Buescher Aristocrat Value

[Joe Zupanchick]

I have a Buescher Aristocrat tenor sax, serial number: 359096. According to Steve Goodson's chart, it was manufactured circa 1959. The horn is in good condition. Could someone tell me the approximate value? Thanks. Joe.

[Bootman]

We need a bit more info, does it have the original snap in pads, are all the Norton springs intact? What is the condition of the lacquer? Are there any dents? Has it been relacquered? etc......

[Joe Zupanchick]

The sax was repadded in the 70's, not sure about the springs. That was the only time it was in the shop. It has a few small dings, and the laquer is original, in decent condition. Thanks.

[MusicMan]

I think the point Bootman was trying to make in his post about "snap-in pads" was more along the line of does it still have the snap-in resonators. A less than scrupulous repair tech will remove the domed snap-in resos and the little "nibs" that hold them to save himself the trouble of floating in a replacement pad.

When your horn was repadded, did the tech keep the original resos....if not it will very negatively impact the horn's value, because replacements are practically impossible to find. You almost have to sacrifice a parts horn to get them now-a-days.

[MusicMan]

Sorry...hit the Submit button too quick.

The original Norton springs were gold plated and screwed into the posts, unlike modern needle springs. Feree's has replacements, but they are blued steel and don't have that really neat gold finish. I don't think non-original springs would make that big a difference, but the lcak of the Norton style springs would indicate the horn is from a period where Buescher quality had begun to fade...

[Hurling Frootmig]

You may want to check with Gayle at www.vintagesax.com. They carry a lot of old Buescher's.