[ZuluChief]

There is a 1970 alto Conn on ebay, I would like to have a "peek" at, but after reading stories on this forum, it seems they are not very good and not worth having. Wonder why? Was there a design problem or manufacturing defects?
Could anyone with some experience give me some pointers? Btw I know they were made in Nogales (or so says a SNos list I had a look at) However, does it mean they are not good to play? I am looking for an alto to last me 4-5 years. So, it cannot be a purely student model (whatever that means!)

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Poorly made, i.e. compromised quality of fit, finish, materials and watered down design. Need I go further?

These are generally considered the Yugo of the sax world, an opinion I share.

Not a shining hour for Conn's otherwise excellent history of Sax production.

 

[Saxplayer67]

Axe's is the commonly held belief and compared to the Conns of old (at least those in a working condition), correct but worth looking at in person, as pretty much any instrument is. I have a 1970 Conn tenor (purchased from Don Mackrill in Edgeware, which was the best condition used sax they had in stock) which looks different to others of the period and looks far different to the altos.

 

[Enviroguy]

I have both a 24M alto made in Nogales, AZ (not Mexico) and an old Shooting Star alto made in Elkhart. The 24M is more of a Selmer design and the keywork is fairly modern and complex. But the brass is fairly thin. The older "shooter" is more like the Conn 6M with simpler keywork and heavier guage brass. Both came without pad resonators.

Neither of of these horns has what I consider to be great tone. The shooter is usable, though, and is a very solid horn. The 24M needs help. With a custom neck and leather mute in the bell, the 24M is ok, but that's all. In my opinion, neither of these horns comes close to the tone of a comparable Bundy of the same vintage.

 

[Saxplayer67]

I have both a 24M alto made in Nogales, AZ (not Mexico) and an old Shooting Star alto made in Elkhart. The 24M is more of a Selmer design and the keywork is fairly modern and complex. But the brass is fairly thin. The older "shooter" is more like the Conn 6M with simpler keywork and heavier guage brass. Both came without pad resonators.

Neither of of these horns has what I consider to be great tone. The shooter is usable, though, and is a very solid horn. The 24M needs help. With a custom neck and leather mute in the bell, the 24M is ok, but that's all. In my opinion, neither of these horns comes close to the tone of a comparable Bundy of the same vintage.

My 1970 Mexican shooting star tenor (how do I know it's Mexican? It says 'Made in Mexico' on it!) came with brown plastic resonators. One of my students picked up an Elkhart shooting star tenor ('USA' 1968), although only two years older looks much older, the plastic rollers, keywork and so on look more like an older Conn (plus the general cosmetic condition is far below mine). Guess there were a number of different templates being used as things were going pear shaped with Conn.