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

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.

(click for larger photo)

.
(click for larger photo)

(click for larger photo)

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.

(click any photo to see larger photo)

.

.
.
.
..
..

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.

$8195

.
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.

(price to be determined following overhaul)

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.

I expect this to be ready around mid-April or early June.
 

I'm very tempted to sell this as a package with my NY Meyer 5M. This is a great King Super 20 alto with sterling silver neck and bell, with very little play on a complete Just Saxes overhaul (maxed out set-up, hand/no-buff refinish to remove lacquer from silver bell & neck, finish original prior to refinish).

Rock solid keyboard, tight top to bottom.  Beautiful, quintessential Super 20 sound, dead accurate intonation.  If you are after the Cannonball thing, this with the NY Meyer is the answer.  Equipment isn't everything, but it is some of it.

As a side note, since I am thinking about offering the Meyer in a package deal (at an additional cost) -- I don't want to sell the Meyer at all, but it's so close to perfect with this 20 that I may do so to make the 20 sale -- I want to include a general comment  here on the NY Meyers.  There genuinely is something special in how they sound -- a spooky bottom end resonance and guts -- that you can't get from any other mouthpiece.  At least I never personally encountered another mouthpiece that had the vivid core of a good Meyer, other than another NY Meyer that I sent for refacing and which came back with that special thing gone.  I would never do that to this one, and would never risk refacing a good NY Meyer again.  If you have a NY Meyer, and you have ears, I would never buy one planning to get it refaced; the chances of losing what made it special in the first place are too great.  If you come across one that does not have that special magic already, the chances that it will have it after a refacer finishes with it are slim to none.  This is my experience, and I relate it in part to save others some of the journey I myself went through (fun as aspects of it are).  If you have a Meyer that has the sound you are after, a minor imperfection or two in note to note response is better to live with than to risk ruining by changing the piece in any way.

This 20 is a GREAT player.  I would be asking $4K to part with it, if not for an old (silver soldered) octave key repair.

(more photos to come)
.

.
..

Sold - thank you JP!

 

Silver-Plated Martin Handcraft Alto

Serial#89,xxx (has front F, original design)

sold - thank you RH!

Newly overhauled, 100% tight and right - spectacular player, very clean cosmetically with original silverplated finish about 95-98%.  No stone unturned in this overhaul, including a number of nice, new straight rodscrews to replace old ones; mechanism nice and smooth and snug and perfect.  I only find a couple of spots of plating wear, namely on the strap hook and on one palm key.

Exceptionally good intonation for a Handcraft alto -- better than a much coveted gold plated collector's item I had some years ago.  This horn got everyday play at some time in its past -- tiny scratches & everyday use type dings say so -- but very nicely preserved mechanically, tightened up now to better than new. 

This is about as good as a Handcraft alto gets -- all the sweetness but with trademark Martin power and edge if you want it.

Does have front F; set up with medium large (oversized, but with balance between mellow result and best response in mind) nickel plated Pisoni resonators to please the taste of vintage alto lovers.  Art Pepper would blow a gasket over how beautifully this Handcraft plays.  I actually set this up with his sound and approach in mind -- this alto's ideal owner is someone who appreciates that Martin thing in Art Pepper's sound, but likes a horn that can be pushed to an edge as well.

A rugged vintage American saxophone that can compete with any alto, anywhere, on finesse as well as power.  This saxophone plays.
 
 

..
(for bigger pics, click on thumbnails:)
...
.....
.
.
.
...
..
..
..

(YouTube Lo-Fi sound sample:)

for higher quality mp3 sound sample
please click here

I also recorded a friend, Elliott "Stackman" Callier, on this saxophone doing a real playtest, picking up this saxophone for the first time -- the sound quality of the YouTube files is again low, but I have included links to higher audio quality mp3 files below:

For higher quality sound sample mp3s:

Stackman Handcraft mp3 file:  part 1

Stackman Handcraft mp3 file:  part 2
 

sold - thank you, RH!

 

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:)

..

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.

(click here for brief, post-overhaul mp3 of playtest)*

* my intonation on one note, F2, is...not-so-great -- that is true of me on any 10M with my set-up, unless I've been playing a Conn tenor regularly, which I haven't been (haven't been playing tenor almost at all)

Additional clip of this 10M being played with vintage metal Link (not my mouthpiece -- newly acquired 8* late FLA/early Babbitt):

(Pre-War) Conn 10M with vintage Otto Link Late Florida/Early Babbitt STM from Just Saxes, New Orleans on Vimeo.

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).

.
                         (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:

.

 
 

on hold - thank you, PG!

.
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.)

I will fully service this instrument and offer 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.

$3295

 

(new photos)
Buescher True-Tone Sop

..
.
.
..
.
..

Serial # 208,9xx.  Backside chromatic F#.  Bare brass finish (most likely original, with engravings deep, burred, & rough to the touch), original snap-in resos with blued-needle springs (original equip).  Extremely good condition overall; completely & newly overhauled.  No dents, one repair (resoldered post foot, low B).
Disgustingly good player, exceptional voice.
Hard to find a better sounding or playing sop.

Original case incl.

sold - thank you!

* 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! -