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C Melody Saxophone Forum / C-Tenor (C-Melody) Saxophones / Looking for a C-Mel

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Toxic Oreo
User ID: 8785553 Feb 27th 2:15 PM
I am a young saxophone collector of sorts and I am looking for a c-mel to add to my ranks. I already have 3 vintage horns that I gig with and am looking for a different sound, something more laid back for use in both an old school blues band and in a couple local jazz ensembles. Ebay is not helping me in the least as the only listed c-mels are sniped from me within the final few minutes of the auction (I just lost a buescher by $5 with 5 seconds left on the auction). The only catch is I don't have a ton of money, and want a functioning horn. Any places other than local pawn shops and Ebay on where to find this ever elusive horn?

Captain Beeflat
User ID: 1738604 Mar 5th 11:08 AM
Nice horn Paul and priced very reasonably. If it had front F then Alan could well be bidding :-)). Personally I never use front F..prefer high F#. :-)

ukebert
User ID: 7921973 Mar 5th 11:30 AM
REDEF, the aquilasax cmel is on it's way, things are progressing, albeit slowly.

Toxic Oreo
User ID: 8785553 Mar 8th 6:19 AM
All I know is that Junkdude is taking his sweet damned time getting back to me.

alan (uk)
User ID: 8200143 Mar 8th 8:40 AM
I did hear the same sentiments expressed, by someone, when he was contacted abbout a Morgan mouthpiece, probably on this forum.

Not the fastest communicator.....

Toxic Oreo
User ID: 1704034 Mar 8th 10:10 AM
Well, it is official.

As of tommorow I will have the Conn C-mel on Junkdude's site on hold for a week or two until I scrape together the rest of the payment (I am putting $400 down).

So...any interesting things about conn c-mels that I should know? I will be playing it with an aquilasax metalpro 7 with flying goose c-mel reeds.

I cannot wait to have this horn to choose from next to my 6m and Martin tenor. I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas who can see the presents buy not touch them yet.

Captain Beeflat
User ID: 1738604 Mar 8th 10:53 AM
Toxic. I really worry that you will like this horn as much as you think that you like it.
As a child we had a neigbough with a chain driven Frazer Nash sports car. I adored this car & vowed that one day I would own one...they made only 348. Fifteen years later I found one, in pieces, & bought all the bits for Ł150...this was 1962.
Following a meticulous rebuild, the glorious and long awaited day dawned when I could actually drive it. It was horrible, bone hard, twitchy handling, heavy steering, crude and unreliable; just horrible, I hated it.
I sincerely hope that you do not share this experience.

Toxic Oreo
User ID: 8785553 Mar 8th 12:17 PM
Hah.

Me too.

Which is why I will never own a British built car.

Toxic Oreo
User ID: 8785553 Mar 8th 12:25 PM
On topic:

I have been playing vintage conns since I started realizing that vintage horns are actually good. I've played my share of crap-tastic pretties (a 1924 Buescher that was gorgeous but played like absolute hell), ringers (my martin tenor that looks like it has all 80 years that it really does), out of nowhere awesome (a king super 20 alto that BLEW MY FREAKIN MIND), expected greatness (a 5 digit mark 6 tenor) and all around fun (my 6m). My research has pointed me to a conn or buescher for my playing tendencies (a Martin, while I love them to death, would not be a good match with my natural tendencies on amythign but tenor), and I have to say that my favorite horn ever is my conn.

This C is not going to become a primary horn....it will be a welcome addition to the sound of my blues band and combos.

alan (uk)
User ID: 8200143 Mar 8th 2:00 PM
Hmmm - you may find that the straight neck Conn is a little too smooth for a blues band (curved neck C-Mels do, imho, produce a gutsier sound), but, what the heck, enjoy....... You could always buy a (very reasonably priced) Aquilasax curved neck to give you the option of either !

I'll now wait for old Muggles (et al) to assail me with tales of straight neck Conn C-Mels peeling paint from the walls, and shattering chandeliers at fifty paces !

Captain Beeflat
User ID: 1738604 Mar 8th 2:15 PM
Alan. The real reason for me selling the Impala was that it was too bland for a blues band.

Toxic. The Frazer Nash was more a motorcycle than a car, but for 55 mph on straight roads then there is nothing to beat your Jelly Bodied Clunkers; the words of American Motoring writer Ken Purdy.

alan (uk)
User ID: 8200143 Mar 8th 3:41 PM
Oh the joy of driving my first American classic hire car (I thnk it was an Oldsmobile...). Took me ages to even work out how to move it - who the heck invented that fiendish US 'kick-brake' contraption ?

