Vintage Conn/Bruno Stencil Straight Soprano Saxophone For Sale

This original Conn Stencil soprano saxophone is; satin-silver ornickel-silver plated with a gold bell and was made in the late teens or early 1920s. It plays and sounds good for it\'s nearly 100 years of age. You can see from the photos that it still has the original white pads from that early period. They still work but I would consider replacing them for the best professional tone and performance. As you can see, I started polishing the body and keys when I first got it and had too many projects to completely finish it out. It does clean up well once you remove the tarnish. There are no dings in the body and the bell is perfectly straight. One post is missing but that upper key and pad still work.( I would at least replace the 3 small pads in that group.)This is a great horn for old time traditional/ragtime/jazz music and I really enjoy playing my otherhorn (which was also made by Conn), especially my version of John Coltrane\'s \"My Favorite Things\". I can still play that melody on the horn I\'m offering here but my Conn does it better as it has been completely redone with top of the line brown leather pads and adjusted to my playing preference. The horn says \"Bruno Perfection made inUSA NY\". The serial number is: P25473 with an S over the numbers and an L below, PATD DEC, 8, 1914, 1119954. The 1914 date was for the William S. Hanes drawn tone holes used to manufacture these horns. This is not the date the horn was made. The S stands for soprano in Bb, the L stands for low pitch or A=440. The P on the serial number is Conn\'s designation that it is a Stencil horn. Records for Stencils were lost in a fire many decades ago. The pearls are all there and the pads are intact. This horn is a keeper, but I\'m told that I have too many...Thanks for your interest. Perhaps I\'ve overdescribed this old horn, but I believe in honest and hate it when I get burned/stuck or took. In my research I\'ve found that these Stencil horns were made by the 3 top makers (Buescher, Conn and Martin)and this one was made for Bruno Music Co. in New York, NY, by Conn in their factory in Elkhart, Indiana. Today I stood both horns side by side and rotated them, comparing all features,they bothare exactly the same horn.Read all I have described, do some of your own research and if you win my sale you will have a great treasure from the past. By the way, I\'ve also found that thosepretty, off shore, inexpensive horns soundO.K. when you first start playing them and start going down hill because the guys making them use inferior techniques/metals and components. The parts don\'t hold up to playing stresses and you will end up disappointed with a cheap piece of junk. My feeling is you get what you pay for and if you buy American quality, you won\'t be let down and that is a proven fact in my book. BUY AMERICAN WHENEVER YOU CAN BUT DO YOUR HOMEWORK/RESEARCH whatever you buy.Thanks for listening to my preaching andif you like soprano saxophone, listen to Sidney B, not justKenny G. Cheers from a chilly Southwest Virginia.....EDO/AKA Ed Biggar (Google me if you dare)And remember Sidney Bechet was the one who started it all in New Orleans! Check out the Foot warmers...

---