for someone like me with only 17 months playing experience, and a lot of spare time each day to practice (anything between 2 to 5hrs – or when my lip gives up), i need to upgrade to a pro model asap, preferebly a modern sax as everyone says they are physically a lot easier to play than some of the vintage horns (i’ll take their word for it). Some even say you have look after them more as they are easier to damage, i guess they have less protective metal parts protecting the pads, maybe thats why they sound better less metallic junk cluttering up the instrument?
as for price, an overhauled Tenor selmar made in the 60’s can cost upwards from $7,000 i guess the overhauling pushes the price up. I had to pay to have my daughters wooden clarinet stripped right down and completely replaced with new pads, sounded like a new instrument, it was roughly a 1/4 of the price of the instrument – and clarinets are as expensive as sax’s. A new bassoon usualy has a 6 year waiting list, but thats down to how they treat the maple wood.
i’ve seen some of the old selmars go for prices from $10,000 to $15,000 upwards, maybe they were owned by famous players. Perhaps the condition of the sax lowers the price! For me its hard to tell what really is a fair price for a vintage horn.
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