Delving into the Obscure

For most of you blog buddies out there, the specifics of saxophones are probably already obscure; however, what gave me the inspiration for this post was my poll. If you'll notice, one person was a fan of the C melody saxophone which I didn't really cover in the different types of saxophone post, but because of its novelty and even its impact on society, I thought it deserved its own post.

This is taken from an insightful buyer's guide to saxophones which can be found here.


The C melody saxophone was originally intended to be a part of the orchestral set of saxophones which alternated between C and F instead of Eb and Bb. The C melody, however, took a different and unexpected role in popular culture. After the first world war, a great influx of saxophones that were used in military bands in the US became available. To boost sagging sales, American instrument manufacturers developed the C melody saxophone concept. Essentially, the saxophone was marketed as the easy way to play vocal music on a woodwind. And, since the saxophone is one of the easiest instruments to learn quickly, the popularity of the "new" instrument was truly phenomenal. During the 20's, it seemed as though every family had a C melody saxophone under the bed or in the closet. Unfortunately, the C melody saxophone died out as did other novelty saxes at the end of the 20's. Nowadays, C melodies are rarely played and not very valuable. Since there were so many produced, the collector value is not even that high. Many pawn shops have this infamous sax lurking behind the counter waiting for someone who doesn't know what it is.
About now you are asking yourself why C melodies are not played anymore. First, with the incorrect mouthpiece and reed (both exceedingly difficult to find) they can play quite out of tune. Often they are in terrible disrepair. They have an inherently muffled, "stuffy" sound, even when you can actually find an original C mouthpiece. The exceptions to this rule are the straight-necked Conn models (very awkward to play because of the way the neck forces the horn away from the body) and the rare Selmer Paris models. The primary dilemna associated with them is finding a mouthpiece that works. Alto mouthpieces are a little too small and tenor mouthpieces are too big. Saxophonist Bill Street has produced some new C mouthpieces, but he is definitely the exception and not the rule.
Furthermore, the cost of repadding this saxophone usually is greater than the value of the horn. With no written parts to play and "iffy" intonation, my recommendation is to stay away from these instruments unless you find one dirt cheap and just want to play it for fun. I recommend that you never pay over $200 for a C melody unless it is a rare example of something unique or plays particularly well. I once saw a Buescher C tenor that was engraved form stem to stern, inlaid in gold plating and had gold-plated keys. Obviously this horn is worth more than $200. There are also some nice gold-plated Conn C melodies out there that are good collectors' horns.