[trecht]

Thoughts on the Guardala Pro Custom alto?

There's one for sale more or less locally and I'm curious, but it's a bit of a trip and I'm trying to find out more about this horn first. Thoughts? Tone (most importantly), mechanism, intonation, build quality, general gestalt? What would you pay for one in good condition? Thanks.

 

[Canadiain]

These are essentially Guardala branded "Goldbrass" horns, which is a higher copper content brass (85% copper) B&S offered. Often they came with 3 different necks. They are fine horns. Because there are not a ton of them out there the prices are all over the place. People seem to ASK anywhere between $2 and 3k for an alto, but really other late model B&S horns offered here for far less have failed to sell or gone for absolute bargain prices below $1k.

Whether its worth the "Guardala" premium is always a question when you can pick up a medusa for $1200. Maybe that can be used for leverage to negotiate the price in your favour.

 

[soybean]

[ deleted ]

 

[1saxman]

B&S did a great job on those horns and considering what else you could get for the price, like a Chinese horn, its worth it if you find a nice one in great shape. Basically a Selmer-style modern sax like the Taiwans/Chinese but made in Germany. Careful construction, fine materials, real pearls, etc. I hated it when they folded because we lost Selmer USA about the same time which pretty much threw the moderately-priced sax business to Asia.


Hey soybean; I see you have a Barone neck on your B901 - can you describe the difference from the original neck?

 

[Rackety Sax]

Re: Thoughts on the Guardala Pro Custom alto?

There's one for sale more or less locally and I'm curious, but it's a bit of a trip and I'm trying to find out more about this horn first. Thoughts? Tone (most importantly), mechanism, intonation, build quality, general gestalt? What would you pay for one in good condition? Thanks.

Just out of curiosity, what kind of finish does this one have? The Medusa Goldbrass had a silver-plating / gold-lacquer (on the body tube) combo.

 

[Canadiain]

Re: Thoughts on the Guardala Pro Custom alto?

Helens site lists the options as:
Clear lacquer over goldbrass with triple silver plated keys.
Black nickel plate over goldbrass with triple silver plated keys.

 

[trecht]

So are these really pro level horns? If so how do they compare to the "big four" pro offerings? They must be cheaper for a reason...

 

[barisaxer]

Sold my mark 6 and have B$S horns now, just one mans opinion, and they vary. Amazing horns for the money but one mans Martin is another mans buescher.......

 

[1saxman]

When they were producing saxes, maybe it should have been the 'Big 5'.

 

[Canadiain]

So are these really pro level horns? If so how do they compare to the "big four" pro offerings? They must be cheaper for a reason...

Absolutely top level. Why did it go wrong? Poor marketing, economics. Endlessly discussed in the B&S area of the forum if you want to dig into it.

 

[soybean]

As good or better than anything else out there. (See my signature below)

 

[BrianMitchellBrody]

B&S is better than Coltrane's Mark VI

 

[soybean]

B&S is better than Coltrane's Mark VI