I bought an ancient Lafleur C-Melody specifically to cover a high and complicated tenor part in B major. It arrived with its original pads intact and in its original cardboard case, all of which very quickly disintegrated. Once it was repadded the part was easier to play but the horn didn't blend well with the other saxes so I learned it on Bb tenor anyway. The original mouthpiece was horrible and I replaced it with a modern Faxx mouthpiece and had the neck drilled to take a piezo mic. I have yet to find a comfortable way of holding it when playing, though sitting with the bow resting on my knee seems to work. I dug it out early this year for an unplugged duet with a Chinese guzheng player and the sounds blended quite well together.
You played that 1920's sound. Isn't it great to work on an instrument & give him a new life after years of neglect. I've done it with a metal Bb Clt of the same vintage. There was mud from a wasps nest in the upper bore (been in a barn for 70yrs). A couple of springs & a re pad. I was lucky. And what thrill to play. You did a goob job with that C Melody & you sound great. Thanks for sharing that.
It's interesting to see or hear your response as, I have had a bunch of stock (old unstamped un-identifiable) MPCs with the horns I have in here, but they are "STUFFY" and quiet. I went to see a Jazz band the other night with a C-Mel player and he was playing the stocker and his horn.....needed amplifying. They didn't put a mic up to it, but when you could hear it is was stuffy and quiet. I have ordered the $35 MPC from ebay and that thing made the horns come alive! I'm not being argumentative, just having a "Huh..." moment.
Remember these instruments are from the 1920s when the concept of sound was quite different. The mouthpieces feel close and stuffy compared to modern mouthpieces with more open lays and higher baffles. But they are designed to make a warm, more gentle tone than we expect today. (Not that my tone here is that great!)
Hi, I've had an old C Melody sax that was my grandfather's. I played Alto about 45 years ago in Jr High and have always wondered about getting that C Melody repadded, but don't know who to contact, because I thought the pads may not be the same size as other saxes. Do you have any suggestions, as well as a ballpark on how much I would pay? Thanks a lot!
Where are you based, Scott? If you're in Australia you can send to us and we'll repad it and make it play better than new for $1500. Pad sizes are no problem. If you're not in Oz, we can probably recommend someone who can do it for you. Whether it's worth the money or not partly depends on who made the sax - what is stamped on it?
@@richardcraigwoodwind6087 Hi Richard. I'm in the US. I found another gentleman on TH-cam and sent him this email explaining my situation. To satisfy any curiosity you may have, I'll paste it here: I played alto sax in Jr High School (in the early 70's). While I was first chair and our band always got good ratings, I didn't really progress beyond playing the notes. Anyway, when my grandfather died, I inherited his Conn C Melody sax (serial number 209,634, which I found means it was made in 1928), which I've had in my closet since. I occasionally thought about getting it repadded, but didn't want to have it touched by a local repairman, who may never have seen one before. I think I was naive to think you could just repad a sax of this vintage and play away. Then, today, I came across your TH-cam channel. I appreciate your work and attention to detail, but doubt I can afford what you would charge. So, I'm torn. After seeing your video on this type of sax (New Wonder Series II), I either want to get it reconditioned, or maybe I should give up my fantasy and sell it. It seems to be in good shape, except it doesn't have a mouthpiece. It doesn't have the cracks near where you attach the neck, which you said was common. All the mother-of-pearl parts are intact. It does not have any damage that I can see. What I don't want to have happen is that I don't do anything, die, and have it sold at an estate sale and then on eBay. I live in Tallahasse, FL. Before Covid, I like to travel, so there is the possibility that at some point I could bring it up there so you could give me a better idea of what it needs and make a decision at that point, if that would work for you. If I decided to have you do the work (and you agreed to do it), I could leave it with you, as I wouldn't be able to play it until the work was done, realizing it may be a year or more, depending on what you have going on. Sorry for the lengthly email. I'd be happy to take (good) pictures, if you want me to for any reason. Thanks for your time. My wife used to repair old English saddles and was like you, refusing to do anything half-assed, as many customers wanted. I appreciate that and realize that I should either get it restored by you, or sell it to your friend at getasax.com, which would at least assure that it would receive a good home.
