I hear someone's getting a new toy ...

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.

Dave Dolson said:
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
Click to expand...
 
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I wonder if you can commission Quinn to sell FOR you. He's good at it.

So, you're just going to keep the Tubax and Contra? No plans on attempting to sell? It's a rather ... specialized ... market, after all. I do agree with you that those horns do have a good "spectacle" value for gigs and do draw in a few folks.

You do have that Conn-O, IIRC. I think that's probably a better horn, all around, than the F mezzo, even thiough, as you've said, they're the same horn except for a few bits. At the very least, it's more valuable :).
 
First up, congrats Randy on your new baby. She's (he's?) very pretty. Given your skills on the big ones, I suspect we'll be seeing some video up sooner rather than later. That will be very kewl :cool:

And Pete, given my current Rx induced brain fog, stringing me along is not very hard. You could have had me going for weeks...It's quite :cry: actually. Don't give up so easily next time. ;-)
 
Helen,

It doesn't matter how foggy the present situation may be. Sit down, play, and have the same fun you have always had. No one is criticizing. There are so many players that can clean my clock, but I just like to play.

I suggest the Hal Leonard play along CDs and books. Stick one on the stereo and have at it. Unlike the Jamey Aebersold jazz CDs, they don't leave room for 3 to 10 jazz choruses. It's usually a 3-4 minute cut, just like a commercial record. Just play pretty and enjoy yourself. If it starts to sound good, turn on the tape recorder.
 
Groovekiller: Thanks for the reply. I too am over 60 (WAY over) and over the years have dropped a lot o' bucks on instruments, but NOTHING like the prices involved with the Epplesheim monsters. At those prices, I prefer nice cars. Still, I fully understand.

I've long ago gotten rid of a King Saxello. Yuk.

I know a guy on California's central coast that owns and plays an F-mezzo (in trad-jazz bands). He makes it sound really funky, but it never whetted my whistle for one. I just like the plain-jane standard saxophones at soprano and alto.

Enjoy your latest toy. DAVE
 
Am I the only one who can't see the pics in Pete's link? It tells me I am not logged in (I am) or do not have the rights to view.
 
Contrabass saxophone in perspective

Here's a picture that will provide a feeling for the size of the Eppelsheim low A contrabass
 
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Wow!

I totally need one of those but I'm not sure it would fit in any car that I own.
 
That is most :cool:....Hang on a minute....But what's this?....

Oh oh....It's the seismographs going off all over Europe as the Low A was played ;-)

Um, Groovekiller, you're not living near any fault lines by chance, are you? :emoji_smile:
 
I loved the other video at that link . . . the one about the contrabass sarrusophone. DAVE
 
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