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Bundy: First or Second Generation?
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Author:  paulrace [ Sat Aug 08, 2015 8:39 am ]
Post subject:  Bundy: First or Second Generation?

A reader writes:

First of all great artical about saxes. i've been looking at them for a good 3 yrs, finally took the plunge at 56 and bought a used bundy selmer from the blue note here in reno. i'm having trouble searching info on the serial #. he said it was from the 60's, but what little i'm finding-i'm thinking mid 70's. but another reason i took it, they get good reviews and go through their instruments. so, new pads and regulated, it should be a good starter. could i have your opinion on it and maybe more info about it? mainly-the year. the serial # is 638XXX. no hurry, take your time if you'll follow up. thank you for your knowledge......

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Thanks for getting in touch. According to the serial number chart I checked, your horn was made about 1975 or 76. The main difference in Bundies is whether it's a Bundy or a Bundy II. If II is printed on the bell you have a Bundy II.

The original Bundies were basically relabeled Buescher Elkharts, Buescher's student line before Selmer bought them out. Those were based on Buescher's True Tones with a few key layout improvements from the Aristocrat thrown in. I started out on one, in fact.

About 1964, Selmer bought out Buescher and relabeled their student line horns "Bundy."

On an original Bundy, when you're holding the horn, the lowest two pads are on the left side of the bell from your perspective.

The Bundy was redesigned in the 1970s when the Yamaha/Vito YAS-21 forced Selmer to reconsider its decades-old policy of keeping playability features Selmer had developed for its pro horns out of the hands of students. If your horn has both of the lowest pads on the right side of the horn, you have the Morgan re-engineered Bundy II.

The Bundy II is supposed to be more playable by students with small hands, but that's probably not a concern for you. It's also supposed to be more rugged, but I haven't noticed a huge difference. If you're not going to play it in marching band, you probably won't either.

Both horns are capable of producing great music if:

- They're properly "set up," which yours probably is,
- The owner practices, and
- You put on a real mouthpiece. The mouthpiece that came with them (a Brilhart) is supposed to be easy for students to start on, but once you can play most notes on the thing it will hold you back. So learn what you can with it, then try out a Selmer C* (pronounced C-Star) and see what you think.

Yours may not have the original mouthpiece at any rate. If it's not a Brilhart and you can find the maker's mark and model, look it up online and see what folks say about it before automatically replacing it - you may have lucked into a good one. If there's no maker's mark, replace it yesterday. :-)

Hope this helps. As Obi Wan says, you've taken your first step into a whole new world. . . . :-)

Paul

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