King

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King Full Pearls SilverSonic Alto 303030 Fresh Matt Stohrer Overhaul Original Lacquer Charlie Parker Vintage!
$ 16,500

Well, well, well, what have we here? One of my favorite saxophones of all time! This is an extremely rare early King SilverSonic alto with sterling silver bell and ‘full pearls’. I have only seen a few of these altos come up for sale in many years of watching the market fairly closely. There are probably fewer than 100 altos like this in existence, and there are fewer that still have their original lacquer. Charlie Parker famously played King SilverSonic Super 20 alto SN#295173, which sold for an ungodly sum at auction several years ago. This horn’s body serial is 303030, which is the same version as Parker’s, and the neck serial is 295182, which is only 9 serial numbers later than Parker’s, so same small batch of horns. Not sure why the neck serial is different, but maybe because this neck played best. This horn was one owner going way back several decades before I bought it.

It just got a full overhaul by the best saxophone repairman for Kings that I have experienced, Matt Stohrer. Matt is a friendly and unassuming guy who has a passion for learning and sharing as much as he can about saxophone repair. His attention to all the little, time-consuming details of repair that take a horn from good to great is pretty hard to beat. This horn certainly deserved the best, and it came out great. It feels super great under the fingers – dry and snappy, with light, easy action and great response. The tone is that classic, warm, punchy, projecting, brassy-when-pushed, King alto sound that Parker and Cannonball made, at least for me, the classic jazz alto tone. It sounds like that sound you have in your head that you just can’t quite get on a Selmer or any modern horn:-)

You get a nice original Silversonic King alto case, as well as a delxe black BAM France Trekking case, both included with the horn. The BAM for safe shipping, and the King just for fun. Hard to beat the Trekking for an all-around alto case, and it fits the King like a glove.

There’s certainly only one of these available. I’ve had this in my personal collection for years, and just decided to offer it up for sale for the first time. If it doesn’t sell, it goes right back in the collection. If you want an alto that looks gorgeous, has a high likelihood to keep going up in value, plays great, and is not so perfect that you’re afraid to play it, you couldn’t do better than this.
King Original Gold Plate Soprano Saxophone Beautiful Engraving 56362
$ 1,500

Incredible engraving on this original GOLD plated King Soprano saxophone! These horns have a beautiful, warm, spread tone. The intonation is flexible. You can bend notes like crazy, so you have to have a good ear, but it plays just fine in tune if you play it in tune. This is from a collection and has old pads. But just the gold plate is worth the entire price of the horn. It’s a super deal. You could easily find this priced double somewhere else.
Sold Out
King Saxello Soprano Saxophone – Near Mint!

This is a beautiful, nearly mint condition King Saxello semi-curved soprano saxophone in original silver plate.
King Saxello Soprano Tipped Bell Bent Neck Near Pristine Silver Plate
$ 2,850
King SilverSonic Super 20 Alto Saxophone Original with Gold Leaf 346933
$ 6,500

Superb example of a King SilverSonic alto with solid silver bell and neck, and gold plate in the engraving, with original gold lacquer over that! Cannonball Adderley tone all the way.
King SilverSonic Tenor Saxophone 402584
$ 6,000

Here is a freshly overhauled King Super 20 SilverSonic (solid sterling neck and bell with gold inlay engraving) in excellent shape with a *monstrous* sound. The overhaul is extremely clean and well done, and sports high-end reusable Tenor Madness resonators. The action is quick and light and smooth and feels absolutely fantastic under the fingers. Even the left hand pinky table, which can be challenging for some repairers to get right, is light and snappy as it was designed to be. Seriously, hand this horn to the guy next to you on the bandstand just to let him feel it for a sec if you want to ruin his day.

Physically, this sax is in great condition as well. The lacquer is original and has signs of honest wear, but there are no signs of any major or even minor damage or resolders, past or present. The body is straight and the keys are all tight with no lost motion. Owner’s name lightly engraved on bottom of bell. Could be removed if you wanted to, but it is not noticeable. SilverSonics like this with the gold in the engraving on the silver bell are few and far between, and this one is bona fide Great.

