ppamhk:
I wish I had an SBA. I inherited a 1929 Conn New Wonder Series II alto in silver plate with the gold wash bell from a relative that passed away recently. He was married to a woman from Mazatlan, Mexico named Josephine. When my father visited her in Long Beach, CA recently, as he is completing a family history document, she had an old photo probably taken in the late 1930's of William playing this old horn with his buddies. I'll attach a copy of the photo to this thread because it's so cool! Anyway, she asked my father if anyone in our family played sax, and he mentioned that I sort of played a little. She gave him the horn without hesitation, it had not been touched in over 50 years and still has the original pads. When I took it to my instructor, he slapped his Meyer on it and played Take 5, my jaw dropped, as he sounded so much like Desmond I could not believe it. He has one of those $4000.00 Keilworth Shadow? and I think, (and he would agree also) that my old Conn sounded much better. I quickly learned that it's not so much the equipment as it is your ability level. My instructor is a degreed professional saxophonist. The keys are somewhat challenging on this old horn but it will not be impossible to overcome this and the tone is really nice, I am a true believer in the older Conn's, New Wonder Series II, (some call them Chu's) and the 6M series, if you can get one in good condition. I think they rival the Selmer SBA and Mark VI, although those horns are special too.
I'll try to attach that photo tomorrow, Chow for now