@@skeller61 Try Sam Skelton at atlantaprowinds.com Tell him Bret Gustafson referred you. I work with Bret - he's from the states so he knows lots of repair techs in the US. Sam will do a good job - he's about the closest guy we know.
The best reed and mouthpiece would be a period and brand correct one if you can find one, Tenor reeds kind of work but C-Mel reeds are available from the reed store. Morgan and GS reso make new C-mel mouthpieces YRMV i have not played a GS reso but enjoy playing my Morgan, but it isnt a mouthpiece i would play standing behind a pianist
It's an old C melody mouthpiece from the 1920s. I can't remember what stamp it had on it, but it was very similar to another one I bought on eBay which is stamped "The Buescher Elkhart.Ind". I tried one of those modern cheap molded plastic C melody mouthpieces but it was awful.
Yeah - tenor reeds are the right width. They are a bit too long but that didn't cause any problems. Not sure if the length of the scrape is perfect but they seemed to work well. I also tried modern alto and tenor mouthpieces but I really couldn't play the horn in tune with any of them, and also the response was horrible. Low notes very difficult with alto m/p, high notes difficult with tenor.
Yes. The mouthpiece and reeds are just slightly smaller than a tenor sax reed. I found the mouthpiece on eBay. The reeds are hard to come by but I have a few boxes.
The best Cmelody sound all times i heared, is by mr. Michael Ausserbauer. Simply amazing!
Thanks for your nice video and good sound.
I bought an ancient Lafleur C-Melody specifically to cover a high and complicated tenor part in B major. It arrived with its original pads intact and in its original cardboard case, all of which very quickly disintegrated. Once it was repadded the part was easier to play but the horn didn't blend well with the other saxes so I learned it on Bb tenor anyway.
The original mouthpiece was horrible and I replaced it with a modern Faxx mouthpiece and had the neck drilled to take a piezo mic.
I have yet to find a comfortable way of holding it when playing, though sitting with the bow resting on my knee seems to work. I dug it out early this year for an unplugged duet with a Chinese guzheng player and the sounds blended quite well together.
You played that 1920's sound. Isn't it great to work on an instrument & give him a new life after years of neglect. I've done it with a metal Bb Clt of the same vintage. There was mud from a wasps nest in the upper bore (been in a barn for 70yrs). A couple of springs & a re pad. I was lucky. And what thrill to play. You did a goob job with that C Melody & you sound great. Thanks for sharing that.
It's interesting to see or hear your response as, I have had a bunch of stock (old unstamped un-identifiable) MPCs with the horns I have in here, but they are "STUFFY" and quiet. I went to see a Jazz band the other night with a C-Mel player and he was playing the stocker and his horn.....needed amplifying. They didn't put a mic up to it, but when you could hear it is was stuffy and quiet. I have ordered the $35 MPC from ebay and that thing made the horns come alive! I'm not being argumentative, just having a "Huh..." moment.
Remember these instruments are from the 1920s when the concept of sound was quite different. The mouthpieces feel close and stuffy compared to modern mouthpieces with more open lays and higher baffles. But they are designed to make a warm, more gentle tone than we expect today. (Not that my tone here is that great!)
Thanks a lot!
Hi, I've had an old C Melody sax that was my grandfather's. I played Alto about 45 years ago in Jr High and have always wondered about getting that C Melody repadded, but don't know who to contact, because I thought the pads may not be the same size as other saxes. Do you have any suggestions, as well as a ballpark on how much I would pay? Thanks a lot!
Where are you based, Scott? If you're in Australia you can send to us and we'll repad it and make it play better than new for $1500. Pad sizes are no problem. If you're not in Oz, we can probably recommend someone who can do it for you. Whether it's worth the money or not partly depends on who made the sax - what is stamped on it?
