Buescher Aristocrat C Melody

[pete]

I rarely get to post about a "new" model. One to me, at least. Especially one this screwed up.

First, yes, this is definitely a Buescher Aristocrat. At least, it's engraved that. Everything else is a little screwy.

Full directory of pics.





1. The serial number.

The easiest scenario is that the serial number is transposed. It should be 2695xx, not 2569xx. I did a fairly good breakdown of Buescher models on Saxpics.com awhile back and I took a lot of care looking at the hundreds of pictures I had. And I wasn't taking Class 1 pain meds back then.

More seriously now, I asked the owner of this horn to send me a close up of the serial number and the warranty card. The warranty card is similar to one that I've seen included with other Buescher horns, including the beautiful green enamel straight alto from SAXTEK that was in my calendar in 2007, so I'd say it's pretty genuine. So, check out the date on the warranty card: 6-1-35. That lines up with a serial number of about ... 269xxx .

Combining the date on the warranty card with the engraving on the horn, I'd say that it's fairly likely that the serial number is just mis-stamped. If the horn really was a 256xxx, it'd be a True Tone and I'd accept that. Rather than think that the entire New Aristocrat series was a horrible hallucination, or something.

2. The pitch.

Well, I had initially questioned that (I don't have a Buescher model chart so "Model 128" means nothing to me and I have no size reference in the photos other than "24 inches") so I questioned the owner. She said that her daughter could finger say, a C on the sax and play a C on a piano and they'd play in tune. And the same with a chromatic tuner. I asked if she checked several notes. Yup. Then the kicker: I asked if she could send a comparison picture with, say, a modern YTS-23. Hey, that's *just* the tenor her daughter has. Great! If it's a C melody, it'd look appreciably smaller. It does.

3. Is it a "real" Aristocrat?

Good question. It's NOT a retread True Tone. The keywork is different, but it's not ... quite Aristocrat, at least not alto, tenor and baritone. Look at that G# cluster. Not to mention the split bell keys. But it's not quite New Aristocrat, either.

Oh. Y'know how I mentioned straight alto, earlier? That's where the G# cluster is from. Mainly. Notice something else: it's got a front altissimo F key. Relatively rare on any C melody.

Looks like it has intact Norton gold-plated screw-in springs. Should have (had) snap-on pads, too.

So, you C melody folks: you missed out on this rare, possibly one-of-a-kind horn with original Buescher C melody mouthpiece. For $50. The owner says it sounds really, really good -- and, even though the pads are totally shot -- the horn plays decently in tune.

 

[pete]

I got an e-mail the other day from someone with an even newer Buescher C:

Was directed to your thread by a link from SOTW. I just received a Buescher Aristocrat C Melody which I (not knowingly) thought was a tenor. I was depressed when I showed my tech and told him I paid $700 then he told me it was worth maybe a few hundred at most. So know I'm on the hunt for some real information on this horn. the serial number is rather high, 282xxx. It has a satin silver plate with the inside bell in gold wash. overall it's in great shape except the shipping process bent the lower key guard up and bent the octave mechanics down. My tech said it wasn't that bad and he could bend it back to the proper spot. My question is where can I get more info on this and do I have the "Last Buescher Aristocrat C Melody ever produced"???? If you need pictures, let me know and I'll take some tonight.

Pictures are always highly desirable.

There are a couple parts to your questions. Let me try to take them one at a time.

> do I have the "Last Buescher Aristocrat C Melody ever produced"?
Definitely one of the last.

I do not have catalog data from Buescher, so you have two insanely good options:

* One might be able to assume that the last C melody from Buescher was made around serial number 294xxx, when the first Big B Aristocrats were produced (see my article at http://www.saxpics.com/buescher/aristocrat.htm)
* The last C melody from any company -- excepting the Beaugnier-made Vito, later (possible) Yanagisawa and modern C melodies from a Taiwanese company whose name escapes me -- was made by the time WWII started for the US, approximately 1941. That's about ... s/n 294xxx

It is possible that the C melody was removed from any Buescher catalog by the end of the True Tone era, which was between 1928 and 1930. In other words, your horn could have been a custom order. There is pictorial evidence to support the fact that Buescher (and other companies) would get a special order for a horn that they did not have a current model for -- say it's 1960 and you wanted a bass, but Buescher didn't make basses in 1960 -- that they'd trot out the old tooling from the last model available make you one and do a little customizing to make it "look" as modern as possible.

And I'm using "1960" because of http://www.saxpics.com/cpg143/displayimage.php?album=5851&pos=0

> I was depressed when I showed my tech and told him I paid $700 then he told me it was worth maybe a few hundred at most.
The value actually may be fairly good. This isn't a common model -- I've only heard of three that were post-True Tone model. It's going to be very dependent on condition.

The Buescher C is one of the best C horns available. It's not what you wanted, I know, but at least it's a quality horn. I would recommend that if you're just going to turn it around and resell, that you either a) don't have it repaired at all or b) have a really good NAPBIRT-certified tech work on it. If you're going to resell, check out Wade Walker's forum at http://boards.eesite.com/board.cgi?boardset=cmelody and http://pub6.bravenet.com/forum/431465883/. That's an audience that wants C melodies.