[Saxalone]

Hi there,

I'm relatively clueless when it comes to saxophones (tbh musical instruments all together) and I was wondering if anyone could identify my saxophone from the quick description I'm going to give. Basically I bought this saxophone when I was around 10/11 and continued to play for about 4 years before stopping as I couldnt devote enough time to it. Anyway, the saxophone is an alto saxophone and its has "Pro Sound Jazz II" inscribed into it as well as a load of decorative symbols etc. I'm pretty sure this is a low-valued beginner or student saxophone but I'm not sure what make it is and how much it is worth; so I'd appreciate any help.

 

[wogeax]

Post some good pics. (or a link with the pics)

 

[Mal 2]

Photographs would be very helpful. In particular, try to provide a photo of any markings on the bell (other than purely decorative engraving), a photo of the neck so we can possibly identify it by the shape of the octave key, and photos of the left hand and right hand keywork so we can see the mechanical parts. Sometimes the thumb hook and left thumb rest/octave touch are distinctive as well.

 

[Saxalone]

On the body of the saxophone, there is a marking which says A30033. Pics will be up in a sec

 

[Saxalone]

 

[dvdberg]

A few more pictures of the sax please. Not so close up this time showing both sides of the saxophone will help. Nice engraving on it though!

 

[Saxalone]

 

[bruce bailey]

Looks like the basic Asian Selmer copy.

 

[Mal 2]

Yup, looks like either a Chinese or Taiwanese copy of a Selmer S80 III. It's built quite a bit heavier than my Mercury (Chinese) tenor though, which is also a S80 III knockoff. The octave key and pant guard look almost exactly like Selmer parts, except for the missing Selmer brand markings.

Look at the bumpers that stop the low Eb, C, B and Bb keys -- are they felt or rubber? It looks like they're felt but sometimes the Chinese horns will have a small insert in the bumper so they look like felt from the outside.

Assuming the bumpers are felt, and going by the overall appearance of heavy construction, I'm inclined to say this is a Taiwanese horn. Question is, how does it sound?

 

[milandro]

well, you must be very young since these double armed horns didn't appear " en masse"on the market much longer than 7-8 years ago and probably even shorter than that. Anyway I would say that it is indeed a Taiwanese or Chinese sax. In all probability you will never get to know which factory ever made it, but,do not worry, this is horn is more valuable to you (for sentimental reasons .......pun intended) that it would never be to anybody else.

 

[ptung]

This is a "tweener," in terms of identification. PROC and ROC saxes have become more separable by some particular keywork features, e.g. the touches of low C/Eb keys, but the ones on that saxophone aren't clearly one or the other, so it's difficult to tell whether it's an early ROC saxophone where perhaps the keys were finished with lots of abrading or an early PROC example.

The doubled key arms (because of the age) tend to suggest ROC, but other finishing aspects tend to suggest PROC (the look of some random keytouches, but the blurry photos could be a factor, here). The screws on the brace could really help, or be suggestive, but again the photos are too blurry for me to tell what I'm looking at.

Just filling in a gap, here, which I think is reflected in many of the comments already given.

If the purchase date were more like 2003 or earlier, you would almost certainly be able to determine ROC vs PROC by intonation, after the horn was put right.