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Selected retail mouthpieces and cases now available through Just Saxes - to go to listings, please use buttons below:
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new and custom mouthpieces   saxophone cases

Selmer Mark VI Alto
* circa 1955 *
Serial # 57,xxx
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Very clean, rare, original and collectible condition; extremely beautiful finish, deep and brilliant -- at first I thought it was likely lacquer over gold plate.  I have tested the finish with inconclusive results (leaning toward non-plated), but will continue testing a bit further.  Priced as lacquered, until proven otherwise.

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This is a rare instance in which I'm not overhauling a saxophone that has come in as the work on it was/is quite good, and the horn plays like a new saxophone -- integrated tone, smooth & sure action.  The installation is Prestini with silver, custom, screw-in resonators, medium-large.  I was very pleased with the work I found on this saxophone when it came in as it was done well -- a rarity -- and the owner had cared for it, post overhaul, unusually lovingly.  The keywork was not swaged tight the last time it was overhauled, but the mechanism is quiet so I have not made changes (presuming that some may prefer to have their local tech perform any work, since I am not representing this with a complete Just Saxes overhaul).  I have reviewed and played this VI at length, and changed the keyheights a bit, but otherwise the saxophone came to me in very good condition; it feels very good and plays beautifully, and the quality of the work done previously is excellent.

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This is a collector's condition Mark VI that will likely outplay any VI alto out there.  It won't crush the best ones -- there are many very good VI's in this range -- but it will run neck and neck with the best of them and -- even in a case where the player knows the second saxophone intimately -- likely just edge the best examples on accuracy and immediacy of response.

Over time and heavy use, many examples that have been played harder seem to gain a bit of resonance but to have the sound become less focused and compact.  This VI has a very whole, compact tone and quick, accurate response.

Photos and sound samples to come.  I will likely post a short video of the gold testing procedures as well.

$7295

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NEW! (added 3.03.10)

Conn Transitional 6M Alto
- rare, no-tuning barrel example -

Mid-overhaul, getting full restoration.  This is a GREAT transitional alto with true double socketed neck.  This transitional Conn has the 6M styled LH table, and the rare no-tuning barrel original design neck (true double socket, with outer tenon and inner neckpipe sleeve, sealing at inside of body tube).  Its intonation is exceptionally accurate, and it has a fine, lyrical voice -- more fine and more finesse-oriented in its response than other Conn alto of its vintage (I own one that is in the same small range, with a "New York" neck that is bolder and brasher, but that is not as accurate in intonation or response).  This specific range of 6M has a lightning fast feel -- maybe the fastest of any saxophone ever made (including Mark VI and modern makes).

Overhaul will include full no-buff refinishing, proper double-socket fitting (rarely done on any true double-socket neck), and custom screw-in, reusable resonators.

I was able to tighten up and play this alto before beginning the overhaul.  It is going to be very, very good.  Overhaul should be completed somewhere in the first half of April.

$2195

I have not had a chance to completely disassemble this saxophone yet, but it appears to have all but a couple of its original snap-ins, and all of its gold Norton springs.  I have extra Buescher snaps on hand, and will be restoring any missing snaps.

This alto, very close to the same serial number vintage as Rascher's Aristcrat, does not have the word "New" in the bell engraving.  It has the same combination of opposing bell keys and Aristocrat-styled RH side keys as Rascher's alto (I will put up some photos documenting this soon). 

This transitional Aristocrat will be getting a full restoration, including no-buff refinishing, with Ferree's Buescher snap-in pads (with metal backing, as with original Buescher snap-in pads).

The engraving is very sharp, so I don't think this was originally silverplated (it is lacquer over brass, now).  I suspect it was bare brass release that was later lacquered, but I will know more after I disassemble, and do a little more research.

Should be ready around October 1.
 

Goldplated Conn "Pre-Chu"
(#104,xxx)

Rose-gold finish, very very clean, ornate early engraving, as on other goldplated horns (e.g. "Portrait") of this era.  Unusually free blowing; virtually no resistance.  Plating on neck has been retouched, but the neck seems to be original (the original gold plating can be seen around the base of the posts).  Only real drawback is a serial # added, as for a school horn, on the back of the body tube.  Deserves an overhaul, but plays well as is.

Vintage case included (not likely original).

