Martin Handcraft Mater aka Typewriter alto saxophone

Here's a rare treat, a Martin Typewriter!  These were never called that by Martin but they are nicknamed that since the pearls look like typewriter keys.  These horns have a pearl on EVERY key, not a roller to be found!  It does take some getting used to but these can be totally playable once you get used to it.  This horn in particular needed major cleaning and polishing but the pads turned out to be mostly usable!  The build quality and sound are just like any other Martin sax, outstanding.  

Cousenon Albert system Bb clarinet

Here's a lovely old Cousenon Bb clarinet with Albert system fingering.
Cousenon made great stuff, and this was a nice playing instrument.  As I usually do, this clarinet was re padded with high quality Pisoni leather pads and restored to playing condition.   The barrel had a tight crack that needed filled but when it was done it was barely visible.  This was a fun instrument to play, fantastic & flexible tone.

Buescher True Tone series III alto saxophone

Here's another smashing old Buesher True Tone, a series III variety.
This horn came to me without a case, missing some things, but all in all straight and clean.  I tracked down the missing octave mech bit and restored this horn last winter,  it turned out great!  So great in fact that my partner decided to keep this horn as her main axe, which it was until a Series IV TT came along that she liked even better.
These horns are just fantastic sounding, pretty comfortable, lots of harmonic spread in the tone.   Lovely.  The differences in the various Series' have to do with the evolution of the horns by Buescher.  This one is a Series III, the only differences between this and a series IV are a different engraving and a nice little roller arm on the for the G#.  They both have the more modern pinky table (pearl G# touch piece as opposed to a button in the earlier TT's) and better intonated #1 neck. 
Probably my favorite horns here!

Conn New Wonder I alto saxophone

What a lovely horn here, a mid 20's Conn New Wonder series I alto sax in silver plate.  This horn needed just about everything but it was well worth it, when everything was done I was left with a great playing and sounding horn.   These old NW's are very powerful!  You can really fill a room with the right mouthpiece.  And I love the microtuner neck, this one was overhauled and worked perfectly.   Love these!

1930's Buescher Aristocrat I alto saxophone

Ok so admittedly over here at Abracadabra's headquarters Buescher horns typically are the favorite, they always win shootouts!  And here's another lovely old Buescher that came through,  an Aristocrat series I.  These were the horns made after the True Tone series and offer an evolution of the previous models.  Besides having the bell keys on one side instead of split, there are some other differences which are subtle but with the neck upgrade these horns do play a little better in tune than the True Tones.  However,  in an intensive side by side playing comparison with a series IV True Tone we at Abracadabra's still prefer the tone of the the old True Tones!  Its a slight difference but its there, the older horns have slightly more character.

Pan American soprano saxophone

Here's a nice old Conn made "Pan American" Bb soprano sax in silver plate.
I bought this fully expecting it to need an overhaul...I was wrong!  This horn played right out of the box with minor tweeks!  I just love these old sopranos and Conn really made a nice one here.  In fact I kept this horn around for quite awhile before I decided to part with it, I really dug it.   These are very similar to what a Conn New Wonder II would be,  but with slightly different key work. 

1920s Martin Handcraft

Ah, Martin saxophones, so lovely!  Here's very nice example of a mid 1920's Martin Handcraft alto.  This one was likely bare brass out of the factory and lacquered later in its life, what is known as a "first lacquer" (not to be confused with a re-lacquer). 
The horn was very clean!  Hardly a ding to be found, very nice lacquer condition, straight as an arrow.  The old pads were still supple and usable for the most part, I replaced a few that were too hard/too far gone.  This instrument was given a basic servicing,  tear down and clean/de grease, reassembly with new materials as needed, full adjustment, new neck cork.   Didn't need a heck of a lot!
The register mechanism on these old Martins is something else...its really a Rune Goldberg sort of affair, many moving parts and pieces!  Luckily this one was basically functioning before I got it so I just had to make some minor tweeks.
The sound is of course lush and lovely, everything you'd expect from an old Martin.  And did I mention these horns are heavy? They didn't skimp on materials here, that's for sure!