Conn 10M Tenor Saxophone Original Silver Plate 318xxx

Description

This is a beautiful Conn 10M tenor saxophone. It is one of the earlier ones with rolled tone holes. Silver plated 10M’s are rare and highly desirable. This one has some wear to the silver on the touch points and on the bell key guard, and the rest of the horn looks great. The silver is in the process of getting hand polished, so check back soon for more pictures. There are no dents or dings or resolders on the horn, and the bell, body tube, and bottom bow are all clean. This sax has a mix of older and newer pads and they are sealing very well, so it does not need an overhaul at present. You could get away with replacing pads intermittently for several years, or you could plan on a repad in 3-5 years to keep the horn playing its best.

The tone is classic 10M – big, warm, somewhat spread, but with a controllable core to it as well. The keywork is not modern, but it was designed well, and it is very fast, and it doesn’t take long to get used to it. Intonation is good – not super-flexible like an earlier Conn, and not so locked-in as a modern Yamaha or anything like that. People are still playing these horns from the 30’s and 40’s because they are works of art, and monuments to American craftsmanship, but most of all because of the tone.

This sax ships in a nice Pro-tec contoured tenor case which is in good condition and protects the horn well.