Selmer Signet Alto- who has one?

[DanF]

HI, I am considering a Signet alto. Anyne have an experience with one of these horns? How do they stack up against, say, a Buescher 400? I understand they are an intermediate level horn. Appreciate your comments.

[Grumps]

Hi Dan,
I got an alto Signet back in the mid seventies and used it from 8th grade, through high school, college and beyond. My ten year old son has it now and he's on his third year with it. It is a very dependable, and sturdy horn. It is known as an intermediate model, but it can be much, much more. I believe they were based upon the Buescher 400 (or Aristocrat, someone will correct me if I'm wrong) when Selmer produced them after buying Buescher. If you find one with the 'S' brace between the bell and body and it has left sided B and Bb tone holes, it's a keeper.

[Hurling Frootmig]

The S braced models are basically nice Aristocrats. The later Signets are Bundy II's with lacquered keys. I personally love most Bueschers and even have a soft spot for the Buescher made Bundy horns.

[Ray]

Anyone ever seen a silver Signet. There's one in the paper I'm gonna check out today. In the past, some of the best sounding hornsI've played have been silver. I'll post back after I've played it.

[Ray]

I tried to play the Signet but there were so many leaks that I couldn't.
The owner is going to get it set up and I'll give it another try. His grandfather used to play it in a big band somewhere in upstate New York.
Beautiful sax, great condition except for the pads.

[rcwjd]

I played a Signet in high school. It was a school horn and the director asked me to play it rather than my Buescher 400 - he thought it sounded a bit better in the stage band (this was in the late 60s). The feel of the keywork is different. The 400 is up more while the Signet more closely resembled the VI. It was a very nice, solid horn and for the right price should be an excellent player. Mine had a cool case with space in it for a flute and clarinet also, and zipper sides. When I graduated I gave the Signet back. I still have the 400. :D

[tomsch]

I just picked up an Signet alto, with the S brace, in near mint condition. Plays much better than I expected!! Tuning is good and the overall tone is rich. Since I mainly play tenor the Signet will make a great low-cost gig horn.

Now, does anyone know of a good contoured case that will work with the left side bell keys? I don't want to spend too much on the case since the horn was pretty cheap to begin with.

[Ray]

Well, I bought the silver Signet after it had been tweeked a little.
The more I play it the better the tone gets...a nice buttery richness.
The sax is in very good condition and the engraving is very nice.
It came with an old Selmer New York mpc and a Brilhart Ebolin with a serial # on the side. The New York gives it the best tone.
Also it came with a lot of straps from the 60's and some memorabilia from a Guy Lombardo book. It was used by a former big band player in New York and his grandson got it after he died.What a great find. I'll be playing it Christmas Eve.

[Ray]

The more I play this horn the better it gets, I've found that a Berg hard rubber 90/1 really makes it come alive, almost with a tone like a Mark VI.
My only problems are with the F# with octave engaged is flat but I can use side key to bring it in tune and also G and G# are slightly flat.
C is sharp as is B alittle. Any thoughts? By the way , the Berg plays the best in tune of all the mpcs I've tried.
If this is any indication of the sound of the Bueschers, look out, I'm gonna buy somebody out of their stock. What model of Buescher alto is the Signet a copy of?
By the way, my wife just found out I bought it.......ouch. But she loves the tone so much that she let me off easy. :lol: