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Grand Opera C-melody

9K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  jhammons01 
#1 ·
Alright, I came into posession of this c-mel awhile back.
While I loved the idea of non-transposition, the group I played with thought it was silly, and that it looked too old. (they aren't sax players)

It was a lot of fun to play, but I let if fall into that forgotten corner of the closet. I had a friend go over it and seal it up a little, but I never really had it serviced. I was going to have it done, but I realized that I didn't even know if it was a Conn or Buescher stencil. :shock:

It is labelled as Grand Opera, has a silver patina with gold wash bell.
And the serial numbers line up with the Buescher numbers, but I can't be sure.

Does anyone know of this brand? Thanks, Bob.
 
#5 ·
Photos don't work (maybe password protected) but when there is a P in the serial number, it is a Conn stencil. It would be similar to a Pan-American with drawn but not rolled tone holes and the curved neck rather than the straight neck. The serial numbers for the stencils and P-As are vague but I would guess 1915-30.
 
#6 ·
as Bruce said you are the lucky owner of a stencil of a Conn C melody! Pics are not working, you can post them directly in this thread if you go to the section " go advanced", there you will find a box with a number of options on top, one has a paperclip, that one allows you to post attachments from your own hard disk, select the files you want to upload (there is a list of formats and sizes in the selection box)after they appear in the box you upload them once you publish your comment they should show up in the thread, should anything go wrong you can try again by hitting edit and start the procedure again.
 
#8 ·
Your Conn stencil is a good horn. Look on EBay or some mouthpiece websites for a modern mouthpiece for your horn. Tampa Dave has some inexpensive new M.P.s that are good. If you want a bluesy-aggressive more tenor-like sound, I highly recommend the Aquilasax Metalpro. These are fantastic for the player who wants an up-to-date sound.
Best of luck to you.
 
#10 ·
yes, you have a Conn curvy neck, these horns came in straight and curved neck, some people have a preference for straight necks ( if you have longer arms) because they think the playing position is more comfortable, I have a Conn with a straight neck (those tend to have a microtuner) and a Buescher with a curvy neck. Aquilasax in New Zealand http://www.aquilasax.com/Accessories_sale.html has developed a C melody tenor saxophone with some accessories (such as the neck) which will fit this model of yours with minimal adaptation.
 
#11 ·
Milandro (and others) - just to advise you that, whilst (Aquilasax) Steve sells replacement necks for 20's C-Mels, he also sells extra necks for the new 21st. Century C-Melody / C-Tenor.

I don't think they are meant to be interchangeable - the body tube on the new C-Mel is longer to accomodate the high F#, so logic says that proportionally the "NEW" neck is shorter than the replacement 20's one's.

If you look on Steve's C-neck page, the "NEW" model necks are marked "for NEW C Sax". Just stating the obvious, but it may save some confusion.
 
#14 ·
I'm still enjoying mine!

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showthread.php?238922-My-quot-Grand-Opera-quot-C-Melody&p=2555021

But since I'm just getting back into playing (and was never a regular player earlier), and am trying to get decent on soprano sax, my sax coach has advised that I stick with only one horn for now. Problem is, the C Melody is in better mechanical shape, and it's easier to sound nice on it! But if I get into the C Mel. I'll never get the soprano together, and it's so much tougher.

(I'm now glad I didn't pick C soprano to start with! :lol:)
 
#19 ·
Personally, since I was aware of its existence, I kept on loving easiness, coolness, -Eliott Ness :error:- playing (more) like an alto / sounding (or less) like tenor...
God (re)bless Frankie...
PS::argue: Although lacking "designated" mouthpiece :dontknow: , luckily I found (and purchased) an old 50' Vandoren :salute: named "Perfecta" (or so), and after little (but great) refacing work on it, it seems to be... :smilebox:
the perfet(a) one.
 
#20 ·
This thread took a turn for the worse. Jak, lemme ask ya son, what if I gave you a sax that fit right in between an Alto and a Tenor?? What if that sax was tuned to play with today's Guitars, Violins and Pianos without transposing? What if I told you this waste of time C-Melody was more condusive to playing with a modern Rock band than your Eb tuned Tenor or your Bb tuned Alto that were tuned to play in a marching band??

Would that change your mind? Most likely not, but the people with an open mind may see something in being able to download music from THOUSANDS of sources on the web, and play that music just as it sits......try finding Tenor Sax sheet music for 21 Pilots or Fall out Boy or go classic and look for old Journey or Def Leppard......you'll not find it. I can download the crappiest sheet music from thousands of bands and pick out the notes and be playing today's music in a matter of minutes.

But hey, Eb and Bb are there for you to play with Trumpets and Trombones and Tubas
 
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