Vintage woodwinds and brassed were basically created differently than today. The role of machines and tools was limited, the main work was in the hands of the artisan, his skills and ability. For istance the best intrument's bells were shaped by expert hands after long years practicing. As logic consequence only the best materials were chosen because saving on it would have been a small cost compared to the handmaking. Nowadays numerical control machines allow unskilled workers to build instruments and use low quality materials (i.e. plastic for clarinets). The result is easy to hear. All sounds are similar, without personality and blank (no colour). The best instruments of today are technically (almost) perfect, but extremely cold. The old companies were first of all small, had a local distribution and the only advertising they used was word of mouth between musicians and who wanted to purchase a new instrument. Today, in our globalized world, we're in the hands of 3-4 massive brass and woodwinds companies who's goal is to increase their income by using cheaper materials, with obvious results over ductility, expression and tone. When we look closer to vintage saxophones we realise how tough (sturdy? strong?) their structure and decorations are. Vintage trumpets, cornets, trombones, soprano and alto saxophones have similar mechanics to modern instruments. Vintage tenor or baritone saxophones can be played without problems only by somebody with big hands. Who wants to express him/herself in front of people, doesn't need torrents of notes (which often is just narcissist virtuosism), but a warm tone, ductile, powerful and sweet, sometimes aggressive.