Description
Well here’s something of a unicorn. A well overhauled vintage baritone in good shape without any gremlins hiding around the corner, and although it has the 12M body tube AND is keyed to high F, because it is a Pan-American (Conn’s second line brand) it is cheap, baritonely speaking. Plus, this horn is just so fun to play. The overhaul was done with black kangaroo skin pads and domed resonators, the key heights are correct (12Ms like fairly open key heights) and even the neck tenon receiver has been replaced with a very well done custom replacement- which is amazing and excellent because those neck receivers are a major pain point, almost always leaking or cracked and not easy to replace well and impossible to replace cheap.
Physically, the horn has seen a good bit of use and has the scratches and dings to prove it, but it has no major damage, the neck is in good shape, the keywork is tight, and its ready to play reliably for years out of the box. The lacquer looks to be original, though I find it harder to tell with Pan-Americans since they sprayed it over the engraving a lot of the time. At least it certainly doesn’t look to have been buffed to my eyes. The toneholes are straight, not rolled, but other than that this is basically a Conn 12M and it plays just like one- that is to say with an enormous, rich tone that makes playing a joy and listening a treat.
Curiously, at some point in the past, somebody installed adjustment screws on the bar for the C# and F# in the upper and lower stacks, like a modern Yamaha. It was well done, and would not have been cheap. Combined with the neck tenon receiver replacement and professional quality overhaul, the person who owned this before I did clearly cared a great deal about it and spent a lot of well-aimed money with a talented repairer making it an exceptional baritone- and they succeeded. This baritone is worth more than it will sell for, and the next owner is a very lucky person.
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