That whimsical clown face....

[Walter Webb]

I agonized and grimaced, sniveled and showed my wife the pictures, and finally groaned with horror at how a nicely rebuilt Couturier with a whimsical clown face could go for a mere $145, and only a single bidder. I held my wrist off the mouse, and had my wife help restrain me....for I cannot buy another alto. I just bought a Vito Model 35 (Rationale) and a Martin Magna, and am unable to indulge my lust any further. I wanted to buy it for more just to help our friend JazzBug. I shoulda bid a coupla times just to drive the price up.

Ok, I hope it went to a good home.

Walter

[bruce bailey]

I have one needing pads if you get a divorce! Also have a gold plated one.......

[jazzbug1]

Walter-- Your wife should have let you clown around with your family's $$. I learned a lesson. Don't buy obscure altos for re-sale on Ebay. It went for what I paid for it, not counting the pads and 6 hours of labor. I'll stick with C Melodys. They always sell.

[jazzbug1]

Walter-- Your wife should have let you clown around with your family's $$. I learned a lesson. Don't buy obscure altos for re-sale on Ebay. It went for what I paid for it, not counting the pads and 6 hours of labor. I'll stick with C Melodys. They always sell.

[jazzbug1]

OOps- sorry. The connection was so slow, I clicked again.

[soybean]

You can always delete the extra posting.

[jazzbug1]

Sorry- I tried to Edit, but that won't delete it. How do I delete? Thanks.

[jazzbug1]

The whimsical clown was sold on EBay and went to Oregon. It's a great big-bore big sound player, which sold at opening price (cheapo). I wonder if Oregonian saxophone players have a more clownish style than East coasters. Maybe the new owner recognised an accurate depiction on the bell of an ancestor.

[wheelsax]

I'm the guy from Oregon that bought the 'clown face' alto. I don't believe I have any resemblance to the face. I bought the horn with the idea that it would likely require some work to get into shape. After completely disassembling & cleaning it to get rid of the smell (I had to dispose of the case), I had to re-seat quite a few pads and re-solder a couple of tone holes. For the last few weeks, I've been able to play it & I am quite satisfied.
It has a very sweet tone with an old King equa-tru mouthpiece. The pinky cluster is a bit awkward for low Bb, but I am adapting.

[jazzbug1]

Glad you are happy with the horn. I play with "Vise Grip" fingers and sometimes overlook a small leak in a horn. I found the Couturier altos have a huge sound resulting from a very large bore. The lack of a front F can inhibit the altissimo, but with that large bore, altissimo notes would be very challenging anyways. Good luck !!

[bruce bailey]

Does it have the interlocking palm keys?

[wheelsax]

It does have interlocking palm keys as well as a combination G#, C# key, G# trill key & fork Eb (I need to re-spring that one a bit harder). The body was in excellent shape when I got it (thanks Jazzbug). There were several tone holes that exhibited leaks where they were soldered to the body -- a not uncommon condition for this type of construction on a 80 year old sax. My local repair tech was a bit shy about re-solderiing them, so I bought myself a microtorch & learned how to do it. (Pretty much had to after the fork Eb tone hole fell off). As of now it plays pretty well & I'm attempting to learn Saxophobia, since it fits the period.


Mike

[jazzbug1]

I have repaired toneholes with JB Weld epoxy. When applied carefully to the inside, it seals fine, and being gray, is very hard to notice on a silver horn. This stuff can even repair engine blocks, so it is very permanent and useful when a torch would ruin the finish on a lacquer horn. Sorry, I did not spot the deteriorating tonehole joints or I would have fixed them. I have seen the early 1920s Holtons develop weak solder joints at the toneholes. Perhaps they used an improved formula a few years later, as I have never seen this in mid 20s or later Holtons.I would love to play a Couturier baritone or tenor, as perhaps they have monster bores also.

[wheelsax]

I've used JB Weld myself & thought about using it repair a brace on my daughters trumpet. It didn't occur to me this time even though it appears that some the tone holes were repaired with some sort of epoxy. I believe I did a pretty good job with the torch & since I didn't have any lacquer to mess up, you can barely tell where I worked on it. Anyway, lest you think I'm complaining about the horn, please understand that I think I got a very good deal and was pretty surprised that I was the only bidder. The horn is already seeing some use in a couple of groups I play with (dixieland, & a church orchestra that tends toward country gospel). I agree about the bari & tenor, but I think my budget for instruments has pretty well dried up (in other words my wife is gonna strangle me if I buy another horn). For now I've got a '37 buescher Bari that I love, my old high school tenor (a mid 60's Holton -- actually a pretty decent horn although it's had a hard life), an Amati soprano, and a Vito clarinet. I'd like to upgrade the clarinet someday, but I don't use it as much as the sax/s.

[bruce bailey]

I also use JB for tone holes. Put a SMALL amoutn in the inside, wipe off the excess and if any leaks to the outside, wipe off. Also OK for gaurds, idle posts but not main posts. I fixed a diesel tank hole, oil pan and many other things. If you ever want to resolder the tone hole, the JB will burn off clean.