{"id":6640,"date":"2009-04-02T14:56:28","date_gmt":"2009-04-02T21:56:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/?p=6640"},"modified":"2009-08-06T11:54:47","modified_gmt":"2009-08-06T18:54:47","slug":"the-worlds-most-expensive-saxophone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bassic-sax.info\/blog\/2009\/the-worlds-most-expensive-saxophone\/","title":{"rendered":"The World’s Most Expensive Saxophone"},"content":{"rendered":"

I don’t know a sax player out there who doesn’t at least\u00a0inwardly cringe, if not outwardly complain, about the cost of new saxophones. Even\u00a0certain high-end vintage saxes are too pricey in the eyes of many players.<\/p>\n

Then the other\u00a0day I happened to come across this little gem, billed as the\u00a0The World’s Most Expensive Saxophone<\/a><\/em>…\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"worlds-most-expensive-saxophone\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Source: designonestudio.blogspot.com<\/h6>\n

This little glass saxophone, is plated with 2.82 onces of gold, and has 10, 2 carat diamonds adorning its “keys”. Apparently it took 65 hours to create, and is estimated to be worth over $60,000.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Now I don’t know about you, but if I was going to spend 60K on a horn, I’d at least like to get one that you could actually play! I’d most likely get an Eppelsheim<\/a>, and save the rest of the money.<\/p>\n

I don’t want to be critical of zer0sIx’s blog entry, but I do feel the need to point out that it is not entirely accurate. The most expensive saxophone in the world, most likely really was the vintage Grafton played by Charlie Parker. The story goes like this<\/a>…<\/p>\n

While in Toronto, Charlie Parker and “the quintet” were scheduled to perform at Massey Hall, but Parker had pawned his saxophone – some sources say to buy heroin. A sales representative for Grafton (or the owner of the company, depending upon from whom one receives the story) asked Parker to use a Grafton for a Massey Hall gig in May of 1953.<\/p>\n

Although Parker was under exclusive contract to use only one type of saxophone whilst gigging in the United States, outside the U.S.A. he was free to use any sax he wished, including this Grafton.<\/p>\n

The recording of Parker (credited as Charlie Chan due to contract issues) can be heard on the CD “Jazz at Massey Hall – Bud Powell, Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Max Roach.”\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Grafton saxophone that Parker used, was sold at the Christie’s auction house in London in September 1994 for \u00a393,500 sterling. The buyer was the American Jazz Museum, located in Parker’s home town, Kansas City, Missouri.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In 1994, that \u00a393,500 sterling\u00a0paid for Parker’s Grafton,\u00a0would have been approximately\u00a0$144,000 US.<\/p>\n

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

\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Source: www.thesax.info<\/h6>\n

In any event, I still think we as sax players have it pretty good. Despite having to pay $10,000 for a premium baritone (if you want a new Selmer Series III), or let’s say\u00a0$7,500 for\u00a0that Selmer Mark VI tenor that you’ve always wanted, it could be worse\u2014we could be upright bass players. Have you priced out one of those babies recently? How about a premium bow for one? Or we could be cello or violin players…<\/p>\n

Yeah, I still think we’ve got it pretty good.<\/p>\n

\n
…this is just my blog<\/em>. <\/span> My \u201creal\u201d <\/b> website is<\/span> www.bassic-sax.info.<\/a> If you\u2019re looking for <\/span> sax info<\/strong>,<\/span> you should check it out too.<\/span>There\u2019s lots<\/em> there! <\/span>\n<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

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I don’t know a sax player out there who doesn’t at least\u00a0inwardly cringe, if not outwardly complain, about the cost of new saxophones. Even\u00a0certain high-end …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[78],"tags":[625,48,653,154,182,199,643,31],"class_list":["post-6640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vintage-horns","tag-alto-saxophone","tag-eppelsheim","tag-famous-not-so-famous-sax-players","tag-grafton","tag-modern-saxophones","tag-saxophone-collectibles","tag-vintage-horns","tag-vintage-sax"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t