GetASax Pro Saxophones

The next generation of listing saxophones is here! Over the past year we have been experimenting with using a cinema rig to take high quality videos of our horns. Starting this month, those videos are going to start hitting our listings. Also, did you know we have a new website?!?!

This is a really special one for me. I studied with Branford so getting to record the horn on some of my favorite records is a wild experience. I tried to not over think it!!!

This is a beautiful dark lacquered original lacquer Selmer Mark VI alto from one of the very first days of 1964. If your birthday is the first week of January, this might be for you! I love the look of this one. It has had a bow dent removed where you see that lacquer missing on the back of the bow, and some minor dings elsewhere like a tiny one side of the neck, under the E/EB post, and one or two on the back of the body tube, and a crease removed from the bell flare. A couple feet of the C and Eb keyguards are resoldered as well. Basically, this was played a decent amount and it got a few standard bumps from use, all of which have been fixed in the course of the overhaul and done well. The overhaul was done with black kangaroo pads and domed metal resonators, and the horn plays really well on them. It has a dark, focused, powerful tone that is rich and complex. It would be GREAT for jazz. Brightens up well with a brighter mouthpiece like a GS New York, or keep it dark with something like a Brilhart or MC Gregory etc. If you want a great playing original lacquer Mark VI that is just past the 5-digit serial range but plays with all the sound and quality of one, and that is also priced lower, that's what this is. It also comes with that nice looking vintage Selmer hard case. Great buy for someone who wants a serious vintage Selmer Mark VI alto that has already been overhauled, will hold its value well while you own it, and that plays really well. You won't want to put it down! Only one available! Selmer Mark VI Alto 1964 Original Lacquer Overhauled! 110619

This is a beautiful Selmer SBA tenor from 1947 that just received a full overhaul with all new everything. It was done extremely well with Pisoni Italian leather pads and nice, slightly domed reusable brass resonators. It feels like a brand new horn under the fingers - dry, snappy, and pads sealing with a pleasant, musical thunk. This is one of the earliest SBA’s, and the tone has some Balanced Action in it - warm, moderately spread, extremely rich and room-filling. Besides the new coat of lacquer that it got, there’s not much to mention on this SBA condition-wise. It looks like some minor dents were removed from the back of the bow area, and there are some scratches on the bell from a metal saxophone stand, but that’s about it. I don’t see any resolders, and there are no current dents or dings. The engraving is still sharp and looks gorgeous. The original neck has not been damaged or pulled down and plays great! If you’re a player looking for a serious vintage Selmer and you don’t mind saving like $8k off the price for the new coat of lacquer, this is a fantastic opportunity to get a great playing and beautiful Selmer SBA tenor for a very reasonable price. I put it in a Selmer Supreme case just for fun, but we could swap it to a BAM Classic or Softpack if you prefer. Only one available!

This amazing Selmer Balanced Action tenor just got a full overhaul that will be completed today or tomorrow. Pisoni Italian leather pads, reusable slightly domed brass resonators, and everything back to mechanically perfect. It will feel brand new under the fingers. I will update photos asap and it will come in a BAM classic tenors case that fits it perfectly for shipping safely and gigging. In terms of general condition, it was in very good condition and had been refinished once. They did a good job so that the original engraving is still pretty sharp. In terms of past repairs, you can see a small dent was removed above the thumb hook, and a foot of the Eb key guard was resoldered. The neck has a piece of extra brass on the bottom of the neck. I may actually remove that and just repair/anneal the neck after the overhaul is finished. It should not be too hard. The 29k 1939-40 BA tenors are I think the best sounding Selmer tenors ever made. That’s why it’s worth fixing this one up to play its very best. It is a really amazing tone that is dark, spread, extremely rich and pleasant, and that still has plenty of power. I play one like this myself. Selmer Balanced Action Tenor Fresh Overhaul! Best Vintage! 29423

