![buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/lOcAAOSwTm1dXl50/s-l300.jpg)
What a difference when I traded it in for a new MK VI alto. It was in poor shape and I didn't like it.
![buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax](https://i.pinimg.com/736x/f1/de/43/f1de4326e3a5f3ff98479d3d66661ee1--saxophones.jpg)
I didn't know what it was called when I had it, but my first sax, a Selmer, must have been a "balanced action". Who needs a low A anyhow? (I blew one once at a jam session, and it was very easy to play.) Apparently, the low A on the baritone fucks up the intonation of some notes, and Gerry and Pepper always used the low Bb horn. It would be good if it had a proportionate bore and a dedicated reed.Īfter noticing that Gerry Mulligan avoided the Selmer baritone and used a Conn (from when they were good), I'd love to try the variant that he used. My early sax mentor called it "neither one nor the other", lol. I've done a lot of Googling about the "C melody", and I'm curious to try one. Still not as good as the 6M I sold years ago (damn) - Edited by AllenLowe I recorded with Shipp and Rudd with the Conn, and I like the way it sounded, very full, nice edge when needed. The Conn Chu Berry actually has pretty respectable action, and the new Buescher plays very swiftly, which I like. You're right about those Mark VI's - I played once and it practically played itself. Selling my three Steve Broadus mouthpieces this week on Ebay (he was a contemporary of Brilhart, fine mouthpiece, just a little too closed up for me). I've managed to accumulate 4 of those Brilhart's, which have a nice warmth to them.
![buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax buescher aristocrat 200 tenor sax](https://http2.mlstatic.com/D_NQ_NP_865778-MLB40484481019_012020-W.jpg)
So i'LL probably just stick with the alto, which I'm loving. And they always need work, it seems (and the cost of an overhaul these days, I was told, is $750 - ouch.) I thought about a C melody, just to help me with certain keys (tired of transposing all the time) - I've only played a few and they all were so tough to get a decent sound out of, even with the right mouthpiece. Moral of the story? Always do what Sonny Rollins does. Though these were allegedly student horns, I am now looking to buy another. And guess what? I like the Buescher better - the action is great, the sound just a little bit denser. I took it home and started A/B ing it with my Conn, which is now worth probably 1200-1300 dollars. A nice added bonus was the old Brilhart Ebolin mouthpiece in the case (these are not the real valuable ones, though they're very nice these, in original shape, go for 50-60 bucks on Ebay). It played well (octaves in tune) in the store, so I picked it up for $200. Lucky enough, according to internet sources, that was the last good year for them.
BUESCHER ARISTOCRAT 200 TENOR SAX SERIAL NUMBER
This was made after Selmer bought Buescher, and the serial number put it at about 1967. The other day I'm in a local music shop and what do I see? A Buescher Aristocrat alto - but a much later vintage than the one I'd played before. Which I've actually grown to love, and now think I was playing the wrong horn all along.Ī few years ago I purchased a Conn Chu Berry alto, 1923, for 1,000 bucks. Sonny was right.Ī few years ago I decided to give up the tenor saxophone for the alto - first of all, there's too many tenor players in the world (they ought to be spayed, but that's another thread) - second of all, my growing carpal tunnel makes it easier to play the smaller horn. Suddenly I mentioned a saxophone I had just purchased, a Martin, and Sonny's eyes lit up - and for the next 40 minutes we had the nicest conversation about horns - he told me, for instance, that he had recorded Alfie on a Buescher Aristorcrat - "I loved that horn but I had to give it up because it wouldn't play in tune." Years later I picked up a 1930s Buescher Aristocrat alto, played the octaves and - sure enough - it wouldn't play in tune. Sonny was nice but the interview went nowhere. Years ago I interviewed Sonny Rollins in a hotel room somewhere in Connecticut for a book I was working on.