing or mabe he was a sax player in another life.lol
Of course you should stay in touch. You’ve also got my email address, I’d love to hear from you anytime.
Yes, practicing and unappreciative animals, that I can relate to. None of my dogs have ever tolerated, let alone liked, the sound of my saxophone playing. Oh well, everyone’s a critic.
The reason I quite like quinntheeskimo is that I met him a couple of years ago. He his friends with someone I know in Seattle. I had the privilege of spending a couple of hours with him in his shop. Yes, he has lots of Selmers, and he and I had a very lively discussion about the relative merits of the various models of Mark VI saxophones.
He dared me to play some of his, and see if I still liked mine as much afterwards. I declined. I wasn’t going to go down that road. I have played lots of VIs in the ranges that he specializes in, and they were different, but not necessarily better than mine. I didn’t want to fuel the debate.
At the time he had a number of straight Conn altos IIRC, and that custom low G Buescher that I did play test that I was considering. I also played his personal sarrusophone and rothophone. I found him to be very knowledgeable and all around just a nice guy. Selling horns is however, his income source, so his prices aren’t a giveaway that’s for sure. There might be dealers who have lower prices, but they don’t necessarily have the same selection.
I do know though, if I was looking for a particular horn and I told him what I wanted, he could find it for me. He has contacts all over, and what he would find would be a fine instrument. It wouldn’t be a cheap horn, but then I wouldn’t expect it to be if I sent the man looking for one especially on my behalf. It also wouldn’t be a POS.
From what you say, he did stand behind the horn he sold you. I’ve heard that about him before. I wouldn’t have to worry about that. Since he just lives a 2.5 hour drive from my house, I’d drive to his place to pick up what I bought.
Take good care my friend. Be well…helen
sent a mssg about a dolnet bari on ebay for the nxt 3+days 361.00 so far no neck but looks like it my be a sleeper,has the low a to be in good shape ,thinking of you so you might look it up. all is well on this end,treding water so to speak,hope all is good with you helen.take care .your sax bub sam