Early Conn "Wonder" Tenor Straight tone holes, low pitch, serial #59,xxx.    Probably originally released in bare brass or silver plate, now lacquered.  Engraving possibly recut, very sharp.  Neck is Conn, but not original. This one is a bit of a Frankenstein, but cosmetically is in very nice shape, and is getting full Just Saxes overhaul (underway now).  It should be an excellent player, and a real bargain at the price, when completed.

Vintage case incl.

NEW! (added 12.26.09)

Silver Conn 10M (Navy Issue)

~ circa 1942-1943 ~

Rolled tone holes, large bore design. 
Very clean.
Original silverplate when purchased, since replated.
Custom resonators.
- Rebuilt and restored from the inside-out, getting finishing touches -

(preview pics, to be updated later:)

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Replated in 2002, this Navy-issue 10M initially sat around waiting for an overhaul that I could not manage to get around to, and then went into storage following Katrina.  It is a very, very pretty tenor.  After taking it out of storage, earlier this year, and giving it the first run through the silver cleaning process, every person that came into the shop would secretly eye its stripped down body, eventually and without fail ending up in front of it, mesmerized, asking what it was.

Post-overhaul, now, it has turned out to be a perfect, quintessential 10M.  If there was a musical museum where players could play definitive examples of vintage American saxophones, this could easily be the status quo for 10M's.  It is a special, special instrument.  True story:  if silverplate fared better in New Orleans' sulphur heavy air, I would keep this for myself.

This 10M has gotten my full attention.  Every resonator (very large) is custom made, screw-in (re-usable, so you never have to worry about whether your tech will have the right resonators), and matched to its individual tonehole.  Every pivot screw is new.  Every set screw is new.  Every blued-needle spring and every flatspring is new.  Nearly all of the rod screws are new (replacements are .0005" larger than original, which makes for a smoother, tighter, quieter action); only the lower stack and palm key screws have not been replaced (they are ramrod straight, true, and were already nice and snug to the keytubes).  Mechanically, this feels and effectively is a new horn; there is no lost motion anywhere on the instrument and the only person to play it since I began to restore it is me (this will change, soon, as I will see about getting some local friends to playtest, so that I can feature some sound samples by people who can actually play).

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                         (all new screws & springs)                                     (custom, screw-in resonators)

I also added an F-to-F# stabilizing linkage arm to this one -- a common modification to help the G# linkage do its work while reducing the F# pad's tendency to twist torsionally, which when unaddressed tends to compromise the F# pad's airseal.  This is a modification that can help any vintage American saxophone to be just a little more mechanically dependable, and firm under the hands:

(F-to-F# linkage addition/modification -- solidifies and helps stabilize F# key.)

A relatively early 10M, this example feels like it is actually larger than later examples -- it still has the forked Eb (see photos to come) in its design, and the bell looks and feels larger than on other later 10Ms.  The keyboard actually has a transitional feel to it, as it is not as close together as later 10M's.  Perhaps some of this difference is related to this 10M's being a Navy issue (U.S.N. engraving, with serial number inside the "Ladyface" pentagon), I'm not sure.

One interesting option on this is that I have a "Chu Berry" era neck -- actually from a stencil that I had silverplated by Anderson's (Elkhart), that plays phenomenally well, and classically "Chu" on this 10M -- that I have matched to it from four vintage Conn necks on hand.  It is not "rubbery" sounding (it does not have that rubbery feeling in the response, when you play it) like some early Conn necks, and it plays intonationally dead-accurately on this 10M, with a classically "Chu" model warmth, depth, and broad gusto, yet unlike on a Chu body it will accept and play just as accurately with a modern mouthpiece as with a vintage one.  This neck is available as an option for an extra $575 (it is worth every penny, in terms of what it adds to the horn's dynamic range and potential complexity, I promise -- if you don't agree, you can send it back, no questions asked).  Adding this neck is like adding an entire 220,xxx Chu to your collection, with just a neck change.  I played it against a 220,xxx Chu neck (my own Conn's neck), as well as an earlier Conn "New Wonder" neck (also silverplated by Anderson's); it is better than the earlier New Wonder neck and comparable to the 220,xxx neck.

