About

About WWS

It is a collection of expertise, knowledge, craftsmanship and research for the saxophone connoisseurs of the world.

Mark VI, Saxello, Tipped-Bell

Selmer Mark VI Silver Restoration

Studying Mouthpiece Curves

Gold Restoration - Martin Typewriter

The Show Room 2014-2018

Neck Comparisons

The Show Room 2018

Short History

Worldwide Sax is a lover of saxophones. It is a preserver of history that is built as  a research and educational tool for saxophone traits and differences. We love educating people on how good vintage instruments are, especially for the value. WWS sells & refurbishes vintage saxophone collectibles and limited accessories.

We believe in hand-crafted craftsmanship because vintage horns were built with such; and many factory built horns today can lack the "soul" that was built into vintage saxes …by hand! We execute certain elements of precision and customization that only can be done by hand.

We also believe that it's important to connect you with the sound and sax/mouthpiece that you need, regardless of my inventory in stock.

Experience That Matters

While so much of today's work in still a one-man show by me, Chadd, I feel wrong claiming all the efforts and data that WWS offers -- it truly is a collaboration of many great minds and efforts even still to this day.  I must give credit to mentors and friends: Sarge, Bob Carpenter, other great techs, players and countless lovers of vintage saxes who constantly teach me new things.

We offer decades of knowledge building the joy into your instrument. See: Testimonials

WorldwideSax solutions

   Inventory
  • icon_16VINTAGE InventorySaxes & Mouthpieces - Specializing in Vintage Pro Saxes, we can help. It's a matter of pairing you with the right setup. 
  • icon_17STUDENT Inventory Helping parents & students get quality, used saxes for a fair price: $450+ (altos), $650+ (tenors). Don't forget the mouthpiece!
  • icon_24MISC For SaleNecks, plugs, cases, custom items that don't categorize easily. ...aka: Unique things you should scan!
     Services
    • icon_19Repairs ServicesSaxes & Mouthpieces - WWS mostly focuses on Full Rebuilds. We do try to help small repairs when we can. 
    • icon_20RestorationsMajor restorations are stunning and take an enormous amount of time and planning from start to finish. 
    • icon_22VIP ScoutingThe WWS VIP Scout List helps you be the first one in line for a new item. Or simply have us Scout for your requests.
   Education
  • icon_22Education & ResearchDocumenting some of the coolest saxes of all time in photo and sound! We do this by request & curiosity.
  • icon_23Charity/OutreachOne of my growing missions is to help students who truly need a better sax. I hope to invite you along as it develops more!
  • Personalized Consulting & AdvisingThis is a joy and happens constantly around here--in person, by phone/email. 

Sarge's Dedication

"Father of World Wide Sax"

R.I.P.   12/1950-2/2012

Steve "Sarge" Stransky created World Wide Sax in 1997. His impact and influence traveled around the world in the early days of the internet; where he became known for expert craftsmanship on saxophone rebuilds and also selling great vintage saxes.  He was my mentor and friend in the sax world.

WWS continues on as a true Legacy Business and I know he'd be proud. Sarge always believed in preserving the history of the sax; and we also grew into a research and educational tool for saxophone traits and differences.  To this day, we love educating people on how good vintage instruments are, especially for the value. ...READ ON...

Bob's Page

Mouthpiece Expert & Mentor

R.I.P.   7/2022

Bob Carpenter was a world-famous, sax mouthpiece guru. He is one of the original masters of this craft who has helped several people grow in this craft (Theo Wanne, Sarge, and myself....). He had a successful business serving much of Northwest Washington; and I feel fortunate to have been under his mentorship.

Bob frequently visits the WWS shop a few times a month when he's in town for a gig. You may see Bob's initials "RAC" on some For Sale mouthpieces. Even at 80+years old, Bob was still a master, and sometimes 'magician', at the art of Mouthpiece Repair. He taught me many of the secrets & tricks to the trade. He was a good friend of Sarge's and they often "talked shop" for whatever was new -- this continued with me for 10 years before his passing. He is an amazing man!  ...READ ON...


Chadd's Bio

I, Chadd Berry, was apprentice to Steve "Sarge" Stransky, the father of WWS.  I carried on the business to new adventures all while maintaining the core of what Sarge believed should be offered.

I am also a sax player since grade 6 in school and I still recall taking my first sax apart in high school to clean it -- my mom walked in on me, pieces everywhere, and her jaw dropped. I've also always had a mechanical brain that loved to tinker with things.  Put two-and-two together and the rest is (sax) history!

Our Blended History of the Work Queue

  We have been lucky to make many friends and am blessed with more business than one man can handle... because of that, there's always a long waiting list. So long ago, Sarge came up with a system that works. We have a Work Queue.  People who want work done send us a 50% Deposit to have their work added to the queue. Then when their turn comes up, they ship the horn to arrive a couple days before work is scheduled to start.

The Current Work Queue is posted on the website and is updated weekly. Doing it this way, your sax only has to be out of your possession a couple weeks.

The "Work Schedule" now consists of me, Chadd, doing one rebuild every 15 days or so (because I used to teach music at the local school + some lessons students)... and some of those will be WWS horns that are going to customers. So, I'm not real speedy and I really don't want to have other people sub work in, or enlarge the shop too much and have different workers doing different levels of work. I have had a few close apprentices in the past; and I will leave that position to be developed again in time as needed.

Aside from doing the restoration work on saxes and mouthpieces, there is the time consumed by "running the business" and answering the phone, etc. So hopefully this system can keep our customers happy. I will do my best to be just as available as Sarge was and I'm always happy to help with the best customer service I can muster... If you are patient and like our style, then by all means let us do our best, for you.

Thanks. ~Chadd

WWS History

High-quality work comes from dedication to excellence first and foremost. The great work Sarge did was never credit to the location or space of the original shop; Sarge built and ran a world wide business out of his detached garage.  All great ideas start in a garage!--garage bands, Microsoft, etc...

O.S. History

OnlySaxophones-house2-SEPIA

I was still teaching band and it was a passion of mine to prevent the cheap saxes from getting into the classroom. This effort is what I believe helped Sarge see that I could carry on WWS.

Student Sax Expansion - "Only Saxophones"(OS).

Past Work

A selection of memorable projects. As we were transitioning the website upgrade in 2016, we discovered 23,000 image files! Don't forget, we categorized projects in their corresponding Vault category too--Restorations, Unique, Artist, Collections... etc.