Buffet-Crampon Super Dynaction
Finally, after months of research and looking at pictures and combing my memory for the sound of these horns, I recently came into possession of a 1959 Buffet-Crampon Super Dynaction tenor sax (SN 64xx, for those of you playing the home game). It came in need of some repair and it had obviously lived a hard life before it came to me, so I resolved to take good care of the fine old fellow and give him the life he was built for.
Initially, I was a little disappointed in the horn because it didn't really play "out of the box." There was a serious leak in the left-hand stack which impacted pretty much everything below written C5, and the only mouthpiece I had was this high-baffle buzz saw piece by Beechler that made a heinous racket with the notes that did work. So I took the horn to one shop here in town where the techs I talked to (including the owner and namesake of the store) pretty much made fun of me and my new horn for twenty minutes or so before telling me that it needed repairs in excess of $450. Needless to say I was both shocked an skeptical, so I brought the horn back to my own music shop and had our woodwind tech check it out. He made a far more reasonable bid for repairs (and was a good deal nicer to me), so I had him do some work. Make no mistake: there are some expensive repairs in this horn's future, but they can all wait for quite some time.
Now, the horn. After having been repaired and put together with an Otto Link Super Tone Master 7*, it is superb. Buffet, although quite well-known for their clarinets, never really broke into the Selmer-dominated US sax market in the middle part of the last century, and although there's talk of them reviving their production of saxophones, they halted production in the sax department in the mid-1980s. When they were making saxes, though, the Super Dynaction was built with the intention of competing with Selmer's legendary Mark VI. Never having played a Mark VI tenor, I can't really compare the two, but I can say that my new-to-me Super Dynaction compares very favorably to the other Selmers I have played. In short, it's a great horn with phenomenal action, a really lush, dark-yet-edgy tone, and remarkably good ergonomics for a vintage horn. Here. Check it out.
Isn't it cool? The lacquer is pretty worn in a bunch of spots which really gives it that groovy vintage look. It's neat to try and imagine the life this horn has had. I know, for example, that at least one of the previous owners (I'm not sure how many there have been) enjoyed drinking while he played; inside the case (which is original) there are several rings from sweating glasses being left on the flat velvet surfaces. All in all, it's a great horn and I am deeply satisfied with my purchase.
For those of you who have made it this far, well done. Fair warning, though: things are about to get a whole bunch more saxy, so if you're not a saxhead, you may want to grab yourself some gin. (If you are a saxhead, you're probably already drunk... you lushes.) See, here's the deal. In my sax life, I have played a 1960s-era Conn 14M alto; a 1989 Yamaha 62 alto; Selmer Series II alto and tenor, Series III tenor, and, most recently, both Selmer's Reference 36 and 54 tenors. And, of course, I've played my new Buffet Super Dynaction. Firstly, let me say that Selmer makes an outstanding instrument; there's no doubt about that. But having lived with their Series horns for three years and now coming to a non-Selmer tenor, I really have to say that I don't think I'm really a Selmer guy. G-Money's Reference 36 is an excellent horn, and after playing the 54 I fully agree with him that the 36 is superior in every way. But if I hada choice, Selmers are just not my bag.
My father's Conn was the first horn I ever played (possibly the first one I ever heard too), and although the action was so stiff that my hands usually hurt after I was done playing, I really liked playing it. From that horn, I went to my YAS-62 alto, and I've got to say that I love Yamaha saxes. Every once in a while, I would come back from rehearsal or practicing on the college's II or III tenors and just play a little scale action on my Yamaha to feel the keys under my fingers. (It sounds stupid and unlikely, given my lazy practice habits, but it's actually true.)
Now, I'm not trying to hate on Selmer or say that they don't make exceptionally fine saxophones; certainly, if I could afford to buy anything out of the Selmer Paris shop, I might be whistling a different tune. But for now, I really think I'm just not a Selmer guy. I'm looking at acquiring a new soprano in the fall, and my top choice right now is the Yanagisawa S901. That could certainly change in the next few months, but since the difference in price between that horn and the comparable Selmer model is roughly equivalent to a long weekend in New York (airfare included), I don't think Selmer's going to make the cut.