And when I did eventually drive it away, good job I don't suffer from sea-sickness, an aircraft carrier could corner better ! "A life on the ocean wave...."

Toxic Oreo
User ID: 1704034 Mar 8th 7:31 PM
My first car was a yaht....a Grand Marquis station wagon. I think the kick brake was just to piss off people who thought the third pedal was supposed to be the clutch. Never mind the column set up that was more confusing than my 56 Bel Aire...

As for teh horn, one reason why I went to straight neck Conn was because of the avaliable necks from Aquilasax. I got a chance to play the mouthpiece I bought from him and holy sweet jesus can that thing make an old buescher roar (the hawk shop down the street had a c mel for over $1500 and refused to drop the price on the silver "tenor"). I almost need the tendencies for the conn to balance myself out. If I need roar with the band I have my martin tenor.

alan (uk)
User ID: 8200143 Mar 9th 6:54 AM
True, true, and true......

et al
User ID: 0262034 Mar 9th 8:01 AM
Alan (et al) - Our straight neck Conn's are fine. But I'm sure that we would not mind having a Martin or King in our stable. As long as it was Satin Silver with Gold wash bell and Gold plated keys and rods. (That's a fetish that we have). But the fact of the matter (in our opinion) is that a good player can make any brand of horn sound good as long as that horn has inherent good intonation and the player has the talent and uses the proper reed-mouthpiece combination uniquely suited to him or her. Too much inference is placed on the brand of horn. When there is much more involved in the solution than that. That is only our opinion. But who are we? (et al I guess).

Captain Beeflat
User ID: 1738604 Mar 9th 9:03 AM
We have heard, oh so many times, as nauseum, that it is all down to the player who can play any horn & sound good.
To some degree this is true but no-one yet has answered the question "why do the vast majority of top line pros use, and always have used, Selmers"?
My Conn C Mel was bland.
My Buescher TT C Mel is robust.
My R&C tenor is rich and colourful.
My Grassi tenor sounds exactly like a Selmer.
ALL with the same mouthpiece reed and lig.
They all sound very different from each other.
We may think that we sound the same but I believe that it is the STYLE of the player, not the sound of the horn which is identical and instantly recognisable.
My wife can tell, from two floors up, with unfailing accuracy, which saxophone I am playing, and she is not a musician; evidently her hearing is more accurate than many who claim to be. She however, is not an expert so she must be wrong.

Captain Beeflat
User ID: 1738604 Mar 9th 9:09 AM
Jungle Jim.
You talk of your silver with gold keywork fetish.... have you perchance any other fetish which you would care to share with us? :-))

et al
User ID: 0262034 Mar 9th 11:29 AM
Why do so many pros use Selmers? One reason is the constant bombardment of advertisements for about 40 years or more for Selmers in ALL major trade magazines et al (There's that abbreviation again) Downbeat, Metronome, Jazziz, etc. who give these famous musicans free horns for their endorsement of the Selmer product. If I named them all, it would take a lot of space. (about 50 or so top name jazz musicians from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. So many, that the young musician coming up was brainwashed to think they were the best. They are ONE of the best, but certainly not THE best. I figured this out early in life when I saw The same musicians who advertised Selmer play in person in the Philadelphia jazz clubs using horns other than Selmer, even though they endorsed Selmer. Zoot Sims, using a King; Johnny Hodges using a Silver Buescher alto; Stan Getz using an SML at the Red Hill Inn in New Jersey and many more. Grover Washington Junior endorsed H. Couf but used whatever he pleased (usually not H. Couf). I traded him EVEN UP a curved Silver Buescher soprano for an H. Couf Straight soprano. The Couf was worth about $3000.00 in 1981 when I got it from him. (It was their top of the line model, I believe it was an Eterna.) It was so bad that I sold it in about 3 months time. But at that time Couf had an advertising campaign going where they were giving horns to all the major horn players that would endorse them. But I digress. By the way, Maybe your wife might be wrong. I don't know. Other fetishes? Red headed women with pale skin and freckles.

Toxic OReo
User ID: 8785553 Mar 9th 12:13 PM
Holy crap I love redheads.

And freckles.

Which is why I am with a German girl with blonde hair...

Wait, that makes no sense. DAMMIT!

ukebert
User ID: 7921973 Mar 9th 12:15 PM
Topic finally vanished over the horizon...

