To Buy or Not to Buy?

[Yellowhorn]

I am looking at a 1974 Mark II Gold Medal tenor in silver plate. The condition is rather minty, based on pictures I have seen. The horn is sold from a music shop and has had an overhaul with fresh pads and new springs. It comes with the shop's 1-year guarantee.

The price is $ 2350 (sans shipping, which is another $100).

Is this a good buy or not?

[Grumps]

Have you played this model before? If not, make sure there is a return policy.

[Fred]

I get very afraid when a new sax borrows well-known words from famous saxes. "Mark" and "Gold Medal" would make me very cautious of buying without trying.

[Martin Williams]

I get very afraid when a new sax borrows well-known words from famous saxes. "Mark" and "Gold Medal" would make me very cautious of buying without trying.

Dont worry on this one Fred, the Gold Medal is a vintage SML sax, and a great horn

[Carl H.]

Dont worry on this one Fred, the Gold Medal is a vintage SML sax, and a great horn
But is this horn an SML?

[Martin Williams]

I would assume it is, since it made it into the SML section etc etc

[Yellowhorn]

http://www.saxpics.com/sml/index.htm

[Carl H.]

Is Pete (formerly saxpics) selling a horn?

Information about the actual horn and who did the setup would help us decide (without playing, it will be a guess) if it is worth the asking price. Real pics are better than a link to a site which doesn't have pics of the actual horn you are considering.

Sometimes closet horns were put in the closet for a reason, so "minty" might not mean good things.

[Fred]

Sorry . . . didn't notice the SML listing. To complicate matters, I didn't realize the Gold Medal was subdivided into a Mk I and a Mk II version.

Inattentive and ignorant . . . I'm havin' a great day!

[Yellowhorn]

The horn turned out to have been resoldered as a consequence of past damages. Even though it has been restored and is in great plaing conditions, I have decided not to go for it.

Instead, I am going for a breath-takingly beautiful Buffet Super Dynaction. I will post pics of this horn once the deal is sealed.

Just to clarify: The SML does not come from Pete (Saxpics).