Are You Looking For A Vintage Bass?

I get lots of people emailing me regularly looking for vintage bass saxophones. Usually I have to tell them: Be patient and wait. Eventually something will turn up.

Right now however, there is a cluster of them on eBay. While 1 is very expensive, 2 are very inexpensive. So inexpensive that it’s almost ridiculous. However, it is still relatively early in the auctions, so prices are bound to go up.

So without further ado, here is eBay’s current crop of bass saxophones…

Let’s get the pricey one out of the way first, and then look at the bargain-basement horns.

This Buescher True Tone is serial #188XXX.

Source: Goodsound Music Shop

Although at first blush this Buescher looks like a beauty, it does unfortunately have a couple of issues which the seller discloses. These may turn out to be rather problematic.

Here is how this sax is being described by the Goodsound Music Shop:

Here is a great vintage Buescher True-Tone bass saxophone. The serial number 188xxx dates this one to about 1925. It’s in very good condition for its age. The silver plating is excellent throughout except for a patch at the base of the bell where a stand caused some wear. There are a couple of places where a rubber band caused a line in the plating. The inside of the bell has a gold wash that is pretty faint but its still there. The bell engraving is beautiful and it reads: The, Buescher, Elkhart, Ind. This horn belonged to a school system and the name was beautifully engraved on the bell at the factory before it was plated. Under the thumb hook is stamped the serial number, the True-Tone logo and Low Pitch.

All the keys work and all the screws are free. The touch for one of the palm keys is broken off and missing though. Look at the next to last picture and you can see the key is there, but the L shaped part is missing. It was just a flat key touch like the other one that’s there though, so not too fancy to duplicate and silver solder in place. The other palm key touch has some plating missing. Also the touch piece for the water key is missing so the spring doesn’t have a piece to spring against. Again, not too hard to duplicate. The pads look pretty good for the most part and they are soft to the touch. There are 3 or 4 that show some damage. All the pad snaps are intact. It will need some adjustment corks here and there and a couple of springs are missing.

There are minor dings throughout, nothing major. 3 or 4 key guards have a slightly sunken foot or are bent a bit and a couple of feet have been resoldered. The neck is in good condition with some minor dings. It’s been nicely engraved with the name of the store that furnished it. The neck tenon fits kind of loosely in the socket and the screw doesn’t really snug it down enough so it will need to be refitted.

The original case has good hinges but the latches are all broken. The inside is not bad, with some wear and fading, a little dirty. The outside is not bad. A couple of places at the edge the covering is tattered. It has the metal Buescher badge with one nail missing. It doesn’t have a mouthpiece with it.

This is an awesome beast!

When you look at the photos you’ll see that it is the high D key that is broken off. Other than having a bass sax donor horn, I’m not sure where you’re going to get a replacement part from.

Source: Goodsound Music Shop

My tech could manufacture one, but he’d have to see an original, or at least really good photos of one. Not all techs have the ability to make keys though. This key, along with the broken off water key, are something to consider when you consider this horn.

Given the rest of the description of the horn, to be on the safe side, I would budget for an overhaul in addition to the replacement of the keywork. If you don’t need one then you’re ahead, but if you do need one, then you won’t find yourself running short of cash. Check with your tech what a full overhaul on a bass would cost. In most places it will be upwards of $1,000.

The Buy It Now price for the Buescher bass is $8,000. However, the seller is willing to entertain offers. At the time of writing there have been 5 offers on this vintage Buescher bass.

Now onto the inexpensive bass saxophones….

This Buescher True Tone is being sold by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s, Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) sales organization. SIFE Sales sells things that the university no longer needs, but might be valuable for the public.

Apparently UNL has decided that they no longer need this vintage bass, and are therefore offering it for sale to the public through eBay.

Source: SIFE Sales

This lacquered bass is being described like this:

Buescher Bass Saxophone

This Buescher Bass Saxophone was recently removed from service at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Serial Number:

159516

Comes with hard case. Case is in good cosmetic condition.

This instrument has scratches and a few dings on the body. It does not come with a mouthpiece. Functioning but may need minor repair.

Notice the flight case it comes with. This is a good thing. Not so great for local gigs if you have a small car. But trust me, it will save you big time on repair costs. And if you ever have to travel any distances with your axe, or ship it, this is the kind of case you will want for that.

Source: SIFE Sales

Again for this bass—as I would for most horns that I would buy on eBay—I would budget for an overhaul. The auction for this Buescher True Tone runs until June 17. At the time of writing there were 11 bids on the horn. The high bid was $1,802.00

The last of the 3 vintage bass saxophones currently on eBay, is being sold by one of my favourite eBay dealers: quinntheeskimo. Having met the man personally, and having drooled over a number of his personal horns—as well as the ones he has for sale—I must admit, he would be my go to guy for the obscure.

If there was something I was looking for, I’d send Quinn on the hunt. I know whatever he would find for me would be exactly what I was looking for.

The Conn-stencilled, Selmer New York bass sax that Quinn currently has listed at a bargain-basement price, is one I’ve been watching for a couple of weeks now. Honestly, I don’t know why it didn’t sell before this.

In any event, if you’re looking for a vintage bass at a great price, this might just be your chance to get a lovely old horn.

Source: quinntheeskimo.2

Here is how Quinn describes this interesting, old stencil horn:

This is a TERRIFIC Selmer New York professional bass saxophone. WOW! Even though it is branded Selmer New York, this horn was been manufactured by Conn. These horns had a similar construction to the famous Conn basses of the pre-war period, and have a great big crunching sound. This horn is in very good condition. This horn has just had a full rebuild by Brad Wherry, and feels good and plays great! Here’s a nice vintage bass sax at a bargain price! Pics tell the rest of the story!

Like many vintage, lacquered bass saxophones, this appears to have been relacquered at some point during its lifetime. However, this should not have affected the horn a great deal if the job was done well.

Notice too that the horn has no pearls and no water key. However, it has the Mercedes-style key guards that are all Conn.

Like all Conn stencil horns, it was made on the Pan American side of factory.

Source: quinntheeskimo.2

Quinn has tons more pictures on his auction site of this horn. Check them out.

As I mentioned, this horn currently is at a bargain-basement price. At the time of writing there were 8 bids on this Conn-stencil horn. The high bid was $361.00. The auction runs until June 18.

So if you’re looking for a vintage bass, now is a very good time. There is a bumper crop of them up for sale on eBay. I know which one I’d be going for, but you have to decide for yourself if any of these would float your boat.