What's this?

[steve0617]

Looking online at a possible C Melody just for S&G.

Owner says it's:

There's fancy engraving that says Wurlitzer American, the Rudolph Wurlitzer co, USA, and the serial number says 128696 low pitch

It's a Conn right? At least it looks like the Chu Berry alto I sold to Chu Jerry a few months ago. And the low pitch is correct for the C Melody because High Pitch would make it an E flat horn, right? Or am I messed up on the old stuff? Did a SOTW search for Wurlitzer and came up empty...

He's asking $225. Good? Rip off? Haven't seen it in person yet as it's a bit of a drive and want to get some more info from you all here before I make the drive.

Thanks

Here's the sax..

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b2/steve0617/2005_1118cmelody0004.jpg

[Dave Dolson]

Steve: I'm not up on Wurlitzers, but I know of the name and that it is a vintage instrument, probably 1920's or so (split bell keys, C-mel, etc.). Could be that Wurlitzer was a stencil brand made by another manufacturer like Conn or Buescher.

Low Pitch merely means the horn is pitched at modern tuning standards (much posted about this topic throughout SOTW). All modern-pitched saxophones, 'nino to bass (contra, maybe?) from that era, at least American-made, are marked LP or Low Pitch. Those that are HP or High Pitch are not playable in modern ensembles - it has nothing to do with the key of the instrument (e.g., Eb alto, Bb tenor, etc.). DAVE

[Saxland]

Wurlitzer keyboards partially owned Buescher in the 1920's, and Bueschlers made stenciled Wurlitzer saxophones. Conn as well in the 1920's stenciled Wurlitzer. Martin in 1965 was sold to Wurlitzer, and stenciled for them in the 1920's.

My source is the Sax and Brass book.

[CMelodyMan]

Steve: I'm not up on Wurlitzers, but I know of the name and that it is a vintage instrument, probably 1920's or so (split bell keys, C-mel, etc.). Could be that Wurlitzer was a stencil brand made by another manufacturer like Conn or Buescher. I've never played one, but I do know that Wurlitzer was a Buescher stencil .

David

[tbone]

From what I can see in the pic, this one is a Martin stencil. It appears to have soldered on bevelled toneholes.

[bruce bailey]

Martin FOR SURE as I have the identical horn sitting in front of me. Good intonation except high E and F are a bit flat. I got mine on ebay for $86 but not as nice as that one. Go for it as these Martin horns are good and C Melodies are climbing in price so I think you may have a winner in that one. The original mouthpiece probably is too stuffy. I use a Selmer S-90 (190) Alto on mine now and it wings.

[Sigmund451]

If its an original c melody mpc you can probably sell it for a decent price if you find a better alternative.

[cmelodysax]

This looks to be a Martin stencil - the old eyes 'sort-of' detect bevelled toneholes on the picture (anyone confirm this ?) - those were a Martin feature. I've tried zooming-in on the pic, but the resolution isn't that good.

Very unlikely to be a Conn stencil, as it doesn't have the trademark 'mercedes' Low-C guard. Yep, my money is with 'Martin'.

Regards, Alan.

P.S Apologies 'tbone' and Bruce, I just re-read the whole thing and see you've already said Martin, guess that confirms it....... I do play the odd Martin or three :)

[steve0617]

Thanks all. I'll start talking to the guy and then go play it.

One thing... I've seen three different pieces available? The C Melody, Alto and Tenor can be used on this horn? Is that right?

[cmelodysax]

Steve - what do you mean by 'pieces' ? Mouthpieces ? If it's mouthpieces, only the C-Mel one can possibly ( a BIG possibly...)guarantee sensible intonation - but the downside may well be dated tone and close lay. I personally use my tenor mouthpieces on C-Mels, but it's always a compromise, and only really for established players who have a reasonable embouchure. Other C-Mel players use alto mouthpieces, or more modern C-Mel pieces like Runyon, LeBlanc or Morgan.

Have a look at the Question & Answer section of my website (link below), questions 6-10 cover this, but bear in mind that's only my personal opinions, it's a wide-open subject - much discussed. Each C-mel player finds his own solution.

Good Luck. Alan.

[Dave Dolson]

I mentioned this in another thread, but just today, I got out my Buescher C-Mel and my Kessler Custom tenor. I tried the Kessler Custom mouthpiece (tenor) on the C-mel. It worked perfectly - intonation good throughout the C-Mel's range and it provided a bigger sound than the Beechler C-Mel piece I had been using on the C-Mel (admittedly not played much because I favor alto and soprano). DAVE

[LazySaxman]

Wow, that's the sweetest lookin' Wurly I've seen.