stencil bass sax on ebay?

[qazmom]

Hi. There is a stencil bass sax on ebay, its item number is 200014558968. I would like to bid on it and try to clean it up, but i dont want to get ripped off. what do you think its worth? thanks.

[Grumps]

Depends upon what parts are missing, how old the horn is and it's general condition; none of this is revealed in the ad.

[qazmom]

I enlarged the picture and it looks like there are no missing keys. obviously, the sax is VERY dirty and almost definitely need a complete overhaul and a hand polishing. I have no idea what I should pay though.

[paulwl]

Ask questions. If they claim ignorance, come back here and we'll help you help them...

[awholley]

I get broken links to the pictures....

[Gandalfe]

Search using bass sax* and you can see a number of bass saxes for sale including the IW.

[qazmom]

There are no missing keys, although the plating is terrible (its black instead of silver) it has bad pads, no case, no mouthpiece and I am 100% sure its a stencil, because Selmer did not make basses then, and their basses always had the short rap style, never the American style. I think it’s probably a "selmer-american" from conn or buescher. Stencils don’t go for much normally, so one in this condition of despair is probably only worth about $1500? I’m not sure but it doesn’t seem like it’s worth all that money to put back into shape (although I really want a bass sax)

[hornimus]

Stencil or not, it is a bass sax, which is rare by any name, and if it's complete, as you guess, it will sell for many thousands of $$$ once restored. The finish may be ugly now, but if that is plating, it's not so much trouble to get it all shiny again. I think if you plan to bid on this you'd better be prepared to fork over some serious change. These live auctions are a target of at least one major ebay horn broker, and he does have a bid in on this one already.

By the way, did you call the auctioneer? They have a publicly listed phone number in their auction and welcome calls.

[qazmom]

Hi again. i never actually called them but i e-mailed them a bunch of times. I would reeally like to win it but i really dont know what I should bid. Also, i saw a stencil on ebay that needed a complete overhaul like this one for $3500, although it was laquered, it had nicer features, a case, a mouthpiece,it did not sell.