Confused about an ebay Conn New Wonder Alto

[jmcelwee]

As stated in the title I'm quite confused about an alto i saw on ebay today. The Alto is a Conn New Wonder Series I with rolled tone holes. I talked to the owner and he said it was a great playing horn, especially since its silver plated. My Problem is that the horn doesnt look silver plated at all to me; it looks like a nickle plated horn. I'm quite confused; could it possible be a poor replating?

Thanks a bunch everybody

heres the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=16232&item=2524474 386&rd=1

jmac

[markieg]

Silver or nickel, it really looks like a solid instrument. Check this out:
http://www.saxgourmet.com/conn_finishes.htm
Try to have him tell you if the bell is gold colored on the inside. The satin silver always had gold on the inside of the bell, otherwise it's nickel. Then again, these could be aftermarket, although it looks stock. Some of this could also be lighting, for example, a shiny object (ie-sax) would look much different under flourescent lighting than standard bulbs. Using poor lighting on this sax could produce a duller look to it. To me it looks more gold than nickel, a really polished gold. This could be due to a yellow tint in lighting. Check out my sax; it looks shiny, kind of a brass or dull gold, but in real life it looks bronze. I couldn't find the right light, and so I settled with too bright.
http://www.angelfire.com/freak/dafrootloop/vs_pics.html

[max]

The satin silver always had gold on the inside of the bell, otherwise it's nickel.

Don't be too hasty to proclaim something nickel based on the lack of the gold wash - the gold is often worn down or completely away.

[max]

(oh yeah - I have nothing to do with this auction or anything; just trying to help...)

[Tharruff]

Looks like nickel plate to me...

[Hornlip]

Looks like nickel plate to me, too. Also, I don't recall ever seeing a Chu horn in silver plate that didn't have a "satin silver" finish.

[Dave Dolson]

I know this is a little off subject - but not much. I have a shiny "silver" Buescher TT sop with gold-wash bell. I've posted about it before . . . the shiny finish is unlike any silver TT I've seen before. I have three other silver TTs (sop, alto, and C-Melody) and have owned others - all have/had the matte silver finish with only the engraved area polished.

Yet, when I hit the shiny horn with a silver-treated cloth, it takes away the tarnish. While it looks a little like nickel, the silver-treated cloth cleans it, leading me to believe the finish is an unusual polished silver-plate.

Maybe this Conn on the eBay auction really is silver - the one photo looked like it had a gold-wash in the bell. DAVE

[markieg]

I would still blame it mostly on lighting.

[CodyW]

I agree with Dave, I think its silver. I see a trace of the gold wash i the bell. The horn also has a little bit of a "softer" look to it than my brighter looking nickel chu. I think this rest of the horn that is usually satin was just polished some way.

[werkinsnake]

Actually, the lighting is not to blame, nor is this gold wash that you are seeing in the picture. I have a 1923 Nickle plated CONN New Wonder. They are great horns, and if you are looking for a real player, buy this horn. But what appears to be silver plate with gold is actually some type of residue that the nickle picks up. Most likely from a polish that wasn't buffed off completely. I have a problem with mine where I can polish the horn with a metal cleaner. It looks great for a few months, but then the horn starts turning a goldish color, particularly around the engravings, which is the case with this horn in question. The way to rememdy this problem is a quick wipe with a soft cotton rag. Another note about the nickle horns is that they were made primarily for home use. Because of this, most of these horns were beat up and as such there are very few of these horns in GREAT CONDITION. I was lucky to stumble upon one, and this is the second best looking nickle alto CONN I've seen in over a year. I didn't get a good look in the auction, but 1924 was when the Series II New Wonder or more commonly known as the "Chu Berry" horns came into the light. If the G# key has the crosshatched pattern it's a series II. If it's smooth, it's a Series I. Well hope I've been some help. On a leaving note, I love these horns.

[Pete]

Responding to a much earlier post, while it's definite that nickel-plated horns do not have a gold-wash bell, not all silver-plated horns have a gold-wash bell: gold wash was a custom option that you had to pay extra for. I do theorize a date on which gold-wash became "standard" (around 1924) because I've seen a lot of Conns and I don't recall seeing a silver Conn without a gold-wash bell after then, but I could be wrong.

In any case, this horn looks nickel to me.

Another great fact: silver horns tarnish black. Nickel horns become dull and may have some white oxidation. If the horn has any black oxidation, it's silver.

I have several examples of heavily-plated silver horns (including a 1914-ish Buffet I own) that are easily as shiny as any nickel horn out there, so "brightness" isn't always an indication of plating.