Initially, I was a little disappointed in the horn because it didn't really play "out of the box." There was a serious leak in the left-hand stack which impacted pretty much everything below written C5, and the only mouthpiece I had was this high-baffle buzz saw piece by Beechler that made a heinous racket with the notes that did work. So I took the horn to one shop here in town where the techs I talked to (including the owner and namesake of the store) pretty much made fun of me and my new horn for twenty minutes or so before telling me that it needed repairs in excess of $450. Needless to say I was both shocked an skeptical, so I brought the horn back to my own music shop and had our woodwind tech check it out. He made a far more reasonable bid for repairs (and was a good deal nicer to me), so I had him do some work. Make no mistake: there are some expensive repairs in this horn's future, but they can all wait for quite some time.
Now, the horn. After having been repaired and put together with an Otto Link Super Tone Master 7*, it is superb. Buffet, although quite well-known for their clarinets, never really broke into the Selmer-dominated US sax market in the middle part of the last century, and although there's talk of them reviving their production of saxophones, they halted production in the sax department in the mid-1980s. When they were making saxes, though, the Super Dynaction was built with the intention of competing with Selmer's legendary Mark VI. Never having played a Mark VI tenor, I can't really compare the two, but I can say that my new-to-me Super Dynaction compares very favorably to the other Selmers I have played. In short, it's a great horn with phenomenal action, a really lush, dark-yet-edgy tone, and remarkably good ergonomics for a vintage horn. Here. Check it out.
Isn't it cool? The lacquer is pretty worn in a bunch of spots which really gives it that groovy vintage look. It's neat to try and imagine the life this horn has had. I know, for example, that at least one of the previous owners (I'm not sure how many there have been) enjoyed drinking while he played; inside the case (which is original) there are several rings from sweating glasses being left on the flat velvet surfaces. All in all, it's a great horn and I am deeply satisfied with my purchase.
For those of you who have made it this far, well done. Fair warning, though: things are about to get a whole bunch more saxy, so if you're not a saxhead, you may want to grab yourself some gin. (If you are a saxhead, you're probably already drunk... you lushes.) See, here's the deal. In my sax life, I have played a 1960s-era Conn 14M alto; a 1989 Yamaha 62 alto; Selmer Series II alto and tenor, Series III tenor, and, most recently, both Selmer's Reference 36 and 54 tenors. And, of course, I've played my new Buffet Super Dynaction. Firstly, let me say that Selmer makes an outstanding instrument; there's no doubt about that. But having lived with their Series horns for three years and now coming to a non-Selmer tenor, I really have to say that I don't think I'm really a Selmer guy. G-Money's Reference 36 is an excellent horn, and after playing the 54 I fully agree with him that the 36 is superior in every way. But if I hada choice, Selmers are just not my bag.
My father's Conn was the first horn I ever played (possibly the first one I ever heard too), and although the action was so stiff that my hands usually hurt after I was done playing, I really liked playing it. From that horn, I went to my YAS-62 alto, and I've got to say that I love Yamaha saxes. Every once in a while, I would come back from rehearsal or practicing on the college's II or III tenors and just play a little scale action on my Yamaha to feel the keys under my fingers. (It sounds stupid and unlikely, given my lazy practice habits, but it's actually true.)
Now, I'm not trying to hate on Selmer or say that they don't make exceptionally fine saxophones; certainly, if I could afford to buy anything out of the Selmer Paris shop, I might be whistling a different tune. But for now, I really think I'm just not a Selmer guy. I'm looking at acquiring a new soprano in the fall, and my top choice right now is the Yanagisawa S901. That could certainly change in the next few months, but since the difference in price between that horn and the comparable Selmer model is roughly equivalent to a long weekend in New York (airfare included), I don't think Selmer's going to make the cut.
posted by Buckwalter at 9:49 AM
2 Comments:
Well this is an old, old thread, but I found your comments helpful all the same. I am presently looking around for either a Buffet SDA or S1.
Hope you are still serenading your SDA. Thanks for keeping your old logs up.
I have both SDA tenor and alto, and without hesitation, they are some of the most killing horns I have played.
I don't know the current playing conditions of your SDA tenor, but one in top conditions can take on any good Mark VI, Conn 10M, King Super 20, Martin, or Buescher Top-Hat-and-Cane out there.
Like you, I don't bash Selmer. But the true is not all Mark 6's are good, and, thus, a lot of folks out there pay a lot of money for a bad horn with a good name.
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