Moving On...what to get?

[OnyxSax]

With it becoming more apparent that I am not going to be able to recover my stolen Mark VI (see the Stolen Instrument Thread), I'm going to go ahead and take the insurance settlement and move forward. After that, I'm not sure what I should do. Here are my options:

1. Pocket the money. I already have a restored '27 Chu and a beater '52 10M. Do I really need three tenors?
2. Replace the Mark VI with a Mark VI. There is no substitute!
3. Pick up a more modern used Selmer, such as a used Series III or a Ref. 36/54.
4. Go vintage: Purchase a Buescher Aristrocrat and with the money left over, get another Yamaha Motif keyboard (I play keyboards, too).
5. Something else? -- your suggestions, please.

I'm leaning towards the Aristocrat at this time. I loved my Mark VI, but I just couldn't find "my sound" and that made me start delving into the world of vintage horns. Every Aristocrat I've tried, I've loved. To me the Aristocrat was the closest thing to a cross between a 10M and Mark VI that I've been able to find. Already owning a Mark VI, a Chu and a 10M, I could never justify getting an Aristrocrat on top of that. Now I can.

[Fred]

Sounds to me that you already know what you should do. You can probably get a very nice Aristocrat for just a fraction of your VI's insured value. Then when you ask yourself, "Do I really need three tenors?", you can decide whether to part with the Chu or the 10M. And still take a tidy sum to the bank.

[OnyxSax]

Yes. You're probably right, except I don't think I would part with my Chu and the 10M doesn't have too much value. It's a 1952 horn that was literally snatched off a junkpile after spending its life being used and abused in a Texas High School music program. It's been relacquered, maybe twice. It still honks, though. I usually keep this horn at my office just in case I need a saxophone in an emergency. It's worth more to me in that capacity than the several hundred bucks it may be worth.

So I guess it will be back to three tenors. I'm not having a whole lot of success culling my herd of horns. :D

[58tenor]

"just in case I need a saxophone in an emergency"......I picture one of those old glass faced boxes on the wall with a little hammer on a chain. Inside the box was a fire extinguisher. But they could put other things-saxophones-in there!

IN CASE OF SPONTANEOUS MUSIC BREAK GLASS REMOVE HORN AND PLAY. BAD PLAYING SUBJECT TO FINE OR IMPRISONMENT. EMERGENCY USE ONLY!

[OnyxSax]

LOL!

I do keep the 10M and a tuxedo in the office. There has been times when there is a need for a saxophone player with no notice, and the time it would take me to go home and get my stuff versus just grabbing the stuff I keep in my office makes the difference between an unhappy client because the sax player didn't show and one that never knew the difference.

[JL]

Onyx, since you asked.......get the Aristocrat. You won't regret it.

And you know, I think you have something there about the 'Crat being a cross between a 10 M and a VI. It has the big sound and fat tone of a 10M with the cut of a MKVI. I'd say this is especially true of the series one Aristocrat. But the Big B/156 has a tone to die for.

[OnyxSax]

The one I'm considering is a 305,xxx Big B horn with original lacquer. I'm kind of a Buescher newbie, so I don't know if that makes it the 156 model. I do believe that 305,xxx puts the horn at early 1946.

I've pretty much decided that is the direction I'm going to go. Now it's just a matter of getting that paperwork from the police and the getting the claim set with the insurance company.

[Dave dix]

Some big B's had 156 stamped on them.I would get the buescher
Dave

[JL]

The one I'm considering is a 305,xxx Big B horn with original lacquer. I'm kind of a Buescher newbie, so I don't know if that makes it the 156 model. I do believe that 305,xxx puts the horn at early 1946..

Big B & 156 are the same horn, but the later ones have a different engraving. That should be a fantastic horn, Onyx. Let us know how you like it!