Conn New Wonder (Series I)?
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Sorry, I should have given more detail, I did that in sort of a rush.
Anyways, the deal is, I'm looking around for an alto sax of some sort, and I'm thinking vintage. I happened to hear about one of these in my city, and I'm wondering how it compares to some of the more "modern" vintage saxes, such as the 6M, Buescher Aristocrat, Selmer Cigar Cutter, and what-not.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the internet about them, besides what's on www.saxpics.com, anyways. I was just wondering if any of you had one, and if you could sort of compare it or describe it, as that would be most appreciated!
Anyways, the deal is, I'm looking around for an alto sax of some sort, and I'm thinking vintage. I happened to hear about one of these in my city, and I'm wondering how it compares to some of the more "modern" vintage saxes, such as the 6M, Buescher Aristocrat, Selmer Cigar Cutter, and what-not.
There doesn't seem to be a lot of information on the internet about them, besides what's on www.saxpics.com, anyways. I was just wondering if any of you had one, and if you could sort of compare it or describe it, as that would be most appreciated!
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I may be wrong, but wasn't the Cigar cutter about the same time as the New Wonder Series I?
well, i said similar, so give or take a couple of years,
ive got one coming in the post at the moment, can't wait to get it, m133XXX
interesting thing is it's got nickel plated keys and a lacquered body which are original, i bought it from the original owner and his son.
some people dislike the ergos on the tenor but they are great horns, plenty of volume.
ive got one coming in the post at the moment, can't wait to get it, m133XXX
interesting thing is it's got nickel plated keys and a lacquered body which are original, i bought it from the original owner and his son.
some people dislike the ergos on the tenor but they are great horns, plenty of volume.
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The approximate relation of Conn to Selmer would be NW I/Model22, NW II/model26, Transitional/Cigar cutter. Teh horn in question would be a NW I and I have three of them and use one as my main alto (out of 20). One advatage is that the have a Front F and the LH pink cluster is more like modern horns. Very fluid and even sounding.
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My father got his first sax in about 1927 and he is sitting about 6' from me right now and appears to be very much alive.
I very recently had a thread just like this about a couple months ago regarding an ebay NW 1.
I went ahead and bought it, its a very very nice horn. The intonation isn't as ad as everyone says it is. For me at least, everything was spot on. And tone wise, they are nearly identical to the chu berrys. My sax is a 117xxx sax made around 1921. and the ergos don't bother me at all, except for a little G# action issue I posted in sax mods and repairs on this forum. Otherwise they are great playing horns, very free-blowing, and hey just feel really good and solid.
If you have the opportunity to get a good horn, I would take it now. I got mine for 400, and the sax is in pretty much mint condition.
I went ahead and bought it, its a very very nice horn. The intonation isn't as ad as everyone says it is. For me at least, everything was spot on. And tone wise, they are nearly identical to the chu berrys. My sax is a 117xxx sax made around 1921. and the ergos don't bother me at all, except for a little G# action issue I posted in sax mods and repairs on this forum. Otherwise they are great playing horns, very free-blowing, and hey just feel really good and solid.
If you have the opportunity to get a good horn, I would take it now. I got mine for 400, and the sax is in pretty much mint condition.
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I just got my Chu Berry last week (Series I NW I believe). It is all nickle plated, in very good shape, plays well, free-blowing and has a very nice tone. I am currently playing it with a Meyer 5 and used it last night for the first time in a jam session. (photo attached). I had no problem cutting through the guitars with it and am enjoying it so far. I managed to find mine on eBay and at a very good price (possibly lower than market price). See: ebay auction It was shipped to the left coast from PA complete with Penn State banners on its original case. I also tried out an aristocrat and have to say both had a nice tone - dark, but not overly so. Mine is from around 1929 with SN 234XXX. See photos. I suppose one could get a used "non-vintage" sax for a similar price, but you wouldn't have nearly as nice a horn.ZephyrSax said:
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Zeph,ZephyrSax said:
The action/ergos were good enough for me, didn't get in the way of my playing the sax how i wanted to play it, but no doubt, there has been much progress in the intervening years since 1929.
A couple of nits:
The neck has to be dead on straight, otherwise the octave key interferes with A,B,C notes in mid range (plays them as though you would have the octave key depressed).
The thumb key below the octave key is just a little circle, not as comfortable as if there was more real estate for your left thumb.
The tuning neck thing doesn't seem to be functional (though i am not really sure how that was intended to work), but i did notice in trying out mpcs that you can't go with a long style mpc (e.g., the Vandoren Java was too long) without making it hard to be in tune (you have to shove the mpc all the way back). By contrast, the Meyer is a shorter mpc and fits comfortably and with room to spare and stays in tune.
There is an out-of-date (as in no longer used on modern horns) tone hole on the lower left that a couple of people tell me doesn't do anything and is best kept closed with a cork wedge as it may affect tune (so i have it cork-wedged shut).
I had no problem with the pinky keys. I do have a mild gurgle issue with Low B, but i noticed that it would disappear or appear depending upon the mpc/reed combination sometimes and could have something to do with the fact that i haven't really developed an embochure for alto since i haven't played alto since Jr. High (and i am 57, just got back to playing bari in May this year). My guess is that some of that can be me - there are several threads on the gurgling issue.
I don't have any info on the difference between Series I and II in the terms that you ask. But see:
Series I SaxPics
Series II SaxPics
All in all, especially for the price, I am a happy camper with this sax.
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