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SELMER NEW LARGEBORE ALTO SAXOPHONE 1930 (#12xxx) 1930 was the first year that Selmer saxes produced the sound for which they're now famous. My father bought this one second-hand in 1936 at Selmer's showroom in Charing Cross Road, in preference to one that had belonged to a well-known band-leader. His previous sax, bought from a pawn-shop for 2/6d a week, had never been the same since it fell off the roof of a car on the way to a gig. Nevertheless Selmer's part-exchanged it, even though the salesman noticed it had "had a bit of a bash." This one was made at the Paris factory at 4 Place Dancourt, bombed in the war I'm told, and the original finish was silver with a gold-washed bell, which Dave Griffiths has recently restored (since this photo). In my lifetime, as dad's 3rd instrument, it had suffered from lack of maintenance and poor mouthpieces. I had it serviced and lightly replated around 1975, but it wasn't till it was overhauled properly in 2004 that it revealed what a great sound it has. I use a Morgan Excalibur EL mouthpiece or a Meyer "G" and a Rovner lig with Vandoren Java reeds. |
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