Provenance is everything. Many Fender Stratocasters built before 1970 could have been played by Jimmy Hendrix but very few were. The one he played at the Woodstock festival – was bought at auction by Microsoft’s Paul Allen in 1993 for $1.3m.
I acquired this alto recently from a seller who was told me it came via an estate sale in New York and was once owned by Hank Mobley. Continue reading
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: 6M, Alto, Conn, Saximus Maximus | Leave a comment »
Unpacking my latest ebay purchase raised lots of questions – including who made it, when, why it lacks a middle Bb key and what’s going on with the mouthpiece. This one’s a bit of an enigma and I’m sure some of my clever readers will be able to correct my assumptions (as always!).
Continue readingFiled under: Alto, Orsi, Saxophone Reviews | Tagged: alto saxophone, Dupont Artist Ideal, Orsi, Saximus Maximus | 2 Comments »
As you can see from other posts on this sites, I love Buescher saxophones. They are sturdy horns – built to last. I was lucky enough to find this one recently on Facebook Marketplace. It was very reasonably priced and came with a newish case, strap, vintage Lafleur mouthpiece and a few reeds.
Filed under: Buescher Series 1a, Saxophone Reviews | Tagged: alto saxophone, Buescher, Saximus Maximus | Leave a comment »
We’re keen browsers at car boot and jumble sales. The Island Donkey Sanctuary regularly runs events locally from which we typically buy clocks and other retro things. I bought this from a car boot sale there about 10 years ago. The saxophone had been used as a school instruments. I can only presume that whoever bought it originally did so from New Zealand, Australia, or perhaps Brazil. Continue reading
Filed under: Condor | Tagged: alto saxophone, China, Condor, Far East, Saximus Maximus, Taiwan | 4 Comments »
I spend a lot of time in Dorset and Devon and enjoy visiting Exeter, where there a number of good secondhand shops – especially if you’re looking for good quality guitars. On a recent trip we decided to go a bit further out to N. E. Tingz, a shop packed with interesting stock. Continue reading
Filed under: Amati AAS22 | Tagged: AAS22, alto saxophone, Amati, Saximus Maximus | 2 Comments »
This is Geoff Sansome’s story and a tribute to sax player Beechey…
‘I bought the sax, case and stand in an Oxfam shop yesterday. There was a notice in the door advertising it. Turns out it is a “Pennsylvania Special, made in Czechoslovakia, serial number 255352. When I got it home I found a repair ticket from 1988 for it with the owner’s name and address, Mr Beechey (Albert). Not only did I know him, but played in a jazz band with him and this sax 20 years ago!
We started messing about as a Dixieland band in 1992 and we asked Albert to come along. He was about 80 then and I was 30. He had a range of saxes and had done a lot of dance band work in the second world war in and around Worcestershire and Droitwich. He occasionally got his baritone out and thundered away (We called it the scud missile). Albert didn’t improvise (he needed “the dots”) so as we developed we got a different reed player. Albert died in about 2000 and I have no idea where this sax has been since then until it surfaced in the Oxfam shop. It in its original case, with a heavy duty homemade stand and numerous mouthpieces and a very old Selmer pad repair kit.’ Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Pennsylvania Special (Kohlert) | Tagged: baritone saxophone, Geoff Sansome, Kohlert, Saximus Maximus, saxophone, Selmer | Leave a comment »
This splendid American saxophone came to me from my fixer-upper, which I bought from in 2006. I haven’t played it much, but intend to, especially as its big brother is currently my favourite tenor. Continue reading
Filed under: Buescher New Aristocrat | Tagged: Alto, Buescher, Elkhart, Saximus Maximus, saxophone | 2 Comments »
I was originally just an alto player, but always been interested in tenors. Once I had enough money I bought a Conn 16M – but not this one. Eventually I traded it in for the Keilwerth SX90R reviewed on this site. Suffering from a long-term buyer regret, I saw this in a pawn broker shop in San Jose in 2001. I was escaped from a Sun analyst conference for an hour with my friend Peter. This was on a high shelf behind the counter, long forgotten I would imagine. Having asked the store-keeper to wash the dirty reed under water I played the instrument, which had a loud, clear tone. Having bought it, I got a real compliment, ‘I’ve often heard buyers play the saxophone, you’re the first one who proved it’. Continue reading
Filed under: Conn 16M | Tagged: 16M, Conn, Director, Elkhard, Saximus Maximus, saxophone, tenor | 6 Comments »
We often go to the open market in Bridport, Dorset on a Saturday morning. In September 2011 we discovered a seller who had this instrument for sale. The lady was selling it for her son, who was not a player himself. There was no workable reed in the case, but it looked in good condition. It had no maker’s name on the horn, but looked playable and was relatively cheap for a tenor. Continue reading
Filed under: Wletklang Commodore | Tagged: East Germany, GDR, Saximus Maximus, tenor, Weltklang | 2 Comments »
I bought this tenor from my friend Tony at Maggini Supplies a few years ago. He had recently sold me the alto version of this and knew I would be interested. As always I’m interested in unusual vinatage instruments and this fits the description well. Continue reading
Filed under: Selmer Pennsylvania Special (Kohlert) | Tagged: Amati, Kohlert, Pennsylvania Special, Saximus Maximus, saxophone, Selmer, tenor saxophone | 28 Comments »
Saximus Maximus 