What are these two saxophones?
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Just a rough idea really, I dont have anymore pics. They have just been fully overhauled and have no damage. By ebay they are roughly around £600-£900?
Plating condition? Any dents, dings, etc.? Any resoldered parts? Quality of the "overhaul" (some people slap a set of pads in get it roughly kind-of-sealing and declare "overhauled"; others attempt to restore it mechanically to as-new or better than new; there's a world of difference)? Either of them a "portrait" model? Condition of microtuner? Case? Other stuff with the horn? Necks been pulled down and corrected, or pulled down and not corrected? I mean, there's a huge range of condition covered by the description above. A picture of the serial number basically tells you what it is but not much else. Are you buying or selling?
If those are the only pictures you have, you shouldn't buy them.
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It's kind of like buying a car with the seller showing a picture of the VIN and maybe a bit of the hood and windshield.
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6,847 Posts
Time to message the seller. Without full pictures I am left with less than a warm fuzzy feeling. My guard always goes up when sellers do not openly present their goods.
I have two motorcycles for sale. Ones yellow ones red. The red one is serial number MHxxxx same model as Steve McQueen. The yellow one was limited production sn# MKxxxx
Millions on eflay, make offer.
I have two motorcycles for sale. Ones yellow ones red. The red one is serial number MHxxxx same model as Steve McQueen. The yellow one was limited production sn# MKxxxx
Millions on eflay, make offer.
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21,540 Posts
First one is from late 1925 and the second one from 1927. Both New Wonder series two Chu Berry models.
Not sure why everyone is jumping on the bandwagon of dont buy them, request more photos etc. I am a saxophone enthusiast and would like to increase my knowledge that's all. I was curious as to what they were and rough value that's all!
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well, maybe you gave (inadvertently) the impression that you were interested in buying one of both based on the one picture per horn .
With the one picture all that one can possibly establish is the type , make and year of construction. The value has to be a guess and widerange one too (which you gave yourself)
With the one picture all that one can possibly establish is the type , make and year of construction. The value has to be a guess and widerange one too (which you gave yourself)
More pictures available here:
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/2574764519480116/
At £2500 (£1250 each) I think the price is on the higher end of the scale for Conn NWII altos.
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Well, if professionally overhauled, the price divided by two for the gold one is not terrible.
But the silver one is somewhat 'common' fare.
FWIW Chu prices have fallen considerably over the years. Here in teh states one can usually find a silverplate one in good, serviced shape for around $850 these days (that is what I usually sell them for). The Tenors are more sought after.
Doesn't much matter, IMHO, whether the gold-plate one is original or a replate, it is quite beautiful. I could see a seller asking over $1g for that one. Of someone paid $1300 for it, I would not say they were foolish. But all in all, for both ? $21-2200 tops, so that is significantly less than the £2500 asking price.
Gotta ask if the microtuners are fully working.
Then you gotta consider the New Wonder Alto Gurgle. Do you want to potentially deal with that ?
Sometimes the...dynamic... starts out being absent, then it shows up...it is not a leak, or if it is a leak, it is often a leak which would be inconsequential on 95% of other saxes.
It is the design of the bow geometry. Usually alleviated by a wine cork tossed down the bell...or a more permanent solution being a piece of brass tubing soldered to the inside of the bow.
yeah, yeah, yeah...some owners will chime in and say they never had that problem. I believe that 100%. But they are in the minority. Having refurbished at least 25+ of 'em, I can tell you it is an intrinsic thing. Not a killer, but....can be annoying, IMHO.
Chu's are cool.
I would rather own a Buescher TT, and I would steer anyone looking for a splitbell alto in the TT direction, myself.
If what they desire is a Conn alto, I steer them towards a 6M...the non-rth-but-still-Lady ones are comparably priced to the Chus.
But the silver one is somewhat 'common' fare.
FWIW Chu prices have fallen considerably over the years. Here in teh states one can usually find a silverplate one in good, serviced shape for around $850 these days (that is what I usually sell them for). The Tenors are more sought after.
Doesn't much matter, IMHO, whether the gold-plate one is original or a replate, it is quite beautiful. I could see a seller asking over $1g for that one. Of someone paid $1300 for it, I would not say they were foolish. But all in all, for both ? $21-2200 tops, so that is significantly less than the £2500 asking price.
Gotta ask if the microtuners are fully working.
Then you gotta consider the New Wonder Alto Gurgle. Do you want to potentially deal with that ?
Sometimes the...dynamic... starts out being absent, then it shows up...it is not a leak, or if it is a leak, it is often a leak which would be inconsequential on 95% of other saxes.
It is the design of the bow geometry. Usually alleviated by a wine cork tossed down the bell...or a more permanent solution being a piece of brass tubing soldered to the inside of the bow.
yeah, yeah, yeah...some owners will chime in and say they never had that problem. I believe that 100%. But they are in the minority. Having refurbished at least 25+ of 'em, I can tell you it is an intrinsic thing. Not a killer, but....can be annoying, IMHO.
Chu's are cool.
I would rather own a Buescher TT, and I would steer anyone looking for a splitbell alto in the TT direction, myself.
If what they desire is a Conn alto, I steer them towards a 6M...the non-rth-but-still-Lady ones are comparably priced to the Chus.
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I seriously doubt that.
Had experienced that on a silver one... but then I got to borrow a gold plated one for a time and it was just as good as my True Tone alto. Purely supposition of course, but I always suspected a bit of extra care went into the more deluxe models (just like the solid silver Yanagisawas seem to sing a bit better). Haven't tried a lot of them though. NWII altos, that is.
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5,894 Posts
When you ask a question about buying a saxophone or the value range of an instrument on a forum frequented by thousands of people, most of whom have a lot of experience playing, buying/ selling, repairing, and learning both the history and technical aspects of the many brands and models of saxophones: you have to expect people to ask for more information and photos before getting realistic advice. Like someone else said, no one buys a car based on a picture of the VIN and a text description of condition.
Like turf says above there are dozens of different variables that determine value. The more original condition the horn is in the more value. Relacquering was commonly part of an overhaul but it reduces value in today's market. Then, as you can see some horns are finished in lacquer and others have silver or gold plate finish. Conn made several different variations on the same model of horn. Some were bare brass, some lacquered, some silver plated and a very few had gold plating with ornate and extensive engraving. The range of value between a standard issue silver plated horn and a special order gold horn with all the custom engraving can be two or three thousand dollars.
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