I was driving along Lighthouse Ave….

And in the corner of my eye!

A saxophone in the window!  An alto saxophone.

Didn’t have time at that moment to check out, but made a mental note to come back.

So I stopped by.  The sax was in the window of a Goodwill store, set up as an auction.  Not necessarily the best place to get a saxophone, but I was curious.

Figured I would try it out, so I brought my own mouthpiece and gear to put on the horn.

It was an old Conn alto with engraving on the bell.  Looked like it wasn’t too worn down at first glance.

But there were some issues…..

First problem I noticed was that the brace around the keys on the bell was bent so that the low Bb, B keys were stuck down.  I bent it back to the right position so those keys could move.

After that, I was thinking that I could try out the range of the horn, figured the low notes might have some issues.

However, I could only get out a few notes on the top of the horn, C, B, etc and then there were more issues.

At that point I put down the sax.  Figured the repairs and effort might not be worth it.  The auction price was up to $80 or so at that point, not sure if the bidders had actually tried out the sax!

A little while back I got an old Buescher alto sax that had a pretty nice sound, paid a little bit to get it fixed up, but it started off in better shape than this Conn alto.

Not sure what kind of life the Conn had been through….

But I knew pretty quickly that it was best to move on.

Other things to look for when you’re trying a used saxophone:

• Dents- a small dent on the body isn’t great, but isn’t the end of the world if the price is right.  If the neck was damaged, it will cause some major problems.  Sometimes you’ll see signs of previous damage too…
• Signs of drastic repair- minor issues can be fixed, but heavy damage probably will not be undone.
• Sound- do you like how you sound on it?  How does it compare to the horn you’re playing now?
• Feel- older saxophones were built differently.  New saxophones are built differently depending on the brand.  How does the saxophone fit you?  How do your pinkies feel on it?  Are your hands/fingers stretching in any strange ways when playing?
• Intonation- this will not be perfect on any saxophone, but struggling to play notes in tune will not be a good beginning to the saxophone you’re buying
• Where are you buying it from?  Would you be able to return it?  Do you trust them?
• What’s the brand?  Does it have a reputation?
• Bring a musician friend to listen, your perspective isn’t all that objective as you play.