[hallda01]

This has probably been a thread already, but it's a fun topic none-the-less.

What horn did you learn to play saxophone on?

I broke in on a Bundy II Alto that leaked like a colander. Came with an S80 C* that I still have though. What about you guys?

 

[keluitry]

have been playing for 11 years now, all of that has been on a yts-23. have changed mouthpieces over the years, have settled on a link stm ny 7*

 

[JohnInDenver]

Well if I go all the way back to fifth grade, it was a Beaugnier Vito tenor. In my home-town of Kenosha, WI (Leblanc headquarters) that was the school rental horn at that time. When I returned to saxophone many years later, it was on a Yamaha YTS-23 tenor. I have several tenors now, and one of them (for sentimental reasons) is a Beaugnier Vito!

 

[1saxman]

Brand new 1956 Martin baritone sax in the 6th grade. I had previously played clarinet, or shall I say I was a clarinet owner. I hated the 'stick' but took off when I got the baritone and am still flying.

 

[Sidepipes]

Buescher curved soprano, in 1948. In 1952 I moved up to a Conn 6M alto. Quite a difference!

 

[hallda01]

Well if I go all the way back to fifth grade, it was a Beaugnier Vito tenor. In my home-town of Kenosha, WI (Leblanc headquarters) that was the school rental horn at that time. When I returned to saxophone many years later, it was on a Yamaha YTS-23 tenor. I have several tenors now, and one of them (for sentimental reasons) is a Beaugnier Vito!

Funny, one of the reasons I, and most of the other students in my hometown played Bundy IIs was because my hometown is right next to Elkhart. I however, have no sentimentality for that Bundy II; maybe if it was a Bundy I...

 

[AddictedToSax]

When I was in about 7th or 8th grade my dad got me a Buescher True Tone alto. Silver with gold wash bell and the keywork was newly lacquered with gold colored lacquer. It was a really nice looking horn but being a kid I was kind of embarrassed by it because everyone else had a brass colored horn. No one wants to be the odd man out when you're 13 years old. I have no idea what kind of mouthpiece it had. Back then you played whatever came with your horn. I wish I still owned it but sadly I hadn't played it in 20 years and sold it cheap in a yard sale.

 

[bruce bailey]

Me too.....although I started on clarinet in 7th grade, I got a school issued True-tone alto series III silver for the summer. In 8th grade a school new tenor, King ZephyrIn HS, Keilwerth alto, Conn tenor, Hohner alto and then I bought a new Mark VI...no more school horns!

 

[Tom West]

I started playing saxophone when I retired at age 66. Bought a Martin Indiana alto that I still play. I was new to the sax and hadn’t played anything since high school 50 years ago. The title of this thread is “what did you learn on”. Well, I’m learning. Just a little late, that’s all.

 

[Dave Dolson]

A Conn C-soprano, 1956. Then, a guy on my newspaper route who played in the Welk band advised me to switch to a Bb soprano, which I did - another Conn (and I suspect it was the “stretch model” - long gone now). DAVE

 

[greatlakeswinds]

Well if I go all the way back to fifth grade, it was a Beaugnier Vito tenor. In my home-town of Kenosha, WI (Leblanc headquarters) that was the school rental horn at that time. When I returned to saxophone many years later, it was on a Yamaha YTS-23 tenor. I have several tenors now, and one of them (for sentimental reasons) is a Beaugnier Vito!

Hey, I'm from Kenosha too! Started out on a pretty similar horn as well...a Noblet that was a Beaugnier I believe. Well, actually I played a rented Vito (Yamaha) for a few months before that, but the Noblet was MY first horn.

 

[Martin Williams]

I started on a shiny new Bundy II alto. Admittedly I did not treat it well and after several years in marching band it looks far from new (Bell is still square) but no matter what I did it kept playing top to bottom! One heck of a horn to hold up to all that!

 

[chilehed]

I started on an Artley flute in 6th grade, then it sat in a closet until a friend turned me on to Jethro Tull in high school. My folks got me a Gemeinhardt a year later, and I kept playing into my late 20's when career and family took over. A few years ago I got an old True Tone tenor shortly after I discovered and joined SOTW.

Bright Moments!

 

[StuartSax]

I started in the 7th grade. My earliest recollection is of a 50s Conn school alto and a rented Buescher TT at home. I also had a dual 8va key C melody that I think was French. New York's public schools had some pretty good horns. I was playing a Chu baritone in HS.

 

[dexdex]

Initially, Buffet BC20 Bb clarinet. Later on, a Dolnet soprano sax (heavy like hell) and a 1977 Amati tenor. The first time I blew a modern Yamaha soprano, it was like a revelation.... To a lesser extent, same feeling with a “modern” Grassi tenor. Until now, I feel happier and more at home on modern horns.

 

[GT]

1950 Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor that I bought at age 14 with $200.00 of grass cutting money.

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

Started on a Claritone clarinet in grade school (I still use it for outdoor gigs). Several years later, started tenor sax on a 1920's Pan American, no front F (cumbersome). The stickers from the 1930's on the case were interesting. The case even had a locking latch made by the long-defunct Eagle Lock Company made in my then hometown. (Useless trivia).

 

[notes_norton]

Conn shooting stars tenor (fireworks?). I don't know the model number. I was a kid and it was a sax.

Before that I was a drummer in the school band.

 

[bvandrasik]

Some leaky Conn alto my parents picked up from a neighbor for $25. My dad bartered God knows what for some repair work from a local tech and it lasted me through middle school. I only know it was a Conn because I remember the neck tuner thingy. Wish I had held onto it, but it got lost or more likely intentionally thrown out when I moved out of my parent's house. In high school I played the school's new Yamaha tenor, and bought my own tenor after graduation.

 

[pknight]

In 5th grade my parents bought a heavily used Conn tenor for $100. This was in 1964, and it was ancient then. The neck had about the most severe pull-down damage that I had ever seen, and it would not play a note until you had blown into it for about 15 minutes, and then it would start to sound. I don't know what model it was, and years later when I wanted to check it out, I found that my parents had donated it to an instrument drive for my old school. As far as learning, I started using a school-owned Conn Shooting Star in 6th grade, which played very well through high school.