Buescher Aristocrat Necks

[Bluesblaster]

Hi
A local shop is overhauling a Buescher Arisotcrat. The serial number start with 64 so this places it in the mid 70's after the Selmer buy out. It is still being worked on but I question the neck on the horn. I saw pictures of this genre sax on the web and there appears to be a brass bar which forms a brace on the neck. The sax in shop does not have this brace bar. I seem to recall reading somewhere on SOTW that Buescher had several neck designs but I'm not sure if that pertained to the vintage pre-Selmer days.

Can anyone tell me it this sounds like a mismatched neck on this horn?

Thanks!

[Rackety Sax]

Most of the discussion of Buescher neck variations pertains to the older vintage horns, from the 20s through the 50s.

I don't know the answer to your last question.

[saintsday]

Is it a tenor? It seems that there was a huge variation in what Selmer put out with the Buescher name on it and I wouldn't count on complete consistency. If the lacquer matches and it fits and plays well, I wouldn't worry about it.

[Bluesblaster]

Hi Saintsday;

Yes in fact it is a tenor. Lacquer does match, but I'll have to get my sax teacher to play it to tell if it plays in tune. No way to tell if I try!:D

[saintsday]

Good luck with it. I've had quite a few older Bueschers with mismatched necks that played great.
The post Selmer horns aren't worth that much money no matter what neck they have unless it is a very early 400, and even though they can play like a TH&C, they just don't sell for a ton. That doesn't mean that they can't be good players and yours might be a monster for cheap.:)