This is a beautiful Conn 30M Connqueror professional tenor saxophone that has a fresh overhaul just done by Matt Stohrer, who has overhauled more of these than anyone else I know. Matt’s overhaul is fantastic on a 30M, and allows the fancy adjustment screw design that is the signature of the Connqueror model to shine through and to benefit you long term. Basically, the 30M is a very fancy Conn 10M, and it has the fat, spread, powerful tone of a Conn 10M (think Dexter Gordon, who also played both 10M and 30M), but the 30M also has several deluxe features. The most significant is the ‘permadjust’ screw mechanism, that replaces cork and felt key regulation with special adjustable discs that are mounted on very fine threads with locking screws. You can google this if you want to learn all about it, but the bottom line is, that once the horn is correctly setup once then it holds its adjustment permanently. That means that you can get a Conn 30M Connqueror correctly overhauled once, and then as you eventually need pads replaced, you can just swap the pad out, which is cheap and easy, and you don’t need to do anything else to the horn. Your 30M can just play and play on the current setup with minimal maintenance cost indefinitely. That’s the beauty of the design! The pads are standard Pisoni Italian leather pads that are stocked commonly at repair shops all around the world, so swapping pads is easy. It also has the fancy slightly domed brass reusable resonators that cost $125+ a set and also let you swap out pads while keeping your resonators all matching. I love these on a Conn, and have them on my personal 30M as well.
The other features that make a 30M special are the fancy neck octave key, the redesigned ‘flatter’ left hand pinky table (which Matt sets up to be really nice and snappy), and the solid silver pieces on every key touch that isn’t already pearl. The engraving is also about twice as extensive as the standard 10M pattern, so everything about the horn is as deluxe as Conn could make it. This particular horn was one owner, and I promised to get it completely restored when I agreed to buy it, so that’s what it got. There were some dents removed from the back of the bow, and a couple of small ones removed from the neck. The keywork is all snug and snappy, and the neck fit is nice and even, so it’s just great mechanically. You can get a sense of the tone in Tyler’s video below (He’s using a Rigotti Gold 3 Medium reed, and a GS SLANT tenor 7* mouthpiece.). It has a warm, powerful voice and also tunes great and feels comfortable under the fingers. It has been played a good amount, but it’s now ready for its next several decades of loving ownership, after having been restored back to top playing condition. If you want a Conn 30M that does everything well and is totally ready to go, and that is original lacquer, this is the one for you.
