Thinking about buying an old conn sax for $500CDN. It is a flat silver colour. Seems to be in good shape... I must check it out more soon...

It`s an alto by the way. It seems unusually small.

CONN saxes are an old American make I think. Theyre okay, from what Ive seen, wouldnt pay £1000s for them though. If its unusually small it could be in Concert pitch which is a bad thing, it means itll be going out of tune all the time, and it also wont be in Eb (normal for an Alto) Check it against another alto if you can, if its noticeably smaller, the pitch will naturally be different, and you should reconsider buying it. Or get an experienced player to take a look before you buy

Go to this site. It will tell you about what to look for when buying used and what brands are good and bad.

http://www.saxophone.org/buyersguide/buyers.html

P.S. Sometimes curved sopranos can get confused with altos. If it was larger than the alto but similar shape it could be a c melody sax.

eh...if I were you, i wouldn`t go with conn. You probably know by now that yamaha and selmer are your best bet. maybe buy a cheap one of those and you`ll be good to go. but if you`re just a beginner, it really doesn`t matter...its not like you`ll be using that High B flat key anyway.

Would someone tell me what I have got? It has this on the back.
patd. Dec.8 1914
1119954
O or C (I Cannot tell)
75391
L
On the front it says,
Made By C.G. Conn Ltd.
Elkhart, Indiana

no conns suck

here is what your sax means:
patd. Dec.8 1914
1119954 - seriel number?
O or C (I Cannot tell)- probably `C` whichs means it is a c melody type sax; pitched between the tenor and alto
75391- or this is the seiel no i dont no
L- `low` pitch
On the front it says,
Made By C.G. Conn Ltd.
Elkhart, Indiana - thats just who made it and where it was made

if you dont already know about c melodys they were made from roughly 1910-1950 and the c part means you dont have to transpose- hope i was helpful!

sorry about the typo`s!

I have a 1950`s ( I think ) Conn sax, and it`s awsome, the only problem is it`s a little harder to blow than a yamaha or the like, but it has the nicest sound ever, i`ve had it for almost 8 years and I love it to bits, could never sell it !