Conn New Wonder I Alto Saxophone Burnished Gold-plated 101xxx

Description

Here is a nice vintage Conn alto saxophone from 1923 that still has most of its original burnished (rare) gold plating intact, together with deluxe engraving. It has the original neck, rolled tone holes, and a nice clean body tube, bell and bow. The neck is not pulled down. The micro-tuner works well, and the keywork is all free. There is a small dent on the front of the bow that has now been removed (I need to take new photos.) Other than that, the horn has just been hand polished, and is currently getting a full overhaul done by Mike Hollis, who is an excellent repair tech.

This alto will have a big, warm tone capable both of playing sweetly or blowing the walls down. These early Conns are really fun to play, and you get used to the ergonomics after a couple of weeks. The pitch is typically good, but flexible, so that you have a lot of control over it and can bend it how you like. A medium to large chamber mouthpiece is recommended for easy intonation. The engraving is especially nice on this horn. It is the burnished gold finish, which was one of the best finishes Conn made, and which they apparently reserved for their best-playing horns.

The price includes the full overhaul, so what’s not to like? It’s actually incredible that you can get this nice of an alto in burnished gold with a full overhaul for this kind of price.

This is a turn key purchase for a beautiful and great-playing alto saxophone.