I've always wanted a contrabass saxophone. I got a chance to try an Orsi almost 30 years ago, and it was terrible (they may have improved since then), so I put my desires on the back shelf.
When I first heard about the Tubax, I went out on a limb and ordered one, without trying it. I had the advice of Scott Robinson that it was a good instrument, and I respected his opinion. It turned out to be everything I expected it to be - easy to play, good intonation, and fairly easy to transport despite the heavy flight case. I had a ball with it for 6 years and it was not a bad investment - mostly due to the crashing dollar, it's now worth about $6,000 more than I paid for it. Better than leaving the money in the bank.
After that, I bought a Soprillo (relatively cheap) and a bass saxophone from Benedikt Eppelsheim. I've had a lot of experience with bass saxophones of all kinds, and the Eppelsheim is undoubtedly the best ever. Believe it or not, I financed the Eppelsheim bass by selling mouthpieces and accessories on ebay. I had a LOT of mouthpieces, good ones, and no one in Florida ever offered what they were worth, so I kept them. With the advent of ebay, I got market value. It didn't totally pay for the bass sax, but I didn't put out a lot of money after the dust settled. Also there were a lot of happy saxophone players because my stuff on ebay was original condition and really nice.
Then came the new Eppelsheim contra - a LOT of money, more than I could afford. But I was sitting on THREE (3) bass saxophones, all of them great players, a sarrusophone that I bought for 2 grand, two C sopranos, and even more mouthpieces. I sold the prettiest of my Conn stencil baritones with 2 mouthpieces, stand, and new case to a lucky guy who got a great deal. I overhauled a C soprano and sold it for not a lot more than the cost of the overhaul. Then I sold my sarrusophone to QuinntheEskimo,who sold it for 2 thousand dollars more than he paid me, after doing NOTHING to it.
To make a long story long, I'm 2/3 of the way toward financing the new contrabass sax, having left a lot of very happy customers behind, and I still have a 1920s King Saxello and a Conn F Mezzo-soprano to sell on ebay this summer. In the stock market, it's buy low, sell high. What I do is buy wisely, sell at market value, and buy more stuff. I call it horse trading, and I haven't lost a dime.
Will I keep all this stuff? I'm 60 years old, so I won't keep it forever, but I can still play and I love my horns, and for the forseeable future these superb instruments are mine to play the crap out of.
When I first heard about the Tubax, I went out on a limb and ordered one, without trying it. I had the advice of Scott Robinson that it was a good instrument, and I respected his opinion. It turned out to be everything I expected it to be - easy to play, good intonation, and fairly easy to transport despite the heavy flight case. I had a ball with it for 6 years and it was not a bad investment - mostly due to the crashing dollar, it's now worth about $6,000 more than I paid for it. Better than leaving the money in the bank.
After that, I bought a Soprillo (relatively cheap) and a bass saxophone from Benedikt Eppelsheim. I've had a lot of experience with bass saxophones of all kinds, and the Eppelsheim is undoubtedly the best ever. Believe it or not, I financed the Eppelsheim bass by selling mouthpieces and accessories on ebay. I had a LOT of mouthpieces, good ones, and no one in Florida ever offered what they were worth, so I kept them. With the advent of ebay, I got market value. It didn't totally pay for the bass sax, but I didn't put out a lot of money after the dust settled. Also there were a lot of happy saxophone players because my stuff on ebay was original condition and really nice.
Then came the new Eppelsheim contra - a LOT of money, more than I could afford. But I was sitting on THREE (3) bass saxophones, all of them great players, a sarrusophone that I bought for 2 grand, two C sopranos, and even more mouthpieces. I sold the prettiest of my Conn stencil baritones with 2 mouthpieces, stand, and new case to a lucky guy who got a great deal. I overhauled a C soprano and sold it for not a lot more than the cost of the overhaul. Then I sold my sarrusophone to QuinntheEskimo,who sold it for 2 thousand dollars more than he paid me, after doing NOTHING to it.
To make a long story long, I'm 2/3 of the way toward financing the new contrabass sax, having left a lot of very happy customers behind, and I still have a 1920s King Saxello and a Conn F Mezzo-soprano to sell on ebay this summer. In the stock market, it's buy low, sell high. What I do is buy wisely, sell at market value, and buy more stuff. I call it horse trading, and I haven't lost a dime.
Will I keep all this stuff? I'm 60 years old, so I won't keep it forever, but I can still play and I love my horns, and for the forseeable future these superb instruments are mine to play the crap out of.
Groovekiller: Congrats. I read the other thread about the Eb Tubax and your comments there. I also checked the links to the Epplesheim web-site and checked out the various photos. Interesting!
Now I see this thread. I'm wondering why, after already having and liking the Tubax, that you went for this monster, too? Will you keep both? Use both? Under what circumstances?
No criticism (I totally understand GAS and the "need" to buy a bunch of horns even if the purchases seem to duplicate something already in the closet) - I'm just curious. DAVE
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