@@richardcraigwoodwind6087 Hi Richard. I'm in the US. I found another gentleman on TH-cam and sent him this email explaining my situation. To satisfy any curiosity you may have, I'll paste it here:
I played alto sax in Jr High School (in the early 70's). While I was first chair and our band always got good ratings, I didn't really progress beyond playing the notes.
Anyway, when my grandfather died, I inherited his Conn C Melody sax (serial number 209,634, which I found means it was made in 1928), which I've had in my closet since.
I occasionally thought about getting it repadded, but didn't want to have it touched by a local repairman, who may never have seen one before. I think I was naive to think you could just repad a sax of this vintage and play away.
Then, today, I came across your TH-cam channel. I appreciate your work and attention to detail, but doubt I can afford what you would charge.
So, I'm torn. After seeing your video on this type of sax (New Wonder Series II), I either want to get it reconditioned, or maybe I should give up my fantasy and sell it. It seems to be in good shape, except it doesn't have a mouthpiece. It doesn't have the cracks near where you attach the neck, which you said was common. All the mother-of-pearl parts are intact. It does not have any damage that I can see.
What I don't want to have happen is that I don't do anything, die, and have it sold at an estate sale and then on eBay.
I live in Tallahasse, FL. Before Covid, I like to travel, so there is the possibility that at some point I could bring it up there so you could give me a better idea of what it needs and make a decision at that point, if that would work for you. If I decided to have you do the work (and you agreed to do it), I could leave it with you, as I wouldn't be able to play it until the work was done, realizing it may be a year or more, depending on what you have going on.
Sorry for the lengthly email. I'd be happy to take (good) pictures, if you want me to for any reason.
Thanks for your time. My wife used to repair old English saddles and was like you, refusing to do anything half-assed, as many customers wanted. I appreciate that and realize that I should either get it restored by you, or sell it to your friend at getasax.com, which would at least assure that it would receive a good home.
@@skeller61 Try Sam Skelton at atlantaprowinds.com Tell him Bret Gustafson referred you. I work with Bret - he's from the states so he knows lots of repair techs in the US. Sam will do a good job - he's about the closest guy we know.
What mouthpiece/reed does one use to play a C-Melody sax? An alto sax mouthpiece and reed or tenor sax mouthpiece and reed?
The best reed and mouthpiece would be a period and brand correct one if you can find one, Tenor reeds kind of work but C-Mel reeds are available from the reed store. Morgan and GS reso make new C-mel mouthpieces YRMV i have not played a GS reso but enjoy playing my Morgan, but it isnt a mouthpiece i would play standing behind a pianist
You need a dedicated C melody mouthpiece to get it to play properly. They play very out of tune otherwise.
Can you please make a video about the fingering chart of this c melody sax? I got a c melody sax but i don't know what are the fingering chart of this
Same fingerings as any other sax...
Most altissimo fingerings carry over from alto if that's what you're talking about
That one looks like a tenor saxophone
What mouthpiece are you using on this horn?
It's an old C melody mouthpiece from the 1920s. I can't remember what stamp it had on it, but it was very similar to another one I bought on eBay which is stamped "The Buescher Elkhart.Ind". I tried one of those modern cheap molded plastic C melody mouthpieces but it was awful.
Richard Craig Woodwind Thank you for your response! Did you use tenor reeds?
Yeah - tenor reeds are the right width. They are a bit too long but that didn't cause any problems. Not sure if the length of the scrape is perfect but they seemed to work well. I also tried modern alto and tenor mouthpieces but I really couldn't play the horn in tune with any of them, and also the response was horrible. Low notes very difficult with alto m/p, high notes difficult with tenor.
lushsoundscape It's some unmarked thing I picked up on eBay. It's from the right time but I have no idea how typical it is.
Does it have its own specific reed?
Yes. The mouthpiece and reeds are just slightly smaller than a tenor sax reed. I found the mouthpiece on eBay. The reeds are hard to come by but I have a few boxes.