Gently relacquered Mark VI tenor from 1959 and only 41 digits away from my personal VI tenor that I will never sell! It is basically impossible to find a better vintage of Mark VI tenor in my opinion than the late 81k range. This horn looks almost original, as the engraving at this serial was done with a light hand originally, and the relacquer hasn't changed the look very much. It's likely a factory relacquer as well, since this looks like Selmer lacquer and everything was done very carefully with minimal buffing. I just couldn't resist giving this horn a full overhaul pre-sale. It just plays SO well, and feels great under the fingers as well - dry and snappy like a new saxophone, with effortless subtone and nice saturation. The tone is dark, focused, 'woody' and powerful, with a solid core to it. The original neck has matching serial number and has no dents or dings and no past or current pull down. Really great! There have been some normal playing sort of chair dents removed from the back of the bow and body tube, and there are no dents or dings now. I don't even see any resoldered key guard feet or any other repairs, which means this horn was played a lot because it plays well, but it was also very well cared for with minimal past repairs and no neck damage. I put it in the nice 50's Chesterfield case with original case cover. The zipper on the case is not working, but the case cover zipper does the job just as well. If you prefer it in a new BAM Classic case or something, we can do that instead. Either way, it will get to you safely. This is a superb Mark VI tenor, and I hope it will go to a player who really wants a great one. Only one available! Selmer Mark VI Tenor 1959 Overhauled + Excellent! 81976

This is a FANTASTIC vintage King SilverSonic Tenor Saxophone in basically the best version of the Silversonic. It has the gold in the engraving, solid silver neck and bell, double socket neck, and a recent overhaul by Matt Stohrer, followed by a fresh tune up by Matt, and it plays so effortlessly. The tone is fat, projecting, powerful, and the low register is saturated and easy even at low volumes. I think you will be pleased! I'm kind of shocked that some of the best vintage saxophones ever made, like this one, remain fairly affordable compared to an equivalently good example of almost any other type of musical instrument. This tenor is one of the best of the vintage Kings, and should be absolutely a delight to own, play, collect, or use to keep a section under control. There's nothing louder when pushed. King Silversonic Tenor Matt Stohrer Overhaul Very Good Condition Original 375203

This is a powerful, late Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone from 1974. It has an Eric Marienthal sort of brightness to it that some people obsessively search for in a Mark VI. This is one of the good ones!! It has original lacquer and American-engraving, which is the version you want on these. The late ones like this have better low note stability and intonation than all other Mark VI altos, and they play great, with lots of 'zing' and projection. This ones comes in on consignment from the estate of a Hollywood studio player and it has a really nice commercial alto sound, though you can obviously take it in whatever direction you like and it will sound great. The pads are medium way through their usable life, and you should budget a few hundred a year for a few years on tune ups if you want this to get its pads replaced before too long and you plan to play it a a lot. The nice thing about a VI alto is that it is the most flexible saxophone ever - it does everything pretty well, from classical repertoire to concert band to jazz to rock and everything else. Not only that, but it also holds its value the best of any saxophone while you own and enjoy it. So if you ever need to sell it you get all or most of your money back and the cost of ownership is very low. This one has been played a decent amount, so it shows some lacquer wear and some evidence of some small dings getting removed over the years, but it was pro-owned and well cared-for, and Selmers like this are also just about the easiest saxophones to maintain, as repair people love to work on them. So if you want a nice, bright, projecting VI alto with original lacquer that is priced below a new Yamaha, and that is way more fun for jazz and commercial music, you coudn't do better than this!

Here is a vintage conn tenor so nice that it literally could not be manufactured today. Nobody engraves like this on instruments anymore and nobody offers a burnished gold finish, nor would the labor be available to do it even if you wanted it done. It's a thick layer of real gold all over the instrument, and it's pretty wild that anyone ever did this. This is a Conn New Wonder II tenor from 1929 that has my favorite engraving pattern that Conn offered - an old castle on a hill - reminds me of the part of Germany along the Rhine where such castles watched each stretch of the river. It's such a beautiful instrument, and the late New Wonder II tenors also have just about the biggest sound of any tenor ever made. My previous assistant who plays big band tenor ended up with two of these after hanging around GetASax for a few years, and he just sounds amazing on them. One was gold just like this. I'm not sure who did the overhaul, but it looks like Pisoni Italian leather pads and the TenorMadness reusable slightly domed brass resonators that I would have picked for this if I had been getting it overhauled myself for GetASax. The only flaw on this horn is the neck had been pulled down in the past. I sent it to Aaron Barnard for repair, and it will come back soon and I'll post neck photos, but it was a pretty bad pull down and will probably get annealed to un-work-harden the brass on the sides. Probably this was the result of decades of small flexing of the neck. My guess is the original owner always adjusted the mouthpiece tuning while the neck was on the horn, and it just flexed ever so slightly each time. Anyway, the repair at Aaron should get this all fixed up and the horn will be ready for its next 100 years of life. Conn NWII Tenor 1929 Burnished Gold Plate Castle Portrait Overhauled Amazing! 228355

