Fair price for this Conn C Melody?
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It's a beautiful horn.
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89xxx would put it well into the straight neck era. If that's the number the neck is probably not original. Could it be 59xxx or 69xxx? That would make more sense.
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So, looks like I'll keep the horn as a project horn. But there seemed to be interest in the metal mouthpiece. What would be a fair price for that alone?
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Other than the ones in your thread inquiry last year I’ve never seen one. It may be worth hanging on to for awhile. At least get the refurbishment done and try it. I’m happy to see you decided to hang onto the sax. It’s worthy.
1922 / 83xxx is approximately the change to straight neck with micro tuner. The neck doesn’t look gold plated like the rest of the horn.
Funny thing is nothing is a given. 1919 @ 50000 records show rolled tone hole change. My 55XXX has straight tone holes.
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The change to the straight neck with micro tuner was earlier than that. My 70xxx has it and so does my 75xxx.
I also think the neck doesn't look gold plated - that was another reason why I questioned whether it was original.
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oh I don’t doubt that at all. The records hint as it being the regular production. Guessing previously it was an option. Just like RTH. There is a lot of instruments between 1914 and 1920+ that don’t have rolled tone holes.
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No doubt. That would be the norm. I've never seen a Conn made before 1920 with rolled tone holes. That doesn't mean they don't exist - weird things turn up all the time. Your 55xxx and my 70xxx suggest the change occurred somewhere in that range, between 1919-1921. And it might be different for the other size saxes.
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See here. The information on the thread is a mess. I couldn’t find a date/model/RTH consistency in anyone’s post.
Conn New Wonder Owners Club. Any with rolled tone holes.
Which of these do you own? :) There have been other clubs like this, so hey what the heck? Post your finish that you have on it as well please. Thank you. Oh, and pix as well. _________ Ian
www.saxontheweb.net
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You're right there's no gold plated left, it was in a bad shape when I got it, but nearby the Cork there was still a bit of plating left.
That's why I think it belongs to it, but maybe I'm wrong, I'll definitely check the serial number to get the truth out.
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If it was gold plated, it would have been silver plated underneath the gold. Do you see any sign of silver on it?
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Wow, that's a long thread! Is there a Cliff Notes version?See here. The information on the thread is a mess. I couldn’t find a date/model/RTH consistency in anyone’s post.
Conn New Wonder Owners Club. Any with rolled tone holes.
Which of these do you own? :) There have been other clubs like this, so hey what the heck? Post your finish that you have on it as well please. Thank you. Oh, and pix as well. _________ Ian
I read the first three pages so far, and it appears to involve mostly later horns. The only post I saw pertinent to our question is someone has a 57xxx bari with straight tone holes, so I guess that might narrow the range a little bit more.
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Okay, finally finished that thread. Of note, there are two tenors posted, a 62xxx with straight tone holes, and a 629xx with rolled tone holes. So, it looks like the change occurred at around 62k. Sax historian member paulwl stated in a post that the microtuner was introduced at around 60k. So, both changes occurred in 1920.
Meanwhile, in the UK…
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Serial is actually 79xxx
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Serial # 79xxx dates it to 1921. It would have had a straight microtuner neck originally. Yours is probably a replacement from an earlier Conn, which works, but feels/sounds different from the straight neck. Whether it's better or worse is a matter of personal preference.
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Shocking! Of course, the C-Mel linked has a brand new reed and Squeak. My C-mel has all its original squeaks... sadly.
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Thanks for your information, I thought the microtuner neck came later.
The saxophone came with two cmel tenor necks actually... the other one was silver plated and from different factory than Conn.
This one has better intonation and the raw brass fit more the gold plating to this horn. =)
Perhaps a new reed, then?
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