Hello all, I realized I might have made a faux pas posting in another thread before introducing myself here. Sorry!
I joined in Dec 2007, but have been lurking until recently, when I couldn't resist posting about my Conn Tranny alto from 1933.
I'm in my 40s, a classically trained pianist, currently working in Rome, Italy as an I.T. Administrator, although my training is as a civil engineer. Go figure.
I started playing the sax when I was living in Manila, Philippines, in the early 1990s, and the first instrument that I played, for a period of almost 9 months, belonged to a friend who very generously showed me the basics. It was an old sax of which he was quite protective, although he always lent it to me when I wanted to play.
I thought I sounded quite good, even as a beginner, but decided that I needed a "modern" sax, so I eventually got myself a Yamaha YAS23, with which I was never quite satisfied. Now the kick is, I now realize that the "old' instrument I played, after looking anew at some photos of myself with it, was a Conn New Wonder II, which as all Conn enthusiasts know, is one of the all-time greats!
I eventually moved on to a Yamaha YAS62 bought used, then a Selmer SBA which I bought at a very good price frmm a good friend who was a pro. The Selmer remained my main horn for quite a few years, and for a short time I actually played semi-professionally in a quartet, where we would perform at weddings, high school reunions, etc.
As fate would have it, about 2 years ago I played a Conn 6M from 1941 belonging to a friend who had 8 Conns of various ages. To say I was bowled over is to put it mildly. I'm a huge Parker fan, and how cool would it be to own a horn of a type he played? I finally got myself a Tranny from 1933, serial 257xxx, nothing special, quite beat up, but with a sound and flexibility that is out of this world. It seems to like any mouthpiece, any reed, any ligature (except the Rovner dark), which seems to be at odds with what I read here about the old Conns liking a certain type of round bore mpc like the Meyers.
In short, I'm a totally conn-vinced and conn-tented conn-vert, pardon the puns.
There remains one problem: my GAS has hit an all-time high, and I'm constantly itching after a New Wonder II. And a 26M. Even a 28M. I play the piano once a week just to keep my fingers flexible, but I don't look hungrily at pictures of Steinways and Bechsteins. I play the Tranny almost every day, and I trawl the internet all the time looking lustfully at photos of Naked Ladies within pentagons. Will it never end?
To close, I've since sold the Yamaha, and am hanging on the SBA only because it's worth so much!