[RootyTootoot]

This is a very difficult thread for me. etc

Respect to you, Mick. I think that's one of the bravest posts I've read on here.

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

The apparent travesty that is Conn-Hunter's horn has been well documented here, and should stand as a warning to anyone thinking of sending their horn to this tech. Whatever the reasons for his business practices or lack thereof (and related personal issues), this serves as a testament to reality vs. expectations.

Most have suggested that a small claims law suit is the only likely possibility for recovery of damages. With that, I think this has been explored to it's natural end. Thread closed.

 

[SAXISMYAXE]

Here is an update of Gilson's horn from the individual doing the restoration currently. He wishes to remain anonymous at this point, but let me assure everyone that the tech resurrecting this poor horn from the dead is extremely well regarded, and known to everyone in the saxophone community. He has done this sort of miracle repair work in the past:

Mike,
Here is a cut & paste of an email I sent Gilson on the first impressions of his Conn:

"My first impressions after seeing the "Lady"......LB needs to be beaten to within any inch of his life! I was soooo angry after seeing what he did to your sax. The ONLY keys that are original to your sax that are here are the low Bb (which he had started to modify), the thumb octave key and the left hand palm keys. My wife has taken a bunch of pictures to show how the sax arrived.

The big ugly patch on the back of the body IS NOT for strength as he claims bit it covers his hideous patchwork to fill the F# tone hole. The neck socket on the body is not the correct one for the horn. What was he thinking?

I have already disassembled everything including the body, bell assembly, and keys for cleaning and repairs. The body has a bad bend in it from whatever he was doing. Once that is repaired I will start working on the new F# tone hole with a rolled edge like the original.

The plans are to fit it with modern Yamaha, Keilwerth or Selmer clone key work, not a custom mess like LB attempted."

I don't know if you would want to add this to the sticky in "Evaluations: Lance Burton at MartinMods....", if you do be my guest just list me as an unnamed source.