# I bought a 50 year old saxophone. And it kinda works! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415 "2013-09-09T15:36:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2013, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/21 "2013-09-10T22:41:27Z")
> [@The Great Sun Jester](#): > > Hm, I knew a girl in middle/high school named Rachel who played saxophone. You’re not a ginger are you? > > I had an alto & a tenor when I was in high school. Just because I was bored one summer day I took my tenor completely apart. I eventually got it to work but it was never the same (this was my first lesson in mechanics: _appearing_ to be in proper alignment is not the same as _being_ in proper alignment. Fortunately for me, the school needed someone to play baritone and they had one they would supply. I volunteered all over that. Trouble was, once I got the wind to work the baritone it was nearly impossible to play my alto. Sold the alto & the tenor for book/beer money when I was in college. If I applied myself, I could maybe work a slide whistle these days. Not a ginger! I switched to tenor in 7th grade and it was hard to play my alto again when I switched back in high school. The embouchure and airflow are just completely different animals. I never tried a bari, though. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2013, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/22 "2013-09-16T05:01:43Z")
Here’s hoping you didn’t have one of those directors who teaches that vibrato is a bad thing to learn. I can’t think of any casual sax music that doesn’t use vibrato. And I have had no luck at all trying to learn it on my own. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/23 "2013-09-18T00:43:41Z")
I don’t think I agree about the odds of an old sax being playable. Saxes are generally kept in cases and stored in closets or under beds. They aren’t exposed to the elements much. And some of the most in-demand saxes are way older than 50 years. The Conn horns from the 1920’s are very popular with sax players today, and some of them have never even been overhauled. I have a sax that I played in high school 35 years ago. I bought it used then, and it was at least 25 years old at the time. My kid is playing it now, and before he started using it I took it in for an overhaul. As it turned out, it didn’t need much. No new pads or anything - just a couple of little adjustments and new cork for the mouthpiece. In total, that cost me $70. Now the horn plays like it did 35 years ago. Maybe better. But anyway, congrats on the Sax! It sounds like you got a great deal and rescued an old horn from oblivion. Some of those older saxes play great and are much under-appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 18, 2013, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/24 "2013-09-18T03:02:51Z")
Hey for a good time use the Google and do some quick research on saxophone pads. I had no idea there were so many different sorts, including resonators. Mind blowing, really. I’d always thought it was as simple as “stop up various holes=note” but evidently its more complex than that. Also, more germane to the thread, looks like moisture = death for the pads. So depending on what your case is made of and how well it keeps moisture out of the instrument you might get away with prolonged storage and still have a serviceable piece. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/25 "2013-09-19T15:18:18Z")
Geez. I should dig out my old flute. Haven’t touched it since 1965 probably… ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/26 "2013-09-19T15:42:48Z")
Heh. “Whelp, gotta go dig out the old flute–haven’t touched it since 1965 probably…” Sorry. Guy thing. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/27 "2013-09-19T17:36:31Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > Geez. I should dig out my old flute. Haven’t touched it since 1965 probably… I am resisting making a band camp reference. Well, other than that one. Okay, I guess I didn’t resist it enough. :o ---
**Author:** ![Inigo\_Montoya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inigo_montoya/32/124_2.png) [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)\ **Post date:** [September 19, 2013, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/28 "2013-09-19T17:47:02Z")
Oh. My. God! So much win! ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2013, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/29 "2013-09-20T13:53:12Z")
Great! It looks pristine, as though whoever first got it didn’t really take to it: barely used. The inside of the case looks like new. I went to a military boarding school. I eventually noticed that the band had a much better time, so I went to the band leader and said that I didn’t play any band instruments but music came easily: was there any instrument I might be able to learn to play and join the band? His eyes lit up, he disappeared into the back room and reappeared with an old (but not vintage) Conn alto that had just been donated by a student who got a much nicer horn. I took one look and said “No way – that’s the one thing I can’t get anything out of but squeaks!” He just smiled and told me what to try, and I did, and it sounded like crap. “Wonderful! Great start!” I thought he was nuts, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt. In the next 2 1/2 years I never became a great sax player, but I sure did enjoy it. 2nd chair in my Senior year, but I think at least one younger player was just being nice not to challenge me. The bandleader had a couple silver Selmers that he let me play. Even as a mediocre player, the difference was remarkable. Operating keys took less effort, shorter movements, better action; you didn’t even have to blow in one to feel the difference. Mechanical marvels. That said, it seems to me that the mouthpiece matters more than the horn, regarding tone. (And of course the player matters far, far more than that.) As long as all the parts work, if it doesn’t sound good it’s not the horn’s fault! (As I well know, being the weak link in the chain.) ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2013, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415/30 "2013-11-08T11:39:55Z")
> **[Melody malady: Clarinet player develops 'saxophone lung' from fungus](https://www.nbcnews.com/health/emb-12-01-am-et-friday-melody-malady-clarinet-player-8C11557602)** That may be a mobile link; sorry. > [@](#): > > A Dixieland band player who didn’t clean his clarinet for 30 years is recovering from a year-long allergic reaction caused by fungus that grew inside the reed instrument, experts said. Ew. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bought-a-50-year-old-saxophone-and-it-kinda-works/668415.md?page=1)