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Back at the beginning of the summer, I had Junkdude send me a beautiful old Conn 12M Transitional bari. The thing was a giant, glorious, silver-plated moose of a horn, with a sound that made squirrels fall from trees and car alarms go off.
Unfortunately, I realized it wasn't the horn for me. I'm a pansy: the ergos were just too tough -- the horn didn't even have the front-F key, and the finger stretch made me feel like even if there were one, I'd need to grow my left index fingernail creepily long to reach it....
So I had to send the horn back. That meant I had to get this multi-thousand dollar beast safely back to Ohio in the condition I got it in. Getting the thing snugly encased in bubble-wrap and styrofoam peanuts and cardboard and tape took, literally, a couple of hours. My wife got a kick out of all the stray packing peanuts that had managed to propagate to each and every nook and cranny of our living room, in the same way that she gets a kick out of wood ticks and altissimo practice.
And then I was paranoid during the whole shipping process.
Never again, I decided: next time, I'm just driving to Junkdude's. And that's what I did, on Tuesday.
It's a five and a half hour trip from Buffalo to Columbus, really not so bad, and unlike the vast featureless void of a trip I've taken many times across the northern half of Ohio, this move into the heart of the state revealed hills and rivers and stuff, which was a nice change of pace.
Once I got there: Holy Smokes! Seriously: there should be busloads of vintage sax enthusiasts pulling up in the parking lot. Junkdude is amazing.
The name "Junkdude" does not inspire confidence. He told me he started out as a general antiques dealer, but had been a lifelong player who always picked up vintage saxes when he came across them, and when he first put that particular inventory online, he saw there was a hungry market for it. Since he'd already started to develop a positive reputation as a sax dealer under that particular moniker, he stuck with it...
With that name, I half expected a dingy, dusty joint crammed with saxophones, and I was half right: the place is indeed crammed with saxophones. However, it's a very nice, clean, orderly, well-lit music store that appears to be run by a saxophone fetishist.
I'd been on the phone with the owner, Dave, on several occasions, as we discussed the possibility of trading my Mark VI alto for a Conn bari, and he seemed like a nice guy and a straight shooter.
For my visit, I was no longer in a bari frame of mind. I was mainly interested in trying out altos. And Dave was very helpful and generous with his time along those lines. I had studied his website before the trip and had a list of the horns I'd like to try, basically all the classic American makes that I'd never even touched: Conns, Martins, and some Bueschers (I've already got a 140). I was also game to try any Mark VI altos, because, you know, they're Mark VIs, and it's the law.
There are no separate practice rooms at Junkdude; when you're trying out horns, you're doing it right out there in the middle of the store. At first this seemed less than ideal, but actually it worked out pretty well, because you can get a better sense of a horn's sound in a larger space -- this definitely beats the phone-booth-sized rooms they'll try to shoehorn you into at Roberto's, for example...
We had altos strewn here there and everywhere, and Dave and his repairman colleague, Sweetman (not his real name, I think...) cheerfully endured my trying-out-saxophones schtick, involving playing low and high and altissimo, loud and soft, up and down, blowing harmonics, canned licks, etc. -- basically, if you've heard it once, you've heard it plenty, and Dave and Sweetman heard it many many many times.
And whenever I thought Dave might stomp up and cry "Cripes, ENOUGH already!" he'd instead bring over another horn: "Hey, you should try this too!"
Junkman was thin on Mark VI altos -- just three (including my just-traded, very nice short-bow, #68333, that wasn't the horn for me but that I really think will be the horn of *somebody's* dreams...), and had no King altos on this particular occasion. But just about EVERYTHING else was there in abundance.
I tried a number of Conns and Martins that really impressed me soundwise, and even played an SML (a French make I know nothing about) that would be a lead alto player's revenge -- this thing put out a ton of punch and power and brass.
