Incredible Value on an Instrument I aquired

jtc_hunter · #1 09-13-2007, 10:58 PM

My dad passed away in Aug. of cancer and he left me a saxophone. Well, after researching it on the internet , I found that this 1960 Selmer Mark VI Paris Tenor Sax(low serial #) ,which is in pristine cond., in its original case, with Dukoff brass mouthpiece, is worth between $8000-$12000 . Kind of like the equivelent of a 1960 Pbass in pristine condition. I am still in shock. I knew it was valuable, but wow!

Mcrelly · #2 09-13-2007, 11:09 PM

well, do you take the cash or keep the memory of your father and the sax?

Munjibunga · #3 09-13-2007, 11:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mcrelly

well, do you take the cash or keep the memory of your father and the sax?

... or take the cash and buy a Fodera in memory of your father?

dinghy · #4 09-13-2007, 11:34 PM

Buy a Fodera or 60's P and then write a song about your dad. I didn't know him, but I'd rather have my instrument being used by someone, and have my son get a new instrument, rather than it getting dusty.

Barkless Dog · #5 09-14-2007, 05:59 AM

If you have kids you pass it on to them.

jtc_hunter · #6 09-14-2007, 08:32 AM

I am very torn on what to do. Part of me thinks I should just keep it. But on the other hand, my daughter will be getting married in the next few years and I dont really have the money to give her a nice wedding. So I really dont think Dad would be upset if I used the money from the sax to give her a nice wedding. What do you guys think? I have a Fender P and a Jazz already and am very satisfied w/ all my music equip.

**Thor** · #7 09-14-2007, 08:41 AM

Keep it. If you sell it, you will always regret it. Keep it
maintained.

You may want to get a lesson or two.

bigfatbass · #8 09-14-2007, 08:58 AM

Expensive weddings are money wasted. In all my years of gigging I have never played a wedding where chilled salad forks and table-served meals did all that much to enhance the fun. To be honest, the more spent on the wedding the less fun it seems to be for all involved, especially the supposed-to-be-happy couple, lol.

Keep the sax!

Diggler · #9 09-14-2007, 09:10 AM

Keep it.

Anscari · #10 09-14-2007, 09:34 AM

If you love your father, you'll ALWAYS (and I mean until you die) regret it if you sell it.

It's value is much, much more than the 8000 or something price tag.

Figure this out: you are old (80 something), your health is not good, and you die.

You have an old 3-tone sunburst Fender Precision in your house, which has accompanied you through almost all your life. You've shared with this piece of wood some of the most magical moments you've had in your life... it has been the vehicle to express the music you felt inside, and knowing that now at 2087 it is worth A LOT, you keep it and give it to your son.

How would you feel if your son got rid of it? I would feel sad. Not angry, just sad... my son changed my memory for some money.

Keep something in mind: People always have some material things to which they are closely attached. Normally those are one or two things... in the life of a musician, the thing they will be mostly attached will be their main instrument. ALWAYS. It transcends the "material" status to reach something quite "spiritual", it becomes part of oneself.

So, I say, if you sell it you're not selling a sax, you're selling a part of your father.

If you don't want to read this, here's a summary: KEEP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE.

jtc_hunter · #11 09-14-2007, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anscari

If you love your father, you'll ALWAYS (and I mean until you die) regret it if you sell it.

It's value is much, much more than the 8000 or something price tag.

Figure this out: you are old (80 something), your health is not good, and you die.

You have an old 3-tone sunburst Fender Precision in your house, which has accompanied you through almost all your life. You've shared with this piece of wood some of the most magical moments you've had in your life... it has been the vehicle to express the music you felt inside, and knowing that now at 2087 it is worth A LOT, you keep it and give it to your son.

How would you feel if your son got rid of it? I would feel sad. Not angry, just sad... my son changed my memory for some money.

Keep something in mind: People always have some material things to which they are closely attached. Normally those are one or two things... in the life of a musician, the thing they will be mostly attached will be their main instrument. ALWAYS. It transcends the "material" status to reach something quite "spiritual", it becomes part of oneself.

So, I say, if you sell it you're not selling a sax, you're selling a part of your father.

If you don't want to read this, here's a summary: KEEP IT FOR GOD'S SAKE.

You really went straight into my heart, drew tears, and you are right. Thank you all for setting me straight. There really is a bond between bass players, isnt there?

GrooveWarrior · #12 09-14-2007, 09:57 AM

Well, he didn't say that his dad "You've shared with this piece of BRASS some of the most magical moments you've had in your life... it has been the vehicle to express the music you felt inside". He just may have had a saxophone that he used to play.

My thought is that you do with it what you think your dad would want. I've got news for you guys, $8,000 is not a fancy wedding. $8,000 is an average wedding. If you think your dad would have felt proud to be able to provide his grand-daughter with a nice wedding, then I say do it.

