Lyon Healey Bb soprano sax

This was a great great project!  Lyon & Healey of Chicago never made their own horns but had other folks implement their designs.  I was sure this was a Martin instrument due to the soldered on beveled tone holes,  but it was brought to my attention that this was likely made by Courtier of Elkhart....learn something new every day!
Anyway this horn needed so much work.  It was beyond filthy when I got it,  although mostly complete.  It was however completely missing a tone hole which I fabricated from brass stock on my Taig lathe.  That part came out better than expected!
The actual overhaul part of the horn went very smoothly,  the mechanics were overhauled too via swedging and countersinking of pivots,  the end result being a very nice playing horn!  
I really would have loved to keep this horn,  I love the engraving and it plays and sounds just lovely!

Martin stencil alto (Silvertone)

Oh boy here's another Martin!  This one has been around our house for some time,  as it has been my partners main axe for a number of years now.  She's moving on now as she's now in love with an old King!
This horn is splendid.  It was made for Sears and marked "Silvertone",  came out of the Martin factory I'm guessing 1950's......it has same side bell keys and a Front F key.    As some folks say "a Martin is a Martin is a Martin".............this horn has that unmistakable Martin sound!   I actually haven't done much work to this horn as it came to us in great playing shape and has been well maintained.   Whoever the new owner is will be very very satisfied with this instrument!
By the way I have a friend who's been dealing with old horns for many years,  he tells me that often times the Silvertone horns are very good.......perhaps whoever was doing the buying for Sears was good at getting the good ones?  At least for some period of time? Who knows!

Martin Freres Lamonte Bb clarinet

Ok so I usually highlight really neat old vintage instruments here but sometimes I like to highlight decent lower end instruments that come through.  This Martin Freres Lamonte Bb clarinet  is still vintage as it was likely made in the 50s or so,  but it is certainly a student instrument.  I have a few of these that were literally given to me or traded for next to nothing.  Looking online you won't find much positive info on these other than they were low end student models.
I was not expecting much.  Luckily the wood was crack free and most of the pads were ok,  so I stripped it down and oiled the bore and body.  I think I ended up replacing one pad and some missing key cork, made some adjustments,  the usual.  I could tell by working on it that the keywork was fairly crude,  not a lot of time or effort was put in on this instrument. 
However,  when I play tested I was pleasantly surprised!  Yes because of the keywork it is a little clunky to get around on, but the tone was not half bad!  Certainly I feel like this instrument is still low end and suitable for someones first wood clarinet or a returning adult..........but its not terrible by any means.  Maybe I got one of the decent ones, who knows.  I'll find out soon as I work through the pile,  I think there are two more in the basement!

1920's HN White King GOLD!!!

Oh my this horn is something else!  This is the first 1920's HN White I've had my hands on,  at least that I can remember.   These old kings had fairly advanced keywork for the time......Front F key even on this early 20's horn!  Also the G# key cup is located on the back of the body tube,  both octave vents are slanted,  and the G# key has no stop for the touch piece (which takes some getting used to).
The tone is AWESOME!  Pretty bright for an old American horn,  this one plays on mostly older pads and really could use an overhaul (which it may end up getting!).
The plating is burnished gold and the engraving is exquisite! 
Also even the case is pretty neat,  it has space for holding a Bb clarinet in the lid for the doublers out there! 
It looks like this horn is actually sticking around.......after being listed for sale my partner fell in love with it!

1920's Buescher True Tone Alto

This horn really sings!  This is a 1920s Buescher True Tone alto saxophone that just went through the workshop here.  The silver plating was quite worn and stained,   but everything else was pretty straight and good to go!  With this horn I replaced any worn pads and missing key cork,  fully adjusted the keywork,  and of course a clean and polish.   I was knocked out by the tone when I did the first play test...........these True Tone altos are famous for their tone and the later ones are even particularly known for being THE classical horn.........due to Rascher and his followers.
This is the first series of the True Tones.  Later models had a front F key and better neck,  the neck on these early ones didn't have the best intonation for the upper register,  although quite honestly on this horn I didn't notice anything too out of the ordinary.
I really hope to work on many more of these,  I love them!

Couesnon Bb clarinet

So there's a story to all of these instruments,  this one is no exception.
I saw this old Couesnon Bb clarinet at a pawn shop that I frequent,   the price was too high so I waited and waited (they're the kind of place that won't take offers, which is not common).
Finally the price got down to reality.........and I pulled the trigger.