Then Dave pulled out a beautiful Buescher 400 Top Hat & Cane that has been listed on his website only as "Coming Soon". Well, it had arrived, and really threw me for a loop. It had a lot of what I like so much about my 140, but was even less resistant. It's a more powerful horn as well, trading away some (but not all) of the sweetness of the 140 for core (yes, Virginia, even non-Mark VIs can have core...) and punch. The ergos are also better (the left-hand pinky spatula still won't let you go from a low C# to a low Bb without possibly breaking your finger, but how often are you gonna want to do that anyway? -- and the pearl-button left thumb rest remains a crime against humanity), and the notes pop out even more enthusiastically, especially in the palm keys, and with better intonation.
Reader, I married him. It. Her. She came home with me.
I originally had visions of trading my VI for this horn and some cash, and talked to Dave along those lines. I had no intention of picking up a tenor -- I'm perfectly satisfied with my current horn, a VI -- but I *did* bring my tenor mouthpiece, just because it seemed crazy not to just in case, and after a fair bit of intensive alto blowing I was ready for a brief respite, a palate-cleansing sorbet course, and asked to try some tenors.
Again, Dave was completely helpful and informative. I tried a couple of very nice Martins, and some lovely Conns. But what really knocked me out was a particular 10M that just had so much beef in the sound, loved to play harmonics and just plain spanked me around like a bad boy.
It was fun enough that I thought, hey, a person should always have a spare tenor (New York State Law 18-105), so I managed to forgo the cash and just grab this beastie as well. As long as my wife never learns how much cash I didn't bring home in order to score this horn, things will work out just groovy -- and my wife is notorious for her lack of interest in visiting Sax On The Web....
And here's the thing: I was there for hours, tried more horns than I could tell you, and I barely touched Junkdude's inventory. I should be shamefaced at all the sorts of horns I didn't even try: various flavors of Martins and Conns and Bueschers and more -- even as I was wrapping up my very long visit and starting to realize that the Conn and me might become pals, Sweetman was wrapping up work on an SML tenor and saying "You should wait for me to finish this one -- it's a beaut!"
Fearful of further confusing my already saxophone-addled mind, I threw in the towel and plead exhaustion. If I hadn't had a gig on Wednesday night, I would gladly have gone back the next morning to spend several more hours playing and becoming even more amazed and benumbed at the possibilities.
In short, this was a marvelous experience that way exceeded my expectations, and I really take off my hat to Dave and Sweetman. They've really got a killer shop, and if you're able to get yourself over there in person, it's worth the trip.
Unfortunately, I realized it wasn't the horn for me. I'm a pansy: the ergos were just too tough -- the horn didn't even have the front-F key, and the finger stretch made me feel like even if there were one, I'd need to grow my left index fingernail creepily long to reach it....
So I had to send the horn back. That meant I had to get this multi-thousand dollar beast safely back to Ohio in the condition I got it in. Getting the thing snugly encased in bubble-wrap and styrofoam peanuts and cardboard and tape took, literally, a couple of hours. My wife got a kick out of all the stray packing peanuts that had managed to propagate to each and every nook and cranny of our living room, in the same way that she gets a kick out of wood ticks and altissimo practice.
And then I was paranoid during the whole shipping process.
Never again, I decided: next time, I'm just driving to Junkdude's. And that's what I did, on Tuesday.
It's a five and a half hour trip from Buffalo to Columbus, really not so bad, and unlike the vast featureless void of a trip I've taken many times across the northern half of Ohio, this move into the heart of the state revealed hills and rivers and stuff, which was a nice change of pace.
Once I got there: Holy Smokes! Seriously: there should be busloads of vintage sax enthusiasts pulling up in the parking lot. Junkdude is amazing.
The name "Junkdude" does not inspire confidence. He told me he started out as a general antiques dealer, but had been a lifelong player who always picked up vintage saxes when he came across them, and when he first put that particular inventory online, he saw there was a hungry market for it. Since he'd already started to develop a positive reputation as a sax dealer under that particular moniker, he stuck with it...
With that name, I half expected a dingy, dusty joint crammed with saxophones, and I was half right: the place is indeed crammed with saxophones. However, it's a very nice, clean, orderly, well-lit music store that appears to be run by a saxophone fetishist.
I'd been on the phone with the owner, Dave, on several occasions, as we discussed the possibility of trading my Mark VI alto for a Conn bari, and he seemed like a nice guy and a straight shooter.
