I bought a 100 year old sax on FB Marketplace
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- Опубліковано 28 сер 2023
- I got this 100 year old sax on facebook marketplace. I'm like 80% sure that it's a Conn Wonder C Melody Sax. It plays great despite being neglected, still needs a bit of a tune up though.
I'm releasing a song called 'Inane' on September 8th, it's the song in the background of this video. If you wanna, you can presave it here:
distrokid.com/hyperfollow/mil...
The C melody sax was a great idea because the sax player didn't have to transpose charts that were written in the key of C for other instruments such as the guitar or piano but unfortunately it became the Edsel of saxophones because for some unknown reason, it never had a soulful sound as you just demonstrated. It's sort of a cross between a saxophone and a clarinet. If you listen to the theme music of the old '60s TV show "My Three Sons", that is a C melody sax...
"it never had a soulful sound as you just demonstrated" I agree that it doesnt sound amazing, but I feel that this instrument has the potential to shine if given the proper maintenance (which i am in the process of learning how to do)
My family is currently (I say 'currently' as I plan on buying a bass sax) in possession of a 1911 C, 1918 C, 1921 C soprano, and a Conn Bb baritone. Awesome instruments and I will be sure to continue my great uncle Walton's saxophone collection.
dang your family's collection sounds incredible! what's better to collect than vintage saxes?
@@mildcatmusic My WWII collection.
I have a 1921 Beuscher C Melody I bought on ebay a few years ago. Perfect playing condition, tenor style neck, silver plate with gold wash bell, snap-in pads and not a single scratch or ding or repair job on it. Amazing after 100 plus years! Yours is definitely 1923...not 1906 or whatever. The "Micro-Tuner" was a feature of Conn's that came out around that time. Conn was the biggest instrument manufacturer in the USA during the late 1800's, in Elkhart Indiana. Beuscher was one of his employees who, in 1888, convinced Conn to start manufacturing saxes after he saw one ( a Selmer) displayed at the Paris World's Fair. Later, Beuscher left Conn to set up his own instrument company and built his factory in the same town, Elkhart, Indiana. Beuscher had a contract with Selmer to manufacture Selmers in the USA at the Beuscher factory. So the Beuscher True Tone line of saxes (like the one I have) are basically Selmers. Later, Selmer USA was bought out by Bundy and the Beuscher factory made all those Bundy Selmer student horns you find at every public school in the USA. I still have the Bundy Selmer alto I learned on in the 70's. Incidentally, another employee of Conn who left to start his own company was named Martin. He built his factory in the same town. Thats why most American made horns all say Elkhart, Indiana.
this is quite possibly the coolest comment i could have ever imagined getting on this video, thank you so much for imparting all this knowledge. can i ask if you know of any good books or documentaries about these sax manufacturing companies, i would love to learn more.
@@mildcatmusic I don't know of any particular single sources of info per se....I just did a lot of research when shopping for a C Melody...mostly on Wikipedia, google and different sax forums. There are a bunch of C Melody videos on youtube now...as well as the history of the sax.
Think that your first resource for serial numbers was more accurate. That database is maintained by the current owners of the Conn brand. I double checked the serial number of my supposed 1961 model with the list on that website and they matched up. Also love the c melody.
thanks for the info man! i figured my second source was off by quite a bit, but i thought i'd include it anyway. it's a really cool sax! i just wish i had described how old it smells haha, it's pretty funky in that case
thats a crazy facebook find
I’m jealous
dont fret, your day will come and you will be blessed by the marketplace gods
Sounds like a duck. Its a great horn . Also a decently valuable instrument
it sounds like a duck, i like that a lot haha
its lik,e a tenor that hasn't finished puberty lmfao
you would think after a century of existence puberty would have already passed, not for this one i guess
looks and sounds lovely, I wish I have a sax like this. anw, what song did you play with that sax?
I wasn't playing any song in particular, i was just riffing on C major pentatonic i think. I hope you are able to find a nice C melody for yourself as well!
Is having good taste in shirts and playing the saxophones two venn diagrams that does not overlap at all?
Seeing all other horns player has made me very self-aware about my own shirts
haha my mom bought me this shirt and i wanted to look nice for this vid, im typically rockin tshirts and sweaters