I had a friend named Rosy McHargue who played the c-melody sax back in the 1920’s and up. Met him back in the 80’s. He was 83 at that time and played well into his 90’s. He said he liked it for the mellow tone that it had. Frank Trumbauer said the same about the c-melody because he also played one.

Having a sax in C with modern ergonomics and intonation would make life much easier when playing with guitars. 2/3 sharps less in the key signature has to be good for everyone.

Not played a C Melody, but upgraded my student horn to a Conn NWII. Despite its age, I find some of the ergonomic's better, its a fun horn to play.

I have a 1922 Buescher C melody and it has no microtuner. I use my tenor mouthpiece with it and it sounds great and stays in tune.

I have a pair of 1935 Conns, a 26M and a 30M and the F to G thing is real. It's also where the octave hole switches in the upper register. I find the G can even crack or squeak when my embouchure is tired, it tends to need a little more support.

I've never heard a brighter sax sound than David Sanborn... until he played this sax.

i think it should be revived, i think it would be cool if Yanagisawa, Yamaha, Selmer, Buffer, or P. Mauriat started making C Melodies!

Bit of a missed opportunity not to play some twenties stuff on it, even if just to hear how it sounds.

Are majority of vintage C Melody out of tune?

I think they should return fast!!! 🎷🎷

I don't think we should forget the C melody sax, it's a real instrument in its own right... I have a gold-plated C melody Buescher from 1923 (with a tenor neck). I play it with a Soloist short shank E tenor mouthpiece and it works great. it's closer to the tenor than the alto... I play many concerts with him and also jazz

I particularly enjoyed this ditty about the C. I have played the same one for close to 50 years. Started on soprano curved bell age 4. No longer have that.

Yes! Please bring back the C Melody

My very first sax that was given to me in the early 80s was a Conn C and I always really struggled to play in tune in my high school band. I ended up selling it to a pawn store for $500 when I moved out of home. I only recently took up the sax again and got a Yamaha Custom Z tenor and OMG soooo much easier to play and tune than that old Conn!

I have a 1918 completely restored a year ago and sounds awesome and I really enjoy it. They should come back. I would get a modern as well.

Man, that is a really good example of the C Melody -- especially since you got a straight-necked version. Morgan Mouthpieces makes a new production version of a C Melody mouthpiece that resolves a lot of the problems with the original designs. If you are willing to put the time into it, it might not be a bad idea to make the investment.

Scott, the "goes at my neck" comment at

Yes i play a C melody conn sax just like this one very nice!!!

I agree that it should come back too! I feel like it will soon!

I would definitely buy a C Melody sax. The market has changed alot from 70 years ago. But it has to be designed as good as the existing models.