Sax on the Web Forum banner

That whimsical face....

6K views 14 replies 5 participants last post by  bruce bailey 
#1 ·
I agonized and grimaced, sniveled and showed my wife the pictures, and finally groaned with horror at how a nicely rebuilt Couturier with a whimsical clown face could go for a mere $145, and only a single bidder. I held my wrist off the mouse, and had my wife help restrain me....for I cannot buy another alto. I just bought a Vito Model 35 (Rationale) and a Martin Magna, and am unable to indulge my lust any further. I wanted to buy it for more just to help our friend JazzBug. I shoulda bid a coupla times just to drive the price up.

Ok, I hope it went to a good home.

Walter
 
#3 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

Walter-- Your wife should have let you clown around with your family's $$. I learned a lesson. Don't buy obscure altos for re-sale on Ebay. It went for what I paid for it, not counting the pads and 6 hours of labor. I'll stick with C Melodys. They always sell.
 
#4 · (Edited)
Re: That whimsical clown face....

Walter-- Your wife should have let you clown around with your family's $$. I learned a lesson. Don't buy obscure altos for re-sale on Ebay. It went for what I paid for it, not counting the pads and 6 hours of labor. I'll stick with C Melodys. They always sell.
 
#5 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

OOps- sorry. The connection was so slow, I clicked again.
 
#7 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

Sorry- I tried to Edit, but that won't delete it. How do I delete? Thanks.
 
#8 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

The whimsical clown was sold on EBay and went to Oregon. It's a great big-bore big sound player, which sold at opening price (cheapo). I wonder if Oregonian saxophone players have a more clownish style than East coasters. Maybe the new owner recognised an accurate depiction on the bell of an ancestor.
 
#9 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

I'm the guy from Oregon that bought the 'clown face' alto. I don't believe I have any resemblance to the face. I bought the horn with the idea that it would likely require some work to get into shape. After completely disassembling & cleaning it to get rid of the smell (I had to dispose of the case), I had to re-seat quite a few pads and re-solder a couple of tone holes. For the last few weeks, I've been able to play it & I am quite satisfied.
It has a very sweet tone with an old King equa-tru mouthpiece. The pinky cluster is a bit awkward for low Bb, but I am adapting.
 
#10 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

Glad you are happy with the horn. I play with "Vise Grip" fingers and sometimes overlook a small leak in a horn. I found the Couturier altos have a huge sound resulting from a very large bore. The lack of a front F can inhibit the altissimo, but with that large bore, altissimo notes would be very challenging anyways. Good luck !!
 
#12 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

It does have interlocking palm keys as well as a combination G#, C# key, G# trill key & fork Eb (I need to re-spring that one a bit harder). The body was in excellent shape when I got it (thanks Jazzbug). There were several tone holes that exhibited leaks where they were soldered to the body -- a not uncommon condition for this type of construction on a 80 year old sax. My local repair tech was a bit shy about re-solderiing them, so I bought myself a microtorch & learned how to do it. (Pretty much had to after the fork Eb tone hole fell off). As of now it plays pretty well & I'm attempting to learn Saxophobia, since it fits the period.

Mike
 
#13 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

I have repaired toneholes with JB Weld epoxy. When applied carefully to the inside, it seals fine, and being gray, is very hard to notice on a silver horn. This stuff can even repair engine blocks, so it is very permanent and useful when a torch would ruin the finish on a lacquer horn. Sorry, I did not spot the deteriorating tonehole joints or I would have fixed them. I have seen the early 1920s Holtons develop weak solder joints at the toneholes. Perhaps they used an improved formula a few years later, as I have never seen this in mid 20s or later Holtons.I would love to play a Couturier baritone or tenor, as perhaps they have monster bores also.
 
#14 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

I've used JB Weld myself & thought about using it repair a brace on my daughters trumpet. It didn't occur to me this time even though it appears that some the tone holes were repaired with some sort of epoxy. I believe I did a pretty good job with the torch & since I didn't have any lacquer to mess up, you can barely tell where I worked on it. Anyway, lest you think I'm complaining about the horn, please understand that I think I got a very good deal and was pretty surprised that I was the only bidder. The horn is already seeing some use in a couple of groups I play with (dixieland, & a church orchestra that tends toward country gospel). I agree about the bari & tenor, but I think my budget for instruments has pretty well dried up (in other words my wife is gonna strangle me if I buy another horn). For now I've got a '37 buescher Bari that I love, my old high school tenor (a mid 60's Holton -- actually a pretty decent horn although it's had a hard life), an Amati soprano, and a Vito clarinet. I'd like to upgrade the clarinet someday, but I don't use it as much as the sax/s.
 
#15 ·
Re: That whimsical clown face....

I also use JB for tone holes. Put a SMALL amoutn in the inside, wipe off the excess and if any leaks to the outside, wipe off. Also OK for gaurds, idle posts but not main posts. I fixed a diesel tank hole, oil pan and many other things. If you ever want to resolder the tone hole, the JB will burn off clean.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top