Back 20 Messages Next 20 Messages Newest 20 Messages

Toxic Oreo User ID: 8785553	Feb 27th 2:15 PM I am a young saxophone collector of sorts and I am looking for a c-mel to add to my ranks. I already have 3 vintage horns that I gig with and am looking for a different sound, something more laid back for use in both an old school blues band and in a couple local jazz ensembles. Ebay is not helping me in the least as the only listed c-mels are sniped from me within the final few minutes of the auction (I just lost a buescher by $5 with 5 seconds left on the auction). The only catch is I don't have a ton of money, and want a functioning horn. Any places other than local pawn shops and Ebay on where to find this ever elusive horn?
Captain Beeflat User ID: 1738604	Mar 5th 11:08 AM Nice horn Paul and priced very reasonably. If it had front F then Alan could well be bidding :-)). Personally I never use front F..prefer high F#. :-)
ukebert User ID: 7921973	Mar 5th 11:30 AM REDEF, the aquilasax cmel is on it's way, things are progressing, albeit slowly.
Toxic Oreo User ID: 8785553	Mar 8th 6:19 AM All I know is that Junkdude is taking his sweet damned time getting back to me.
alan (uk) User ID: 8200143	Mar 8th 8:40 AM I did hear the same sentiments expressed, by someone, when he was contacted abbout a Morgan mouthpiece, probably on this forum. Not the fastest communicator.....
Toxic Oreo User ID: 1704034	Mar 8th 10:10 AM Well, it is official. As of tommorow I will have the Conn C-mel on Junkdude's site on hold for a week or two until I scrape together the rest of the payment (I am putting $400 down). So...any interesting things about conn c-mels that I should know? I will be playing it with an aquilasax metalpro 7 with flying goose c-mel reeds. I cannot wait to have this horn to choose from next to my 6m and Martin tenor. I feel like a kid on the night before Christmas who can see the presents buy not touch them yet.
Captain Beeflat User ID: 1738604	Mar 8th 10:53 AM Toxic. I really worry that you will like this horn as much as you think that you like it. As a child we had a neigbough with a chain driven Frazer Nash sports car. I adored this car & vowed that one day I would own one...they made only 348. Fifteen years later I found one, in pieces, & bought all the bits for Ł150...this was 1962. Following a meticulous rebuild, the glorious and long awaited day dawned when I could actually drive it. It was horrible, bone hard, twitchy handling, heavy steering, crude and unreliable; just horrible, I hated it. I sincerely hope that you do not share this experience.
Toxic Oreo User ID: 8785553	Mar 8th 12:17 PM Hah. Me too. Which is why I will never own a British built car.
Toxic Oreo User ID: 8785553	Mar 8th 12:25 PM On topic: I have been playing vintage conns since I started realizing that vintage horns are actually good. I've played my share of crap-tastic pretties (a 1924 Buescher that was gorgeous but played like absolute hell), ringers (my martin tenor that looks like it has all 80 years that it really does), out of nowhere awesome (a king super 20 alto that BLEW MY FREAKIN MIND), expected greatness (a 5 digit mark 6 tenor) and all around fun (my 6m). My research has pointed me to a conn or buescher for my playing tendencies (a Martin, while I love them to death, would not be a good match with my natural tendencies on amythign but tenor), and I have to say that my favorite horn ever is my conn. This C is not going to become a primary horn....it will be a welcome addition to the sound of my blues band and combos.
alan (uk) User ID: 8200143	Mar 8th 2:00 PM Hmmm - you may find that the straight neck Conn is a little too smooth for a blues band (curved neck C-Mels do, imho, produce a gutsier sound), but, what the heck, enjoy....... You could always buy a (very reasonably priced) Aquilasax curved neck to give you the option of either ! I'll now wait for old Muggles (et al) to assail me with tales of straight neck Conn C-Mels peeling paint from the walls, and shattering chandeliers at fifty paces !
Captain Beeflat User ID: 1738604	Mar 8th 2:15 PM Alan. The real reason for me selling the Impala was that it was too bland for a blues band. Toxic. The Frazer Nash was more a motorcycle than a car, but for 55 mph on straight roads then there is nothing to beat your Jelly Bodied Clunkers; the words of American Motoring writer Ken Purdy.
alan (uk) User ID: 8200143	Mar 8th 3:41 PM Oh the joy of driving my first American classic hire car (I thnk it was an Oldsmobile...). Took me ages to even work out how to move it - who the heck invented that fiendish US 'kick-brake' contraption ? And when I did eventually drive it away, good job I don't suffer from sea-sickness, an aircraft carrier could corner better ! "A life on the ocean wave...."
