At 05:11 PM 7/13/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>Hello Grant - forgive me if you've already been asked this question,
>but how did you acquire your sarrusophones? Were they from antique
>dealers, an estate sale, etc.? Just curious, and hoping I could get
>a leg up on finding one of my own. Thanks.

Shortly after I posted the first pages of what would later become
contrabass.com, I was contacted by a musical instrument appraiser who had
recently performed appraisals for the estate of a professional musician in
the Los Angeles area. The estate included six sarrusophones: Eb alto, Eb
bari, Bb bass, and three Eb contrabasses (along with a few rothophones,
bassoons, contrabassoon, trombones, tubas, saxophones, and quite a few
more). I ended up with the Bb bass and the Gautrot Eb contra.

Years later, I visited the Orsi factory, then in the suburbs of Milan,
Italy. They had a new Bb tenor which they had been using as a display at
shows - a beautiful horn in polished silver with gold keys. When they said
"half off", my wife decided it would make a good Christmas present :-)

Sarrusophones do turn up on eBay from time to time, do appear in antique
shops (especially in Paris) and (sometimes) old high school or college band
room lockers, and sometimes are discovered by music stores. They turn up
fairly routinely at the instrument auction in Vichy, France (irregularly, a
few times per year). I keep a separate announcement-only email list for
letting people know when I've run across another one (let me know if you'd
like to be included).

Best of luck!

Grant


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Grant Green contrabass.com
Sarrusophones & other Contrabass Winds
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