Originally Posted by Matt Finley
Notes, sorry our timing wasn't better when I sold my Mark VI tenor a few years ago. Couldn't hold it (arthritis). Still playing a little soprano.<...snip...>

I had a Mark VI. Bought it new, probably in 1959 or 1960. I traded a Selmer Modele 26 for that.

Years later, I traded it in for a VII. It played great in the store, but when I got on the gig, I couldn't overblow it for a nasty edge, so I went back Monday to get my VI back, but was already sold.

Lesson learned, when trying new horns out, don't be shy about playing too loud in the music store.

So I sold the VII and got a H.Couf Superba. IMO a better sax than the VI. The tone was better than the VI and much more flexible. Fuller subtones, and when overblowing to get that extra edge on it, the highs were still more complex. It also had much better intonation, and keywork that fit my hands better with the best high F# key ever. Unfortunately, they quit re-lacquering saxes when I sent them in for an overhaul, and eventually it turned green with a finish blistered like a grapefruit skin. The Couf had a high copper content in the brass, which probably is why the tone was so nice.

Sold it and got a gold-plated Grassi Prestiege. My hands eat up lacquer, so I figured a gold-plated horn would work. It didn't. The lacquer peeled off and took a lot of the gold with it. I still have it, and plan on cleaning it up and selling it, but life, gigs, and the BiaB biz keeps getting in the way (I'm not complaining).

So I had a MacSax built and custom finished for me in silver colored nickel. It's a standard Taiwanese horn, and I like it a lot. But I started getting a lot of beachside gigs and didn't want the salt spray on it, so I bought a used Yamaha YTS-52 for outdoor gigs. I was pleasantly surprised with that one. Best intonation of any horn I've had so far, easy blowing, and a nice tone for rock and blues. A little more edge than the Mac, but not thin like the Grassi.

After a few years beachside, the Yamaha is looking nasty, but still plays great.

I was thinking it was too bad I sold the VI. I paid $600 for it new. So I looked up the inflation index and $600 in 1960 buys what $6,290 does today, and after all those years, gigging full-time, and a lot of wear and tear, I don't think I could have gotten $6k for it today. So it wouldn't have been a good investment.

Now I have my Mac, Yamaha, Grassi (until I clean it up) and a King Alto.

Through the years, I had a Conn Shooting Star and a Pan American I bought dirt cheap as back-up saxes, and I gave both of them away. Both were student horns to be used when my main horn was in the shop, but I started using my older horn as the back-up. Having a spare is necessary, because I'm one of those “the show must go on” people. Since I went full-time pro in the 1960s, I've never-ever missed a gig, or the downbeat.

Eddie, pardon me for taking this so far off-topic. But any thread that lasts long enough eventually gets there.

I hope you get good prices for the gear you are selling.

Notes ♫

Bob "Notes" Norton smile Norton Music
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