Description
This saxophone is sold! But click here to see our current selection of tenor saxophones.
Well, this is one of those horns that doesn’t come around very often. Of C melody’s it’s one of the best ever made, and it very nearly maxes out every possible category in which you could rate it.
Cosmetically, it’s basically in like new condition. Really astoundingly beautiful – much moreso than comes through in the lighting in the photos.
In terms of rarity, this is just about the end of the line for the Conn C Melody. I have a 243xxx in my personal collection, and they may have made a very small number of later special ordered C Melodies, but not many. This one shows features of the early transitional horns, such as the raised high E key, and it falls just before the art-deco engraving starts up.
Playing condition wise, it is in top quality shape with a full fresh overhaul done including cleaning and a gentle hand polish of the 100% original silver plate. Everything that should be done to completely restore a vintage saxophone to better than new condition has been done. The resonators are flat metal, which is ideal for this horn.
Tonally this horn has such a big, warm, rich sound. If you have only read about C Melodies on the internet, then forget what you have read before and think of a completely different saxophone – not an alto, bigger, louder, warmer – but not a tenor – more centered, almost cello-like in the richness and vocal quality of the sound. It’s also quite bold and loud if you push it. The nice thing about this Conn workmanship from this golden age of American manufacturing is that it is just best made that you could imagine. The horn is totally in sync – vibrates in your hands when you play even at low volumens – responds quickly – feels really crisp and fast under the fingers. With an original 30’s C melody mouthpiece, you get that Cello-like tone. You could play this at church (in CONCERT pitch, whew!) and it would blend well with a range of instruments. You can pop on a Morgan C melody piece (which I can throw in at a discounted price with the horn because I have an extra right now) – and the horn sounds big, bold, and leans towards jazz. It is super open, loud, projecting and fills a room easily.
Maybe someday we will see a renaissance of saxophone manufacturing and people will bring back the build qualilty and tonal power of the Pre-War Conns, including saxophones in C and in F again. But until that day, this is really the best option out there for a C saxophone, and it’s just a ton of fun to play. The overhaul/complete restoration of a vintage horn takes 25-30 hours of skilled labor done by an expert craftsman, and represents $800-1000 of the price that you are paying for this, so the saxophone is a really an even better deal when you figure that in. There are lots of places to buy disappointingly average saxophones. This site is different in that the idea is to be super picky about only selling top-quality horns with top-quality work, so you can be sure that this horn is exactly how it should be.
This is a turn key purchase for a beautiful, rare, and great-playing vintage saxophone. Get it now – there’s only one available!
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