Italian soprano sax

Here's a neat old soprano marked Caravelle Brittany but probably made by Borgani in Italy.

The modern Borgani company makes very nice professional instruments, but "back in the day" they made mostly student/intermediate instruments.  This soprano is well made and probably not in the "pro" category but honestly way too nice to be a student horn.
This sax came to me in pretty good shape.  It needed a basic tear down/clean/reassemble/adjust procedure done, I think I replaced one pad, made some minor adjustments. 
It plays well and really has a nice, singing tone.  I have another one of these, identical,  that I'll be restoring soon.  I'm impressed,  these can be had pretty cheap and are WAY better than anything else in the sub $500 range. 

Evette & Schaeffer by Malerne alto

So I've posted previously about some other Evette & Schaeffer horns,  an alto and tenor both made for Buffet by Santoni in Italy.
Here's a different example, still made for Buffet, but by Malerne of France.  These were made earlier than the Italian made horns, probably 1960's if I had to guess.

I love this horn!  The patina to the body,  the key guard design,  the sound.  Its a fantastic horn.  In this case the horn didn't need any new pads, which is a miracle really.  I almost always have to replace a few pads in the refurbishment process.   The pads are older plain riveted style but somehow have mostly remained soft and in tact over the years.
After a full tear down and setup I was pleased as punch to find this horn plays and sounds as good as it looks.  I am admittedly a Francophile, so maybe I'm biased, but I like these Malerne made horns a tiny bit more than the Italian ones (which are totally solid).

Particularly this horn just sings in the upper register.

Also the original case looks very cool.  Too bad the horn just flops around inside it! (very common for older cases).

Selmer Bundy tenor sax

Here's an interesting example of the 1970's era Selmer Bundy tenor sax.
Notice the finish,  its not lacquered but painted!  This was done at the factory,  an attempt to make a durable finish for student usage.  It has held up pretty well, looks "different" but it kinda grows on you.
At this point in the Selmer Bundy sax line, still very much pre-Bundy II,  the horns were basically identical to the late Buescher Aristocrat line.  Selmer bought out Buescher in the early 60's and used the same stuff to build the Bundy's.  That's why the old Bundy's are such decent horns,  they're basically Buescher's.
This horn came to me fairly well beat, it already had its share of past abuse and sloppy repairs,  and I had to do some dent work, soldering, cleaning, basic servicing. 
It came out well,  the horn, although worn, plays well top to bottom and will live on as someone elses instrument for years to come.

Conn "transitional" alto sax

Here's a gem of a horn, an early run Conn "transitional" alto.
The "transitional" horns are named so because they represent a change, over the course of several years, from the previous "New Wonder" model horns to the 6M horns.  At some point Conn started instituting changes in the older models, adding a feature or two at a time.   Slowly the New Wonders became updated,  eventually to become the 6M model in the 1930's.

This particular alto is very early in this transition period.  In fact,  the only real distinguishing characteristic besides serial number that would tell me its a tranny is the raised/sculpted side E touch piece.  The New Wonder's didn't have this feature and it was the 1st design change instituted. 
So basically, for all intents an purposes, this is a late New Wonder II model.

Its a fantastic horn!  It has the plainest engraving, simply CG Conn with no picture, and likely was bare brass out of the factory.  At some point,  a long long time ago,  someone had it lacquered.  It was done well and has aged very nicely!
The body and neck are really ding free and straight and after restoration the horn plays just wonderfully!
My favorite part of this job was overhauling the microtuner neck, which is  one of my favorite things to do.  This one had little wear but was very slow to move.  After overhaul it works like a dream!