Here’s a different brand of vintage bass that I haven’t featured on my weblog before: a Noblet. This French-made vintage bass sax is being sold on eBay by Saxquest.
Source: eBay.com
Here is how the company describes this interesting horn:
This is a vintage short-wrap Noblet bass saxophone, serial number 9215. The instrument plays “as is”, but ultimately needs an overhaul. With our shop backed up for the next several weeks we are offering this horn here as-is at a very good low starting price.
Like the vast majority of bass saxes out there, this horn shows a fair amount of dents and dings, mostly in the bottom bow. While the sax is missing a single keyguard in the upper crook and one guiding post on the back side of the body tube, all of the keywork is intact and functioning. It does have its original neck.
Please see the photos and ask if you have any questions. It does ship in an older but usable hard case.
Source: eBay.com
This Noblet bass would have been made by the Leblanc-owned Beaugnier Company in Paris. They stencilled saxophones (especially baritone and bass saxes) for a number of companies, including Noblet.
Last December Saxquest sold a Beaugnier-stencilled Vito on eBay. That horn appears have been somewhat newer, and had already been fully overhauled in their shop.
The auction for this vintage short (AKA French) wrap Noblet bass runs until October 10. The starting bid is $3,500.00. At the time of writing there were no bids yet on this sax.
I’m having problems with the middle D and D# on my holton bass. Any suggestions? I heard somewhere that the new mouthpieces don’t have the right kind of facing for vintage basses
Matt
Hi there Matt.
I take it that the middle D and D# problems are new ones for you? Since many vintage bass saxes have problems with their middle D, causing many (most?) players to use the left palm D to stabilize the D2, I wouldn’t necessarily think what you’re describing was unusual. If the problem is new, my first question would be: is the sax leaking? I remember something I read once in the Saxophone Journal’s special edition on bass saxophones: there is no such thing as a small leak on a bass.
As far as mouthpieces goes, have you read the article that Paul Coats has written about facings? If you haven’t yet given it a look, it might be worth while. It contains a great deal of valuable information about all kinds of things related to mouthpieces, facings, and reeds. In general I know lots of players (myself included) that use new mouthpieces on vintage horns. I use a modified baritone piece on my 1922 Buescher, that has had its facing lengthened.
I was looking at the photo you attached, and was wondering, what kind of music is the band playing? I’m seeing an electric guitar and drums. I’m wondering how the C* Selmer m/p would do in that setting. Or are you using another piece? I have 2 different pieces that I can use depending on the setting. I have a vintage Geo Bundy (pickle barrel shape) that I can use for classical, and the modified bari piece I use for everything else.
Update: When the auction for this vintage bass ended on October 10, there were 0 bids on this sax. Go figure. 😕
Given some of the other stuff we’ve seen sold lately, I thought they’d at least get a nibble. Weird…