Not many people know this, but a Chu neck on a 10M body is a very slick combination, in the best possible sense.  The 10M's body and tonehole placement tame the Chu's intonational challenges, especially with modern mouthpieces, while the Chu neck adds that Chu dimension to the 10M's already rich sound palette.

Updates, 12.28.09 -- full photo listing to come:

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sold - thank you, PG!

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NEW! (added 3.03.10)

Rampone & Cazzani
Silverplated Baritone
(consignment)

Excellent, original condition, other than a dent repair to the bocal.

This bari belongs to Dan Oestreicher, probably the hardest working
bari player in New Orleans, currently with Troy Andrews and Magnetic Ear.

He is seeking a low Bb baritone, so this one is for sale.

More info to come, as well as pics and links to recordings featuring
this bari.   (There are some photos of Dan with this bari on the linked music
sites.)

This horn has been fully serviced (by Just Saxes) and comes with the normal JS 14-day
return policy for it.  I will ask a $150 restocking fee on any return
though, to cover packing & unpacking labor and reservicing,
as this is a consignment and not a JS owned saxophone.

Includes nice, very clean, brown leather (or imitation leather?) case.

$2995

This soprano is a player.  Its voice is colorful and vibrant -- the kind of voice that produces a sum greater than its parts when played in ensemble.  It can be either warm, dark and round or powerful and projecting with excellent cut, depending on the mouthpiece and reed.  It is a perfect mix of freeblowing responsiveness and resistance that builds to push back as you put more pressure on it; it is a very responsive soprano, with a comfortable, accurate yet flexible pitch center.  This is not a soprano for a beginner, though, or someone with undeveloped tone production -- it needs to be sung through; if you don't take the reins play the horn, it will play you.  It is very, very accurate and vibrant when played with good support and focus, but it is a true vintage American soprano; it will give more than anything modern to the player who understands it, but will be a bear to play for any one with underdeveloped tone production.

The overhaul work is more "ol' skool" than usual, with Conn Reso-Pads (from Ferree's) and flat metal resonators (medium-large) which I rarely use these days, as this overhaul was begun several years ago and then sat in storage for several years.  I have made all the usual reductions in friction, but there is  more natural cork (vise-compressed) than I tend to use today, as well.  This Soprano is one of the horns that I put in 4th floor storage in the days leading up to Katrina, and that then sat awaiting to be remembered while more pressing matters and work intervened.  It's back in the world now, and it is an excellent vintage American soprano.

The mechanism is nicely preserved, and the action is light and fast -- the main stacks are faster and lighter than most modern saxophones made today.  The only ergonomic drawback is that the lefthand pinky table keys could be a bit larger and more spacious, and the older style ring thumbhook would be improved by changing it to a modern thumbhook and strapring design.  If desired, I can address any of these items for the buyer either before or after purchase.  Because this is a collectible vintage saxophone, I have left these alterations as optional add-ons, to preserve the horn's original condition.  I can also add a front F key, if desired.

One curious feature of these older Conn sopranos is that they employed a true tapered pivot screw at the same time that the alto and tenors of the period were still employing a peg/column design -- a modern touch on a very vintage instrument.

Flaws/blemishes:  past dentwork around neck (did not touch up as the soprano sings out beautifully, and I am concerned to not change this); soldering smear at neck (not sure why -- there were some weird and inexplicable soldering deposits on this horn, some of which I removed to find nothing underneath them, but this one was out of the way so I did not remove it); repaired bell lip (low Bb is nicely in tune with the rest of the horn); plating wear on inside of bell (plating mostly worn off, most likely from contact with a stand); some small spots of plating wear.  I will photograph all of these considerations to illustrate them when I have time to take pictures and add them here.

* the following is a list of saxophones that I know to be available, but that are not currently offered by Just Saxes.  They are either horns for which I can make inquiries, or which I can have delivered to Just Saxes for appraisal, service, and sale.  The descriptions are as provided by the owners.  Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to offer any meaningful opinion or appraisal on some of these horns, not having actually had them in hand to examine them in detail:

 

Please note:  Things have been extremely busy around here going back a good spell.  Consequently, the "horns available elsewhere" area has been on standby for a while.  If you've got a horn you'd like me to list for you, please write me and *explicitly* mention that you're interested in a listing.  I'll get to your letter at my first opportunity.

- Thanks! -