Toxic Oreo User ID: 1704034	Mar 8th 7:31 PM My first car was a yaht....a Grand Marquis station wagon. I think the kick brake was just to piss off people who thought the third pedal was supposed to be the clutch. Never mind the column set up that was more confusing than my 56 Bel Aire... As for teh horn, one reason why I went to straight neck Conn was because of the avaliable necks from Aquilasax. I got a chance to play the mouthpiece I bought from him and holy sweet jesus can that thing make an old buescher roar (the hawk shop down the street had a c mel for over $1500 and refused to drop the price on the silver "tenor"). I almost need the tendencies for the conn to balance myself out. If I need roar with the band I have my martin tenor.
alan (uk) User ID: 8200143	Mar 9th 6:54 AM True, true, and true......
et al User ID: 0262034	Mar 9th 8:01 AM Alan (et al) - Our straight neck Conn's are fine. But I'm sure that we would not mind having a Martin or King in our stable. As long as it was Satin Silver with Gold wash bell and Gold plated keys and rods. (That's a fetish that we have). But the fact of the matter (in our opinion) is that a good player can make any brand of horn sound good as long as that horn has inherent good intonation and the player has the talent and uses the proper reed-mouthpiece combination uniquely suited to him or her. Too much inference is placed on the brand of horn. When there is much more involved in the solution than that. That is only our opinion. But who are we? (et al I guess).
Captain Beeflat User ID: 1738604	Mar 9th 9:03 AM We have heard, oh so many times, as nauseum, that it is all down to the player who can play any horn & sound good. To some degree this is true but no-one yet has answered the question "why do the vast majority of top line pros use, and always have used, Selmers"? My Conn C Mel was bland. My Buescher TT C Mel is robust. My R&C tenor is rich and colourful. My Grassi tenor sounds exactly like a Selmer. ALL with the same mouthpiece reed and lig. They all sound very different from each other. We may think that we sound the same but I believe that it is the STYLE of the player, not the sound of the horn which is identical and instantly recognisable. My wife can tell, from two floors up, with unfailing accuracy, which saxophone I am playing, and she is not a musician; evidently her hearing is more accurate than many who claim to be. She however, is not an expert so she must be wrong.
Captain Beeflat User ID: 1738604	Mar 9th 9:09 AM Jungle Jim. You talk of your silver with gold keywork fetish.... have you perchance any other fetish which you would care to share with us? :-))
et al User ID: 0262034	Mar 9th 11:29 AM Why do so many pros use Selmers? One reason is the constant bombardment of advertisements for about 40 years or more for Selmers in ALL major trade magazines et al (There's that abbreviation again) Downbeat, Metronome, Jazziz, etc. who give these famous musicans free horns for their endorsement of the Selmer product. If I named them all, it would take a lot of space. (about 50 or so top name jazz musicians from the 40's, 50's, 60's and 70's. So many, that the young musician coming up was brainwashed to think they were the best. They are ONE of the best, but certainly not THE best. I figured this out early in life when I saw The same musicians who advertised Selmer play in person in the Philadelphia jazz clubs using horns other than Selmer, even though they endorsed Selmer. Zoot Sims, using a King; Johnny Hodges using a Silver Buescher alto; Stan Getz using an SML at the Red Hill Inn in New Jersey and many more. Grover Washington Junior endorsed H. Couf but used whatever he pleased (usually not H. Couf). I traded him EVEN UP a curved Silver Buescher soprano for an H. Couf Straight soprano. The Couf was worth about $3000.00 in 1981 when I got it from him. (It was their top of the line model, I believe it was an Eterna.) It was so bad that I sold it in about 3 months time. But at that time Couf had an advertising campaign going where they were giving horns to all the major horn players that would endorse them. But I digress. By the way, Maybe your wife might be wrong. I don't know. Other fetishes? Red headed women with pale skin and freckles.
Toxic OReo User ID: 8785553	Mar 9th 12:13 PM Holy crap I love redheads. And freckles. Which is why I am with a German girl with blonde hair... Wait, that makes no sense. DAMMIT!
ukebert User ID: 7921973	Mar 9th 12:15 PM Topic finally vanished over the horizon...