It is hard to find a Super 20 SilverSonic tenor in good physical shape, and even harder to get one overhauled this well. Buy this horn and you’ve got it all right out of the box- no worries, no mystery, no gremlins awaiting you down the line. Just a great American-made sax that is ready to make bandmates jealous, project all the way to the back of the room, and look great doing it.
King Super 20 Alto 328773 Original Lacquer Plays Great
$ 3,950

King altos are the best altos ever. This one has some lacquer wear from use, but it is original lacquer. The saxophone is in great shape, and plays quite well on the current pads. No serious past repairs at all. It is such a great tone that you get from these full pearls Super 20’s. This is the ‘Series II’ which has the best combination of beauty, features, and key work of all of the Super 20 altos. You really can get the Cannonball Adderley vibe going on one of these (with lots of practice) better than almost anything else. Cannonball played almost exactly this serial alto on Kind of Blue. This plus a Meyer 5 plus a soft reed and lots of guts is what you need for what I consider to be the benchmark for good alto sound.
King Super 20 Alto Saxophone Full Pearls Series II Orig. Lacquer 339676
$ 5,650
King Super 20 Tenor Original Lacquer Full Pearls Fresh Overhaul!
$ 6,450

Do you love beauty? Do you love playing the saxophone? Wish that the two things went together more often? Well, you’ve come to the right place:-)

This, my friend, is one of the most beautiful saxophones ever produced – the King Super 20 with pearl side keys and palm keys, bell and bow key cups engraved, solid silver neck, three ring strap hook – just about as de-luxe as it gets.

But wait, there’s more! For a price lower than a new Keilwerth Shadow, or a new Selmer Reference etc, you get not only one of the best-built, most beautiful, best-sounding tenors ever made. You also get it with a fresh overhaul done by one of the most meticulous saxophone repairmen in the business – Carlo Cennamo of cennamowoodwinds.com . I have been hearing good things about Carlo’s work for a few years, but I finally got to see it earlier this year, and it is just top quality. Full mechanical rebuild including all key fitting to precise better-than-new tolerances; excellent pad work that feels dry and snappy under the fingers and makes the horn resonate its notes on its own as you close the pads; adjustment materials that make sense throughout; a carefully done neck fit for a good seal; nice, even spring tensions. This is a $1500++ overhaul and takes Carlo almost an entire work week to complete. So that’s a big deal.

The only past repair I see on this horn is a resoldered brace on the bell side that popped off on its own when the horn was disassembled. It was popped right back on and is in good shape now. This horn has obviously been babied since it was new. It has almost all of its original lacquer intact. For you King geeks out there, this is King’s ‘light’ colored lacquer advertised in its sales brochures. The dark lacquer ranges from caramel to chocolate colored and looks completely different. By the way, it now has the correct neck screw and Eb key guard screws. I need to update the photos.

This horn just sings, with a medium dark core tone that gets brighter and punchier as you push it. The solid silver neck gives you more upper partials and a bit more of a ringing focus to the sound. The whole horn comes alive as you play, and the response is particularly satisfying. If you have never played a saxophone that is actually right, then I hope that you will soon get to experience it. Low Bb is just another easy note to play, and you can play the entire low register easily at any volume, including pianissimo without losing ‘saturation’ in the sound. Basically, the horn just gets out of the way and lets you play what you want. It’s a beautiful thing.

This comes with a new BAM Classic tenor case, and you can swap that out for a different case if you want to discuss options. There’s only one available of this beautiful Super 20. Get it now!
King Super 20 Tenor Saxophone Full Pearls Original Lacquer Near Mint / Exc Cond! 328628
$ 7,500
King Super 20 Tenor Saxophone Original Lacquer Original pads Warranty Card Amazing!

Well, golly. Here’s a 1949 King Super 20 tenor in nearly immaculate condition with original pads and original guarantee bond paperwork. Holy cow.

It also has its original white mouthpiece, with original ligature and cap, and comes in its original case with the leather bell strap not only intact but supple and in good working condition. Sheesh.

This horn looks to have been played a bit by its original owner, as evidenced by some light scratching in the lacquer here and there and some light wear on the thumbhook. The solid silver necks on these horns were originally lacquered, but the lacquer typically wears off so quickly and completely most folks are not aware of this fact. The fact that the lacquer on this neck still remains at about 40%, though speckled, shows that the original owner took extremely good care of the instrument and was quite finicky with his handling. Gosh.

This Series I King Super 20 is about as fine as they come, and is collectible as-is or put a high end overhaul on it and let it sing. This horn is ready for its next steward, and at nearly 70 years old still has a couple hundred years of music making left in it, if you care for it as well as its original owner did. Goodness gracious.