{"id":3941,"date":"2008-12-18T11:39:06","date_gmt":"2008-12-18T18:39:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=3941"},"modified":"2013-06-11T09:07:05","modified_gmt":"2013-06-11T17:07:05","slug":"the-new-bundy-saxophones-a-follow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2008\/the-new-bundy-saxophones-a-follow-up\/","title":{"rendered":"The New Bundy Saxophones: A Follow-Up"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Bundy<\/a>On July 26, 2008, I wrote a blog post about the new Bundy saxophones<\/a>\u00a0at WWBW. In that post I did a brief tour down memory lane of the history of Bundy saxophones, and included some pictures that captured the various phases of the Bundy’s development. As I mentioned at the time, the original Bundy saxophones were an American-made product which were produced by Selmer USA.<\/p>\n

If you go to the brands page of the\u00a0Conn-Selmer website<\/a>, you will notice that Bundy is conspicuously absent from the list.\u00a0It seems that Conn-Selmer has now\u00a0 licensed the Bundy name to WWBW, and no longer as any association with them, which makes the new Bundy advertising tag rather confusing for consumers…<\/p>\n

\"saxophone,<\/a><\/p>\n

\"bundy<\/a><\/p>\n

When I first got an email from WWBW announcing the new Bundy saxophones, I started a thread on the Woodwind Forum<\/a> to see what others were thinking, and what they knew about the new Bundy line of saxophones. This has proven to be quite interesting.<\/p>\n

\"alto<\/a> \"tenor<\/a><\/p>\n

Bundy BAS-300 Student Alto Sax\u00a0\u00a0 Source: wwbw.com\u00a0\u00a0 Bundy BTS-300 Student Tenor Sax\u00a0\u00a0 Source: wwbw.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Because of the horns’ physical resemblance to the Yamaha YAS-23 & YTS-23, comparisons to that brand were naturally made.\u00a0More interesting however, was that\u00a0a couple of repair techs chimed in with the information that the Bundy name is no longer associated with Conn-Selmer. This is of course extremely confusing for consumers.<\/p>\n

With literally thousands of original Bundy and Bundy II horns still in the used horn\u00a0market place (one has to look no further than eBay or one’s local Craig’s List), these old-timers have proven their durability over time.<\/p>\n

They may not be the best sounding saxophones, or have the best ergonomics, but they are the tanks of student model saxes. Many pros still have their original Bundys, and\u00a0some keep them as\u00a0their backup horns. Yes, they\u00a0were that good.<\/p>\n

\"alto<\/a><\/p>\n

Bundy BAS-300 Student Alto Sax\u00a0\u00a0 Source: wwbw.com<\/span><\/p>\n

These new, Asian-made\u00a0Bundy\u00a0saxes\u00a0are riding the coat tails of their American-made predecessors. Now, if in fact these horns are made in China,\u00a0their quality\u00a0is really quite unknown.<\/p>\n

Some Chinese factories produce quality items. Some do not. What is the workmanship like on these horns? Since these horns are only available through WWBW, I guess\u00a0one would have to order one to find out.<\/p>\n

Only time will tell if the factory\u00a0that manufactures these new Bundy saxophones, is a good one. If the materials they use are strong enough, and of high enough quality, to withstand the punishment that student horns are put through.<\/p>\n

At this point in time, I think the biggest confusion for consumers is that they might buy a new Bundy, based on the reputation of the old Bundy.<\/p>\n

If parents are thinking of buying a new saxophone for their child, and are doing their research, they need to be aware that while these new Bundy saxophones might very well be good saxophones in their own right, they are not the same as the\u00a0old Bundy saxes\u00a0people are talking about that they played\u00a0years ago.<\/p>\n

UPDATE June 11, 2013:<\/h2>\n

Thanks to Aaron Minnick\u2014who left a comment below<\/a>\u2014I just found out that WWBW has introduced a low A bari into the Bundy line. The Bundy BBS-300 Baritone Saxophone is the the big brother to the Bundy BAS-300 & BTS-300 shown above.<\/p>\n

\"baritone<\/a><\/p>\n

Bundy BBS-300 Baritone Sax\u00a0\u00a0 Source: WWBW<\/span><\/p>\n

Note the two bell to body support braces. One looks like a Selmer<\/a>, while the other looks rather Cannonballesque<\/a>. This horn seems to be struggling with an identity crisis. \ud83d\ude08<\/p>\n

\"low<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: wwbw.com<\/span><\/p>\n

Its bell is engraved with the famous Bundy logo.<\/p>\n

\"baritone<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: wwbw.com<\/span><\/p>\n

This is currently WWBW’s description of the horn<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Quality student baritone.<\/p>\n