Just recently I had time to give it a refurbishment along with new leather pads.   I was struck by the quality of the wood,  which was crack free,  the perfection of the tone holes (which can be sometimes bad on an old wood instrument!), and the well wrought key work.

Needless to say when I was done and was able to play test I totally fell in love!  I end up selling mostly all the instruments I have here because I have to make a living,  and this clarinet was no exception.  I put it up for sale but then changed my mind,  the more I played it the more I liked it!

The key setup is basic Boehm but the instrument is old enough that it still has the wraparound register key, I would say its pre-1920's.  Couesnon didn't mark their models at this point,  they were all on the same level,  that is professional.
The bore is smallish by modern standards at approx 14.65mm, but this allows for a very sweet centered tone and above average intonation.
I typically try to match the bore of the mouthpiece to the barrel and I had a hard time finding something I liked until I tried an old French mouthpiece that I believe is a Riffault,  its marked "France" and G8........the bore is slightly larger than the barrel at 14.75" but in this case the results are excellent...........its close enough that the intonation is fine and the instrument just sings and sings!   I look forward to keeping this instrument around for a long long time,  pure joy!

Conn Albert system clarinet

Albert system clarinets..........alot of people don't really know what this means,  if they do they just think of an antiquated instrument that is only used by a very few people these days.   It is true they are not used by many folks,  with the Boehm system of keywork being by far the type of clarinet someone plays and is familiar with.
Now as for me,  I LOVE Albert system clarinets.    I really got a taste of their uniqueness while living in Philadelphia, I happened to buy out a large lot of old Albert system clarinet that kept me busy for most of a year.  At this point I've probably worked on more of these instruments than standard Boehm ones! 
To be very basic about the differences between the Albert system and Boehm,  I can say that obviously the Albert has less keys and less options for hitting each note.  Whereas on a Boehm instrument there are usually at least two ways to  hit most notes on the Albert there is often only one.  For example your low note,  which can be hit by EITHER pinky on a Boehm instrument,  can only be played by using BOTH pinkys on an Albert.
I think if you are playing modern classical music then the stripped down nature of of the Albert would surely be a burden (although one has to remember that until Boehm instruments came in to use everyone played the standard classical repertoire on Albert clarinets!).
What I love about the Albert's is the simple nature of the keywork and the flexibility of tonality that it allows for.   The system is a little less refined so notes can REALLY be bent in many directions which is great for coloring your playing,  microtonal things are possible for sure.  That is why the instruments are still in favor for folks playing very expressive forms of folk music,  Greek and Turkish music,  Dixieland & traditional jazz, and Klezmer all come to mind.  

Now this instrument in particular.........its an old 1919 Conn and its made of Ebonite,  which I think is great!  The toneholes are in great shape because they don't wear down or get chipped like wood does and of course no cracks in the instrument to deal with.
This one isn't marked with a model # but I think its the 14N due to the extra keys,  it has a duplicate left hand pinky lever and 5 rings.  
It is in Bb and is Low Pitch so it plays to A-440.
Conn doesn't necessarily have a great reputation for clarinets like they do for saxophones,  but I have to say after working on some the older Conns with the "eagle" trademark,  they're quite decent!   The bore is fairly narrow at 14.65mm which is pretty normal for that era,  the only issue is finding a smaller bore mouthpiece,  as using a modern wide bore mouthpiece may present some tuning issues.

Martin Pan American tenor

Well here's a neat old horn for you to check out.   This tenor saxophone is labeled Pan American which is the classic Conn made "student" or second line horn by the folks at CG Conn.   However,  this one is NOT made by Conn!  Apparently in the later 50's the contracted to have Martin make horns for them with the Pan American engraving.  This horn is one of them,  bearing all the classic features of a Martin made horn, in fact this horn is identical to a Martin Indiana except for the key guards as far as I can tell.   This horn showed up at my door very dinged up, missing pads,  bent keys, broken side Bb key.
Many hours later this is the end result.  Certainly showing some signs of use,  lacquer loss, some evidence of past abuses,  some bad previous solder jobs (not by me!),  but it plays and sounds awesome!  I used Ferrees pads for this horn,  which I tend to use for almost everything,  this horn was set up with flat metal resonators. 
There wasn't anything out of the ordinary that needed done on this horn, but ALOT of basic work:  dents and dings needed ironed out,  some posts needed resoldered,  key guards needed resoldered,  broken needle and flat springs,  tone holes leveled,  many bent keys,  some bent key rods,  minor slop in the keywork leading to swedging and pivot countersinking,  etc.
All in all this horn is very comfortable to play and has a gorgeous Martin tone!