We don't know his dad, he does. I think whatever he does with it should reflect what his dad would want him to do. If I had an old '60's P Bass that was worth a ton of money, and I gave it to my son (who didn't play bass) when I died and expected him to cherish it, I think that would be selfish and silly. It is sad to live dreams through your kids, and for a father to want the son to keep something that is of no use to him is selfish.

A lot of the posts I'm reading here reflect what I see as being one of the big things wrong with society today. People don't seem to under stand that things don't matter. People matter. For someone to say "if you love your father you will always regret selling it", that's bull. If he loves his father, he loves his father. The saxophone has no bearing on that. If he has wonderful memories of his father playing the saxophone, that is one thing, but that isn't mentioned here anywhere.

To link the love of his father to the posession of the saxophone is misplaced, and sad at best.

stedtale · #13 09-14-2007, 10:01 AM

I think that much could commission a good artist to sculpt a nice desktop statue of me that you could keep on your desk at work/school. i am available for posings this weekend and next.

GrooveWarrior · #14 09-14-2007, 10:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by stedtale

I think that much could commission a good artist to sculpt a nice desktop statue of me that you could keep on your desk at work/school. i am available for posings this weekend and next.

I bet you could even have Vinnie Fodera do it for that price!! No comments about the shape or size of the lower horn please!!

jtc_hunter · #15 09-14-2007, 10:49 AM

(Quote) If you think your dad would have felt proud to be able to provide his grand-daughter with a nice wedding, then I say do it.

This was my initial thought at first. I guess I have a year or 2 to think about it. Thanks to all who have replied.

lefty007 · #16 09-14-2007, 11:03 AM

I don't know. As much as we tend to be emotionally attached to objects, there are nothing more than that, objects.

What really matters about those that left us are the memories.

Objects (in this case, instruments) enable us to do things, to create and express ourselves. A bass or a horn is nothing without somebody making music with it. When somebody passes, what's really valued is the music they made with the instrument, not the instrument itself. A recording, a picture, a letter, a poem, an e-mail: those are the things that keeps us close to those who left.

My opinion, of course.

I for one, when I die, I don't want those who survive me and that care about me to hold on to the material things I owned. Give them away, sell them, donate them. Don't store them in a closet.

Life continues after you are gone, and what more reward to know that those things you owned when alive gave somebody joy after you are gone.

In this case, if somebody in the family was a sax player and would keep making music with it and enjoying this instrument, I would keep it. Otherwise, sell it and use it to give joy to others in the family.

Spending money on a wedding might seem superfluous, but it is an important day and you should have a good day to remember, with pictures and all. $8000 will make for a very nice 100-150 people, if you penny pinch. Or there are so many uses for $8k-$12k: pre-paid college for the grandkids, savings for a rainy day, retirement, etc, etc.

Best to you.

Nappa · #17 09-14-2007, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jtc_hunter

My dad passed away in Aug. of cancer and he left me a saxophone. Well, after researching it on the internet , I found that this 1960 Selmer Mark VI Paris Tenor Sax(low serial #) ,which is in pristine cond., in its original case, with Dukoff brass mouthpiece, is worth between $8000-$12000 . Kind of like the equivelent of a 1960 Pbass in pristine condition. I am still in shock. I knew it was valuable, but wow!

Do you have any intentions to play it or learn to play the sax? If not sell it to a trusted buyer who you know will treat it right.

tplyons · #18 09-14-2007, 11:38 AM

As a sax player, darn right I'd hang onto the thing. That's pretty much the holy grail of horns, IMO.

As a bass player, you have to ask yourself. Was your father attached at the hip to this thing? How long did he have the horn? Was it his only horn? If your father just cared about the horn as an instrument, a tool and a darn good one, I wouldn't feel bad about selling it for a wedding. If it were a partner in crime through the years, I'd hang onto it forever.

invader3k · #19 09-14-2007, 11:39 AM

People who go into debt over weddings are silly, I'm sorry to say.

We had a very economical wedding four years ago. The most expensive thing was dinner and booze (which my parents paid for...open bar the whole night). We had 200 guests, so that was a big expense (we both have large families...it's not like we were inviting everyone we ever went to school with), but we didn't have any ice sculptures, live swans, or limos, either.

We now are home owners, while a lot of our peers are living in apartments, with no realistic hope of buying a house anytime soon. Go figure.

GrooveWarrior · #20 09-14-2007, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by invader3k

We had a very economical wedding four years ago. The most expensive thing was dinner and booze (which my parents paid for...open bar the whole night). We had 200 guests, so that was a big expense (we both have large families...it's not like we were inviting everyone we ever went to school with), but we didn't have any ice sculptures, live swans, or limos, either.

We now are home owners, while a lot of our peers are living in apartments, with no realistic hope of buying a house anytime soon. Go figure.

I don't know what the economy is like in WI, but if you fed and boozed 200 people, had a cake, flowers, photographer, wedding dress, held it at a reception hall that charged, had a rehearsal dinner (even if it was pizza), bought rings, and took a honeymoon, I would guess you spent close to $8000. You better ask your parents how much they spent on dinner and booze.