Talk about coincidence! I was at my tech's place on Friday to get my clarinet repadded, and we got to talking. He's a good and caring friend of my 1933 Conn tranny alto, and I've written elsewhere in the forum about how much I love it, preferring it to my Selmer SBA. So he looks at me rather slyly, knowing how I don't think very highly about Conns made after 1950 or so, although, hey, I'm pretty open-minded and will give a horn a chance, and hands me a 21M and a 25M that some American sailors from the base in Naples had left him on consignment.
They were in almost mint condition, and had been repadded with plastic resonators and fully serviced. Boy, was I pleasantly surprised!
My impressions:
- build and finish quality: both look pretty well made, rather plain without any fancy engraving (those days are gone) -- the 21M has nothing but the name and number, the 25M has some shallow laser-engraved pattern-work. The lacquer appeared well-applied with no obvious runs, keywork was tight, nice firm bell brace, and surprise, surprise, rolled tone-holes on the 21M. The 21M has nickel-plated keys, the 25M has lacquered ones. Just from the physical appearance, the 25M looks more professional. Both say "Made in the U.S.A." They were lighter than my tranny, is that because the type of brass used is different? The overall impression was one of sturdiness and some quality. They seem better made than most Chinese-made instruments (haven't played the Conn-Selmer student, although some people say they're pretty decent), although that's not saying much.
- keywork: quick action, no floppinness, but I didn't like the pinky arrangement, which seemed less intuitive than the one on the tranny, although the modern keywork is much "lighter". Palm keys were at a good height for me and easy to play with no hesitation.
- intonation: good on both. No problems playing in tune with the Vandoren Jumbo A45, Rico Plasticover 3, Rovner Dark lig. my tech lent me. I felt the 21M had slightly better intonation (I have perfect ear, and am a classically trained pianist. My wife knows how much poor intonation bothers me, I'm almost complaining about singers on TV, for example
, but I tolerate, even appreciate, the artistic use of the sharpish intonation that so many greats, like Parker, Coltrane, Gordon, etc., had), especially after high C and below low D, but nothing to worry about. In short, I don't think intonation is a problem with any of these saxes.
- Tone: well, here's the crux of the question. I sold my Yamaha YAS62 simply because, with whatever setup I used, I always preferred the sound of my tranny. Both the new Conns had a nice, round sound all the way to the top that's quite reminiscent of the vintage Conns. They were a little reluctant to be "pushed", e.g., my tranny will just give you back whatever you give it, the 21M tended to "level out", and the 25M just sounded bland at top volume.
Still, I was very, very surprised at how much I enjoyed playing them. So surprised that I actually took the 21M home -- see, I have this nice arrangement with my tech, I give him euros, he gives me a sax, or saxes. In this case, I gave him 175 euros for 1 sax. I'm still dazed. How did my quest for a late 1930s 26M end up with an early 1990s 21M? What an extreme case of GAS.
So, Jazz House, I don't know if I helped you at all, but I think you can do worse than the 25M. Good build quality and intonation, and a surprisingly good sound approaching, but not quite matching, a vintage Conn. And hey, the 21M, what a sleeper!