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Philip Cheek and secondhandsaxes.com.au

8K views 2 replies 3 participants last post by  Keith Manton 
#1 ·
Thought I would share my experience with Philip and his business; Very good!

I ordered a 1934 Buescher New Aristocrat for $333 USD in basically unseen condition; the photos were poor and more photos showed a saxophone that appeared to have gotten rained on in the case at one point and then gotten so dry that the case handle had dried solid from what was once pliable leather. The horn had verdigris on the rods, key cups and guards and the pads were long gone. It still has all the original snap-ins holding on to pads that are dried solid. He packed the saxophone well (box padded inside of a box, then extra padding in the original case) which survived the across-the-world journey from Australia to Florida. Upon receiving the horn, I was surprised to note that it had NO ODOR! After a can of compressed air and a once-over the horn is rid of cobwebs and ready for an overhaul. The neck has its own set of issues; he described it as "looking like it had been sat on" and upon receiving it, it appears there is a bulge in the top of the neck at the tenon about 1 cm deep that caused a sort of "shelf" to form above the tenon. I'll have my technician retaper the neck and hopefully it won't be an issue; the tenon is out of round and a little dinged up and that will also be addressed. Philip was able to expeditiously deliver on his promises of a "good candidate for overhaul" and for the price I got a steal of a horn that will once again be given new life.

Here are the photos I took upon arrival, without cleaning -

https://puu.sh/sAdLe/ef2973cb9f.JPG
http://puu.sh/sAdKP/35628a6c70.JPG
https://puu.sh/sAdJR/e2c12ad95e.JPG
https://puu.sh/sAdPm/25aadf7535.JPG
http://puu.sh/sAfSu/b7cc323a4e.JPG
https://puu.sh/sAfQ2/5eb4bb33e5.JPG

Here is the neck, showing the dinged tenon but you can also see the crescent shaped bulge in the lower left near my thumb. It is hidden by the octave key normally
http://puu.sh/sAfgy/ecabff6cc8.JPG
http://puu.sh/sAfp4/784f319b1c.JPG

While the horn has issues that I could not have seen from the photos, the price I got it for from Philip along with the service and follow-through he provided made buying from him a breeze. The horn got here quicker than some sellers here in the US could deliver! I will update this post later to show how the horn looks once it's been overhauled.
 
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#3 ·
Philip offered me one price for my YTS62 but when he received the horn he dropped his price by $500. After seeing the photos I sent him he must have had some idea of
what was needed, after all, he is the expert. The horn was like brand new. OK it may have needed a very basic cleanup, which he is very qualified to do himself. An offer in writing is by law interpreted as a contract. The point I am making is, don't expect any favour's from this man.
 
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