Vintage saxophones, should I buy one?

[@BrianBurgess-jg6bs]

Wonderful video Lynden & great insight on the benefits/pitfalls of both. Been incredibly blessed to have both a modern & vintage 1933 tenor cigar cutter. The intonation & spatula key is not easy on the latter, but the thought of “legacy” is so cool. Whatever you have, it will always be about how much work you want to put in to find your own sound. Cheers

[@lyndenblades]

Thanks for this Brian, your old Selmers sound wonderful and I bet they’re such a pleasure to own 👍👍🎷🎷

[@garydutton9098]

I recently purchased a conn 6m transitional lady face circa 1935. It plays lovely.

[@lyndenblades]

Wow, what a gorgeous thing to own! Congratulations 🎷🎷❤️🎷❤️🎷

[@aureliofrancalanza6603]

I have a selmer tenor SBA serial no. 40xxx. With original case , original selmer mouthpiece. No dents, original neck. Silver, matt body with shiny bell and keys. Silver coating worn in some areas, but it was always kept with care and plays very well. 13:59 I will consider sell it if well valued. Excellent sound no need to explain! Aurelio from Malta.

[@lyndenblades]

Thank you for sharing this Aurelio and all the best from the Uk 🤝🤝🎷🎷😎😎

[@gib321]

I love the tone I can get from my 1957 Keilwerth New King which I had restored after finding it in a local junk store but I need all the help I can get from the ergonomics of my modern horn. The Goldington replica looks and sounds great.

[@lyndenblades]

Thanks for this and I bet your Keilwerth is absolutely beautiful and a pleasure to own 🎷🎷🤝🤝😎😎

[@kevincosta9228]

I think that a few decades ago, vintage saxophones were desirable simply because so many really good professional level instruments were manufactured from the mid 1930s to the late 1950s. After that the market was populated with a lot of student model instruments. Today the reality is that there are a number of really good, affordable instruments being offered and vintage saxophones are getting really old, with most having fallen victim to neglect and shoddy repairs, so that few of them actually play near their potential. Finding a good one is a challenge. That said, I'll never give up my old Martin. It just sings, and, having learned on a Martin Imperial student horn, it feels like an old friend.

[@lyndenblades]

That’s beautiful Kevin! 🤝🤝🎷🎷😎😎

[@Maltloaflegrande]

I've had my 1928 Martin Handcraft Tenor for over 40 years and a simple service and set-up renders it very playable; certainly playable enough for my needs. I remember jamming with a guy playing a Yamaha a few decades ago, and his horn was rattling far more than mine; it's all in the set-up.

[@lyndenblades]

That’s absolutely right 😂😂🎷🎷😎😎

[@Maltloaflegrande]

@@lyndenblades Thanks. I forgot to include a point which might be of interest in that (nerd alert!) the cross-fingered E-flat on my Martin still works perfectly. The last repairer I used for a set-up and re-pad offered to fix it off permanently only because he said that was what other players wanted because evidently it makes the horn prone to leaks. I declined the offer since I've never had any such issues. To be fair, I rarely use that option when playing, but that's mainly because for most of the time I've been playing it, I've been doubling on alto or baritone and none of my other instruments have that option, so it would be counterproductive not to continue to use the orthodox fingering (it might even be detrimental to my clarinet playing and believe me, that needs all the help it can get). But I still think it's a brilliant bit of engineering design and a great pity it's not universal on all saxes and clarinets.

[@lyndenblades]

Love it! 🤝🤝😎😎🎷🎷

[@kooky74]

Thx for your position on this subject. On my side I started saxophon because I found a teacher that said me: "because you are a pianist, you never tried saxophon? But I have a saxophon on C. I can teach you...". I started on his Martins CMelody 1923. I never could give it back to him. I bought it 😂. But the tune was really hard to obtain. Then I bought a 2023 C Melody from Thoman/Aquilasax. Sure it is easy to be in tune on all keys and I use it in the band. But at home, for mouthpiece training and because I love it, I always use the Martins. So lovely ❤

[@lyndenblades]

Ah that’s awesome. I do love all saxophones with all my heart and especially vintage ones 🎷❤️🎷❤️🎷

[@alanwanchorlytellc194]

Personally I'm in love with even older saxophones. The alto I am currently playing as I'm taking lessons is a 1927 Buescher True Tone in silver with a gold washed bell. My curved soprano is the same from 1925. I'm fine with the ergonomics. It depends on what you are used to.

[@lyndenblades]

Hi Alan, your saxophones sound absolutely beautiful and you’re completely right that you get used to your sax and it’s no problem to adapt to the ergonomics if you give it a little time. Thanks for your feedback 🤝🤝🎷🎷

[@olafsrensen9578]

Hej Lyndon .First seen this this honest discussion . The one i bought from you is very much in tune and far more easy to play than my selmer mark 6 .I think what you can improve about saxes are the neck which I changed to one done in sterlin silver .So I"m very satisfided with one I got from you which is in tune much easyer .Bedst from Denmark

[@lyndenblades]

Hi Olaf and thank you so much. I’m delighted to hear that and your constructive feedback is excellent thank you 🤝🤝😎😎🎷🎷

[@hugovandermeer1566]

I own a 1923 Adolphe Sax tenor and a Yanigasawa two10. I prefer the Adolphe Sax for tonal quality and it weighs much less which is really nice.

[@hugovandermeer1566]

Purchased the Adolphe Sax from Howarth with original mouthpiece and case.