A first look at our new effects pedal series. We’re diving deep into using effects with the saxophone. Whether you’re casually curious or a pro searching for creative pedal ideas, we’re excited to make this information more accessible than ever. Stay tuned!

This is a beautiful original lacquer Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone from 1959, and one of the most desirable vintage alto saxophones out of basically anything I can think of. The 80k range has been the most popular for Mark VI's for as long as I can remember. My personal VI altos over the years have been 82k and 84k serial, so I guess I can also count myself as another data point among the players who prefer this serial range (and my tenor is 81k). The tone of this horn is dark, powerful, focused, and tenor-like in a good way - bigger than a normal alto, and very colorful and complex. It's not magically way better than any other alto, but it is definitely a really good one. The overhaul was done by Sebastien Tassé in Montreal, and he did a great job on it. The horn was entirely original condition before overhaul, including original pads and resonators. Original Tonex resos were reused on the new pads. Original neck has the matching serial number. Everything feels dry, tight, and snappy under the fingers, and this feels like a new horn to play. There are no past repairs or resolders. No dent work, no past or present neck damage or pull down. It has some regular lacquer wear on touch points, and that's the only thing that takes it out of the near mint category. It's easily 'excellent' condition and has to be one of the nicest 80k serial altos in existence. Original case comes with it. It's actually kind of weird to me, that despite saxophone being an extremely popular instrument, the best saxophones ever made are still not that much more expensive than just a regular new saxophone made today. A regular Selmer Supreme is $9100 on Sweetwater, and for not that much more, you can get this amazing, overhauled, original lacquer 1959 Mark VI! I know the vintage guitar market pretty well, and this would never happen there, nor among string instruments of any kind. But for the time being, you can still get a prime serial VI for a quite reasonable price, or even a later serial VI for the price of a Yamaha.

The Keilwerth Shadow tenor saxophone is Keilwerth's top of the line model and one of the best modern tenors on the market. It sits alone in the category of having a dark, complex tone with a fat, full-sounding upper register. Keilwerth was inspired by the tone of Conn saxophones of the 1930's (which is what I play), and you can easily tell that when you play them side by side with a great Conn. The Keilwerth has the advantage of being new instead of 90 years old, and also of having comfortable, fully modern keywork unlike the Conn (though I think the old Conn keywork is better than you might think). The Shadow is an 'honest' finish where the entire saxophone is made of solid nickel silver and is then plated with black nickel plate. The engraving is cut by hand through the black nickel into the nickel silver to give it that gorgeous two-tone look. It's really satisfying to experience, and it's one of the best looking horns made today. Keilwerth remains a small manufacturer of only professional instruments in Germany, and the quality control and build quality is high. The Shadow model is basically an SX-90R with rolled tone holes and all the bells and whistles, plus the solid nickel silver. The upgrade metal gives it a bit of extra power and complexity versus brass, and it also just looks cool. The great thing about the dark, fat tone of a Keilwerth is that you can pair it with a really bright mouthpiece like a Guardala, an EB Link, or a Berg or a brighter FL Link etc and it doesn't get shrill. If what you want to do is project over a band or over a DJ or a tenor section, or play in a wedding band or play R&B or rock, this is a huge benefit, and it's probably the #1 reason people get a Keilwerth like this. Nothing else does that as well. Grover Washington Jr was the most famous exponent of Keilwerth tone for R&B/Soul and thousands of other players have taken the hint. But it works just as well as a swing band tenor to get that Conn/Basie band tone with a 40's style darker mouthpiece like a Reso Chamber Link. So you really can't go wrong. These horns now go for big money new.