This was a very clean Buffet SDA tenor that sported what some folks call “sparkle lacquer”, although for me the jury is still out on whether that is a real thing or not.
(It looks like crazing close up, and I’ve been told by folks who bought theirs new that it developed over a few years after ownership)
Either way, this horn is gorgeous, and you can see the sparkley effect on this particular sax in this video:
Also of note in the photos below is the shot down the bell, showing just how close the lower stack keywork is the to the bell when the key heights are as they should be. I often see these horns given much lower key heights- perhaps because that setup just looks so weird thanks to Buffet making the bow such a tight curve that the bell is so close to the body- that then result in Buffets that play stuffy or small. When the key heights are right, Buffets play huge. They are undervalued and those that play them set up right know that these are fat-toned horns with good ergonomics and intonation and excellent built quality.
I typically overhaul them with flat metal resonators to maximize the tone space between the pad and the tonehole- unless they’ve got the original reusable resonators, in which case I will reuse them (which is difficult on some versions because they are nearly as large as the tonehole, but rewarding).