For my visit, I was no longer in a bari frame of mind. I was mainly interested in trying out altos. And Dave was very helpful and generous with his time along those lines. I had studied his website before the trip and had a list of the horns I'd like to try, basically all the classic American makes that I'd never even touched: Conns, Martins, and some Bueschers (I've already got a 140). I was also game to try any Mark VI altos, because, you know, they're Mark VIs, and it's the law.
There are no separate practice rooms at Junkdude; when you're trying out horns, you're doing it right out there in the middle of the store. At first this seemed less than ideal, but actually it worked out pretty well, because you can get a better sense of a horn's sound in a larger space -- this definitely beats the phone-booth-sized rooms they'll try to shoehorn you into at Roberto's, for example...
We had altos strewn here there and everywhere, and Dave and his repairman colleague, Sweetman (not his real name, I think...) cheerfully endured my trying-out-saxophones schtick, involving playing low and high and altissimo, loud and soft, up and down, blowing harmonics, canned licks, etc. -- basically, if you've heard it once, you've heard it plenty, and Dave and Sweetman heard it many many many times.
And whenever I thought Dave might stomp up and cry "Cripes, ENOUGH already!" he'd instead bring over another horn: "Hey, you should try this too!"
Junkman was thin on Mark VI altos -- just three (including my just-traded, very nice short-bow, #68333, that wasn't the horn for me but that I really think will be the horn of *somebody's* dreams...), and had no King altos on this particular occasion. But just about EVERYTHING else was there in abundance.
I tried a number of Conns and Martins that really impressed me soundwise, and even played an SML (a French make I know nothing about) that would be a lead alto player's revenge -- this thing put out a ton of punch and power and brass.
Then Dave pulled out a beautiful Buescher 400 Top Hat & Cane that has been listed on his website only as "Coming Soon". Well, it had arrived, and really threw me for a loop. It had a lot of what I like so much about my 140, but was even less resistant. It's a more powerful horn as well, trading away some (but not all) of the sweetness of the 140 for core (yes, Virginia, even non-Mark VIs can have core...) and punch. The ergos are also better (the left-hand pinky spatula still won't let you go from a low C# to a low Bb without possibly breaking your finger, but how often are you gonna want to do that anyway? -- and the pearl-button left thumb rest remains a crime against humanity), and the notes pop out even more enthusiastically, especially in the palm keys, and with better intonation.
Reader, I married him. It. Her. She came home with me.
I originally had visions of trading my VI for this horn and some cash, and talked to Dave along those lines. I had no intention of picking up a tenor -- I'm perfectly satisfied with my current horn, a VI -- but I *did* bring my tenor mouthpiece, just because it seemed crazy not to just in case, and after a fair bit of intensive alto blowing I was ready for a brief respite, a palate-cleansing sorbet course, and asked to try some tenors.
Again, Dave was completely helpful and informative. I tried a couple of very nice Martins, and some lovely Conns. But what really knocked me out was a particular 10M that just had so much beef in the sound, loved to play harmonics and just plain spanked me around like a bad boy.
It was fun enough that I thought, hey, a person should always have a spare tenor (New York State Law 18-105), so I managed to forgo the cash and just grab this beastie as well. As long as my wife never learns how much cash I didn't bring home in order to score this horn, things will work out just groovy -- and my wife is notorious for her lack of interest in visiting Sax On The Web....
And here's the thing: I was there for hours, tried more horns than I could tell you, and I barely touched Junkdude's inventory. I should be shamefaced at all the sorts of horns I didn't even try: various flavors of Martins and Conns and Bueschers and more -- even as I was wrapping up my very long visit and starting to realize that the Conn and me might become pals, Sweetman was wrapping up work on an SML tenor and saying "You should wait for me to finish this one -- it's a beaut!"
Fearful of further confusing my already saxophone-addled mind, I threw in the towel and plead exhaustion. If I hadn't had a gig on Wednesday night, I would gladly have gone back the next morning to spend several more hours playing and becoming even more amazed and benumbed at the possibilities.
In short, this was a marvelous experience that way exceeded my expectations, and I really take off my hat to Dave and Sweetman. They've really got a killer shop, and if you're able to get yourself over there in person, it's worth the trip.
