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A few years ago the widow of a band director friend of mine was selling some of his instruments, among those were 2 Conn C-Melody Saxes. Her husband had played them with me in our church several times. I took them to a professional sax player who played them both and sounded great, of course; he bought one and I bought the other. Realizing how little I play sax (like, never) I'd like to get a value. Can you suggest a reputable source? I did just request to join 2 Conn Sax groups on FB, but don't have permission to post, yet.
For those interested, here are the details:
Horn is satin silver with gold wash inside the bell, polished silver at the engraving. Serial # puts it at 1921. Engraving says "CG Conn Ltd, Elkhart, IN. I have the original case in pretty good condition. No mouthpiece, but Fred played his with a tenor mp, there is a box of tenor sax reeds in the case. Everything works but the octave key is a little sluggish, and I'm sure it needs an oiling, pads look in good shape. I'll attach a few pics, here.
A cursory Google search shows them for sale anywhere from $395 to $2200, I'd like to narrow that down!
Thanks in advance for any advice you may have!

Not sure why the pics aren't posting, check them out here -
Tim

viewtopic.php?f=17&t=467

I almost bought one a few weeks ago. This post reminds me that maybe I should go back and get it. $89 seems like a decent deal...?

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:05 pm viewtopic.php?f=17&t=467

I almost bought one a few weeks ago. This post reminds me that maybe I should go back and get it. $89 seems like a decent deal...?

Brett,
Not sure how I missed that post, but I just read it all now. Yes, you may want to invest $89 for a quick flip! Or, we can get together and start a C-Melody band and make some real money!
Tim

MN_TimTuba wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:15 pm

bort2.0 wrote: ↑Tue Sep 08, 2020 9:05 pm viewtopic.php?f=17&t=467

I almost bought one a few weeks ago. This post reminds me that maybe I should go back and get it. $89 seems like a decent deal...?

Brett,
Not sure how I missed that post, but I just read it all now. Yes, you may want to invest $89 for a quick flip! Or, we can get together and start a C-Melody band and make some real money!
Tim

No sir, you do not want to hear me on a Saxophone. I sound awful, and I'm totally okay with that!

C melody saxophones are really what I'd call a "boutique" instrument, in that there's a pretty small market for them, mostly used by "trad" jazz players (a la Frankie Trumbauer), and even then they are a novelty.

With that said, paired with the correct mouthpiece, good ones are somewhat rare, while the rest "make really nice lamps".

Conn are considered to be VERY good.

Buescher (just in my view...but - hey - I only play saxophones in my repair shop) are about the best-playing.

I've never recovered the cost of restoration after having sold any C saxophone.

I tend to "like" them (as probably does Yorkboy), due to their tie-in with the 1920's and that music (the best of which: he and I both love).

bloke "A saxophone-playing friend of mine collected up enough C saxophones to line both sides of his driveway with them, and install lighting in them."

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 8:28 am Conn are considered to be VERY good.

Buescher (just in my view...but - hey - I only play saxophones in my repair shop) are about the best-playing.

I've never recovered the cost of restoration after having sold any C saxophone.

I tend to "like" them (as probably does Yorkboy), due to their tie-in with the 1920's and that music (the best of which: he and I both love).

bloke "A saxophone-playing friend of mine collected up enough C saxophones to line both sides of his driveway with them, and install lighting in them."

Looks like I'm going to have to find "just the right buyer", or a guy who needs his driveway lit.
Tim

The pad on the bell key looks pretty good, and indicates the sax was repadded at some point. What I can see of the right-hand stack pads look pretty good too. If they're all in that good of shape and properly installed on undamaged tone holes, the sax may need little more than routine maintenance to be a fine player. It likely had white leather pads when new; the closet-queen Conns and Pan Americans I've owned and examined from that time period--which were built on the same line--had the white pads.

Assuming the body is dent-free, in as-found, playable condition, and with a case that's NOT stinky, I'd put the value around $500-$600. You may have to wait some time to find an interested buyer.

MN_TimTuba wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 11:25 am

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 8:28 am Conn are considered to be VERY good.

Buescher (just in my view...but - hey - I only play saxophones in my repair shop) are about the best-playing.

I've never recovered the cost of restoration after having sold any C saxophone.

I tend to "like" them (as probably does Yorkboy), due to their tie-in with the 1920's and that music (the best of which: he and I both love).

bloke "A saxophone-playing friend of mine collected up enough C saxophones to line both sides of his driveway with them, and install lighting in them."

Looks like I'm going to have to find "just the right buyer", or a guy who needs his driveway lit.
Tim

Try Sax On The Web forums. My former roomate years ago was a pro sax player who sold a bunch of stuff there. It's like the TubeNet for Saxophones.

KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:03 pm Try Sax On The Web forums. My former roomate years ago was a pro sax player who sold a bunch of stuff there. It's like the TubeNet for Saxophones.

I'm also a member over at Sax On The Web (SOTW). Unlike TubaForum, you may wait days to get a response on all but the most active subforums--alto sax, tenor sax, and mouthpieces.

And make sure you search the SOTW forum first before posting anything. Some members there can get pretty snarky if you ask a question that's already been addressed ad nauseam.

Some members there can get pretty snarky if you ask a question that's already been addressed ad nauseam.

Where have I heard that before? Surely an anomaly i tell you.

KingTuba1241X wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:24 pm

Some members there can get pretty snarky if you ask a question that's already been addressed ad nauseam.

Where have I heard that before? Surely an anomaly i tell you.

SOTW sets standards for snarkiness that will never be approached by the TNFJ, er, TFFJ.

WC8KCY wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 2:56 pm The pad on the bell key looks pretty good, and indicates the sax was repadded at some point. What I can see of the right-hand stack pads look pretty good too. If they're all in that good of shape and properly installed on undamaged tone holes, the sax may need little more than routine maintenance to be a fine player. It likely had white leather pads when new; the closet-queen Conns and Pan Americans I've owned and examined from that time period--which were built on the same line--had the white pads.

Assuming the body is dent-free, in as-found, playable condition, and with a case that's NOT stinky, I'd put the value around $500-$600. You may have to wait some time to find an interested buyer.

Thanks, to both you and King. I'll certainly watch Sax On The Web for a bit.
Also, the former owner owned an instrument repair shop for many years, so I don't doubt he repadded this horn. He kept all his players in good condition. For a 99 year old instrument, she looks about perfect to me. The case is just a bit musty, but I'm confident will air-out with no problems.
I do appreciate the comments and suggestions from all here!
Now I have a blueberry scone calling my name.
Tim

That sounds unbelievably like how I would expect a Saxophone forum to be.

(^what an awkward sentence... But you get the point!)

Because of school bands being banned - and many people being cootie-a-scaredt - she has less work, and is pulling out some of her "nice things" and selling them (ref: the Fox bassoon that she just sold), but there's ~no one~ that would do a more meticulous job of re-padding ANY saxophone than her - and (with me nearby) any metal issues (dented-in or misaligned posts and other issues) will be addressed absolutely as they should...and without any mess.

She'll re-pad a C melody for $600. If she charges more (and always tries to NOT "up" people), she will tell you on the front end.
ie...Your price would be a QUOTE and ~not~ an "estimate".

She buys some damn-good pads...some sizes of the pads she uses are $6, $7, $8, and $9 EACH - HER COST.

That having been said (though they were commonly used 90 years ago), if you decide to send it to her to slick it all out, please don't request "white kid leather" pads.
Mostly, those available today ("white kid") are bassoon pads, and their profile makes them a p.i.t.a. to use on any saxophones.

Finally...If (and you would be lucky) it actually does NOT need a complete re-pad (and only needs some re-seating, a few pads, some adjustment corks, and other adjustments), she'll TELL you, because she does not "invent/sell" work. Again, she actually ends up making mo' money when she pulls things down from her shelves, slicks them out and sells them...

btw...a Mark VI tenor, anyone...?? (That's currently what she's slicking out to sell.)

Here's a (professional) customer's never-relacquered Mark VI bari on which she and I collaborated...all dents removed, body perfectly straight, posts perfectly aligned, no end-play, no noise, voiced (tuning, and equal resonance of neighboring pitches), etc., etc...




Here's yet another Mark VI bari (school-owned) that showed up here with a crushed bottom bow and (crushed-in) sousaphone guard wire on the bottom. This is her "after" picture...and yeah: we keep parts like that in stock...

Exceptional work on those baris, bloke!

Any chance there's a bass sax in the for-sale pipeline at blokeplace?

WC8KCY wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:54 pm Exceptional work on those baris, bloke!

Any chance there's a bass sax in the for-sale pipeline at blokeplace?

Were there a Buescher bass - here, it would not be for sale, and I'd be busying myself mastering the playing of it...

...though I believe Rollini played a Conn.

bloke wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 4:04 pm

WC8KCY wrote: ↑Wed Sep 09, 2020 3:54 pm Exceptional work on those baris, bloke!

Any chance there's a bass sax in the for-sale pipeline at blokeplace?

Were there a Buescher bass - here, it would not be for sale, and I'd be busying myself mastering the playing of it...

...though I believe Rollini played a Conn.

Yes, gold plated with high E and F keys, too.

My Buescher only has keys up to E flat, but E natural and F (and even F#) overblow easily...the G, a different story....

...bass and contrabass instruments’ players’ fascination with “how high can I play on this instrument designed to play very low”...