Buescher Academy Alto Sax For Auction

This morning something very unusual caught my eye on eBay. I have been researching and writing about vintage saxophones for over 10 years now, but have only come across a handful of Buescher Academy horns in all this time. What makes the sale of this Buescher Academy alto sax so unusual is that the seller has posted a video of what this vintage starter horn sounds like with its fresh rebuild. It is the first time that I have heard one played.

https://youtu.be/NfTKUAorKx0  [it has been removed]

Update June 2024: Although the video above has been removed, I found the following one that shows how remarkable these can be

That’s pretty remarkable isn’t it? Now I’m guessing that most players who owned one new likely didn’t sound like this. 😈

This Buescher Academy alto sax was one of a set (soprano, alto, tenor, bari) of horns that Buescher built for students just starting out on saxophone. These simple instruments had a very limited key work and range.

As you will notice in the photos, this horn has a big hole at the back of the bell. This was normal. You can see it in the other Buescher Academy alto saxophones that I have in Bassic Sax Pix. It appears that all Buescher Academy horns with curved bells had this hole. (I do have images of a bari that has a hole as well, but I haven’t uploaded the photos of it to the gallery yet.)

Source:  hornfixer.geo on eBay.com

The seller of this vintage student horn describes the instrument like this:

I am selling a Buescher Academy Alto saxophone.

This sax has been rebuilt with all new pads and corks.

The keys have been polished. There are a few small dents.

The neck is not original but fits perfectly.  The sax plays in tune.

The serial number is S9-656

I am selling as is with no returns.

This auction is for the US only.

Here are the rest of the photos of the Buescher Academy alto sax currently up for auction on eBay…

Now if this instrument trips your GAS trigger, then you only have until tomorrow to get your bid in. The auction for this vintage Buescher Academy alto sax is scheduled to on June 26. Bids are to start at $250.00. At the time of writing there were no bids on this vintage horn yet.

If you’d like to know more about the Buescher Academy alto sax, here’s a video featuring Rheuben Allen explaining the details of the horn. (Including the big hole in the bell.) Unfortunately he missed the part about these instruments being available in soprano and baritone versions as well.