buescher alto saxophone

[Chris]

I have found on ebay many cheap and nice buescher alto saxophones.
How are the aristrocrat and the true tone. Are they good?
Can i buy one for 300 $?

[Bootman]

Look for a mid 30's Aristocrat, the Big B or model 140's are also very good. keep your eyes peeled as they do show up from time to time. It is much easier to get an alto than a tenor.

[O-Tomah]

I would suggest a post Top Hat and C 400 (these horns are an excel. value)

[ncm]

Don't restrict yourself to the Aristocrat and TH&C horns. The TT horns can be excellent when setup properly. I have a overhauled TT from Mark Aronson that I love, $350. He is great at setting up these horns.

Check in your area, I bet someone has a couple of vintage horns you can tryout. I have both a silver plate and a gold plate. Both are easy playing and user friendly:)

good luck.

[Chris]

And what about the buescher altos after 1963.

[knighttrain]

Chris - The earlier Aristocrats are usually considered better and are priced accordingly. I purchased a 70's Aristocrat 200 recently, however, and I really like it. The horn has great action - full, balanced, pure sound - huge presence. I haven't played an earlier model, so maybe those are even better - hard to imagine though.

[knighttrain]

Forgot to add - I have a total of $231 invested in the horn - well under your $300 - good luck

[Kenfen]

I got a very nice buescher alto recently from the 1930's. I can see why the are sought after. Great horn, plays like a dream, still at a fraction of the cost of a new alto.

[Ray]

I've just started listening to Johnny Hodges, man what a tone. Anyone know what Buescher alto he played?

[Dave Dolson]

Ray: No, I don't know the Buescher model Hodges played (and you are right, he remains my favorite alto player). I'd be curious to know that bit of trivia myself.

But I don't think the horn made Hodges - Hodges made the horn. I recently heard a clip of the Selmer player who moderates their Selmer board, and he sounded a lot like Hodges on that clip. If you strive to sound like Hodges, then go for it, but I doubt that any one make of saxophone will get you there. Good luck! DAVE

[paulwl]

Hodges played a Big B from the mid 40s and after that, a "vertical" buescher - late 400 or hybrid Crat/400. He then switched to Vitos!

[Ray]

Dave: point well taken, pauwl's comments on the change of horns demonstrate this as well. I'll have to work on my chops to get that sweet tone. I can see why Duke Ellington said his band would never be the same after Johnny's death. The tone I really like is on "Something Saxual".

[puresaxman]

i have a true tone alto from 1922 and its a great sax even has that through back sound to it. I don't know alot about the other low pitch horns but it sure seems buescher had it going on back then.

[Dave Dolson]

puresaxman: I too have a silver Buescher TT alto (and two silver straight sops) made in the early '20s, with that old-tyme tone. My TT is my first-choice alto.

But interestingly enough, I can achieve the same sound from my new Yana A992. A lot of that is in the player's concept and style, along with a compatible mouthpiece. DAVE

[puresaxman]

Dave- Thats funny that you mentioned that you can get the same sound from your yani that you get on your tt buescher. I never really experimented that much with mouthpiece and reed set up on the buescher.
I've only played it with my selmer larry teal and omega reeds, I guess I should put my dukoff on it and see if I can rip it open with that. I love the sound of my true tone, people say that all these low pitch horns are garbage from the past. HECK NO!!!! this is a great saxophone and I will never sell it. I also have a wurlitzer lyric silver bari from 1918. I play that with a gold plated otto link and baby can I honk on that horn. The only draw back to the silver bari is that it stops at high E no f key oh well I love it anyway.
Question: Can you tell the difference between a tenor and c melody by looking at them? Let me know because some of these horns I see on ebay for the life of me I can't tell them apart being that they both have the goose neck. Not all of the c melodies have the c inscribed above the serial number so its like what is it? :roll: :roll:

[Dave Dolson]

puresaxman: It depends on the manufacturer with C-mels and tenors. Generally, Conns came with an alto-style neck while Bueschers came with tenor-style necks. I have a Buescher TT C-melody. Other brands I am not sure of . . . also the length is different between C's and Bbs, but I'm not sure of the measurements either. An inquiry to the seller would be in order.

Yes, I love the sound of my True-Tones (sop and alto), too. They are my horns of choice because I play 1920's jazz and they are sure authentic for that. Plus, they play great. Of course, the low-pitch thing is really just the way the vintage makers standardized their horns - and marked them to differentiate between high and low pitch - most modern horns are still low pitch. There are a lot of vintage-saxophone fans on SOTW. DAVE