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ABOUT MY "BIGSAX"
I bought my Conn 10M tenor sax in 1964 from a local sax player who had played it in the Navy band during World War II. The case was tattered and the horn was without a neck. I found a music supply store on Halsted street in Chicago, and bought a replacement neck that came from one of many shoeboxes that lined the shelves in that dusty store. Few of the boxes were labeled. Amazing!
A few years later I found out that the horn was manufactured in 1937, (ser. #284794), It has been overhauled only twice, to my knowledge. In those days they dipped the body in an acid bath prior to buffing and lacquering. That made the sax look great but always removed some metal in the process. In my case most of the engraving on the bell is lost forever. Many of the old Conn tenors were beautifully engraved, mine included. Also, some of the dark sound that those Conns are famous for, is also gone.
I use a Peter Ponzol, M2, gold metal mouthpiece with a 120 tip opening. I've used Rico reeds, either "plain old Rico", or Rico Jazz (or their new equivalent) for years. Recently I've had a lot of success with VanDoren V16 and JAVA because they provide a little more brilliance and projection.