[@lyndenblades]

Sounds wonderful 🤝🤝🎷🎷😎😎

[@lyndenblades]

Both wonderful saxophones 🎷❤️🎷❤️🎷

[@dennistimmons1132]

Great video. I love my Selmer Mark VII alto but also love the Goldington Tenor.... I did hear a softer sound with your Selmer but not a lot. A good test would be to turn off your video part and play one without telling which one it is and them play the other right after.

[@lyndenblades]

Thanks Dennis! What’s not to love about a Selmer! I’ve owned a few MK7’s over the years and all of them have been wonderful saxophones and a pleasure to own. The Goldington sounds really nice too and I agree with you that you’d be hard pushed to identify which was which in a blind test but as mentioned in the video that’s the mouthpiece and player in my opinion.

[@thomaskipfer1008]

My favorite horns are now 1938 Martin Committee II alto, and 1969 10 M. I prefer the vintage. I have them built with my own preferences. I own several altos; Kohlert 55, Committee III, Rampone, to name a few. I prefer the 10M (I'll never sell) over a 1946 Committee III tenor. For me, vintage pro horns are best. I have a tech who allows me to remove pads and keys. I size the key cups and buy pads. He does repad at discount pricing. He fixes problems, dents, bad tone holes looking like crescent moons than tone holes. Soprano Vintage horns are tricky- better to go new. I have Borgani pro (93 model). Mpc's are key.

[@lyndenblades]

Sounds amazing Thomas 🤝🤝🎷🎷😎😎

[@bikerbob562]

I play since many years Tenor sax. Later I got trouble with the Hands. I restored a '32 René Guenot and as I played it for controling the tune I realised I got no pain after 2 hours of playing. In my opinion the Selmer Mensur was a good Ideal, but not for everyone. Try one Vintage, test it. My one fits althoug perfect to my style of playing. And the Sound was perfect. The same Thing to Alto failed... An old Pierret '24 is perfect for my Handys, but from the Sound I prefere an Meinl which maybe an Amati Stencil from 60's.

[@lyndenblades]

Thanks for this Bob, I bet those saxophones are absolutely beautiful ❤️❤️🎷🎷

[@bobblues1158]

For me: The Conn inline setup is faster than Selmer offset. Really the old American horns are superior to the Selmer modern horns in every area. Tuning just for example. Now the new horns fex.JL Woodwinds,Yanagisawa are improvements on the mark VI tuning.

[@lyndenblades]

Hi Bob and thanks for your feedback. I love Yanagisawa’s too! 🤝🤝🎷🎷

[@mikesaxclar]

I play on a sax I've had since 1978 and got it new then. I very much recognize the differences in modern horns that are significant, such as ergonomics and intonation, but sound wise it's at best a tie and I have yet to play a modern horns that was better enough to spend big bucks on. I love the modern Keilwerth and Eastman horns but ....

[@lyndenblades]

Mike thank you for this. I think that when you play any horn for a long while you get to know it and build a relationship with it which is important for a good sound 🎷🎷🤝🤝😎😎

[@alanhirayama4592]

My Selmer Mk VII alto purchased in 1980 is considered "vintage"? Makes me feel old! LOL

[@lyndenblades]

I know, right? I’m vintage 😂😂😂

[@lyndenblades]

@krulwurld1791 👍👍🎷🎷😎😎

[@TCJAZZ-MUSIC]

Great presentation and thank you for sharing. I have several saxes from sopranos to tenors - vintage to newer models. I find the older, vintage horns have a much more sweeter, soulful tone quality. The Selmer Mark VI's in particular at least to me ..... sound amazing! Nice smooth tone - easy to move from top to bottom. The newer ones to me and of course this is just my humble opinion - sound tinny. For example - When I play my 1957 Selmer Mark VI is sounds very soulful, expressive and just a gorgeous sound that I can play all day on - However, playing my Yamaha YAS 62 - alhough it does have nice tone quality I'm qucik to put it down and pick my Selmer. As for your demonstration - your Selmer Alto sounded to me, by far better - the Chinese horn sounded somewhat tinny. I remember many, many years ago having a discussion with Sonny Rollins backstage at the Blue Note NYC and Sonny told me "Look kid, it does matter what kind of horn or mouthpeice you play with - what matters is what you put into it" I said in return to his comment "True, however, why then are you playing a Selmer Mark VI with a Berg Larson mouthpeice?" He smiled with that beautiful warm smile of his and said to me "Now you're learning kid" Again, great video - thanks for your time for posting .... Play'on my Brothers .....

[@lyndenblades]

Wow Thomas, you met Sonny? That’s absolutely incredible 🎷🎷🤝🤝😎😎

[@keithcampbell6806]

Good afternoon l agree with most of what you said it should have an original mouthpiece and case. Firstly l would never use a mouthpiece that is not mine.Secondly most modern saxophonists use after market contoured cases. Very good and informative otherwise. Keep up the good work.

[@keithcampbell6806]

I accidentally left out the word except before mouthpiece and case.

[@lyndenblades]

Hi Kieth, thanks for this. I agree with you on both counts. Thanks for the feedback 🤝🤝🎷🎷😎😎

[@lyndenblades]

@@keithcampbell6806 in terms of re-selling a vintage sax I’ve always found that having the original case and mouthpiece adds value 👍👍

[@keithcampbell6806]

Most professionals the world over in this era do not use original csses.

[@saintpreferred9223]

Chinese sax has a brighter sound....selmer is more mellow...not that eiher sound is more desireable...

[@lyndenblades]

@@saintpreferred9223 I think you’re probably right, it is a bit brighter 🎷🎷😎😎🤝🤝