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Sell Us a Saxophone Like This!

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This saxophone is sold! But click HERE to see our current selection of alto saxophones.

Well, well, well. This is the kind of alto that gets me excited! And if you want the best possible alto tone (which is a ridiculous blanket pronouncement, but oh well) then this is what you get. The early Super 20 altos with silver neck are easily some of the best altos ever made for jazz. The tone is just so much fun to experience. I had a jaded, world-weary saxophone player and collector in here a few weeks ago, and he said “I like the Mark VI, but playing a Super 20 just makes me smile.” I couldn’t agree more. Cannonball’s classic alto tone is NY Meyer+Super 20, and I just don’t think you can beat that for alto. (see our GS Special Mouthpiece for the closest I can get you to this tone in a modern mouthpiece.)

Details: So this horn is in excellent condition in all regards. It has the original neck (matching serial number) no damage, no dents, no past repairs to horn or neck. Almost all of the original lacquer is intact. Original case and mouthpiece, 3-band ligature, and cap included. If you are a collector this is the stuff that makes a certain part of your brain stem tingle…

This horn has an interesting story. It was bought by a homesteading family in northwest North Dakota for their daughter to play in High School in the 50’s. I bought it from the family, and the son still wonders how they possibly afforded this saxophone back in those days with only a small cattle ranch for income. He is a fossil hunter in South Dakota, and he included some dinosaur bones and teeth with the deal for my kids to enjoy learning about. So from a homestead on what was the last part of the American frontier, all the way to you, this saxophone is now ready to make music for a new generation.

Super 20 owners are more persnickety about pad choice and setup than any other saxophonists I know of, so I am just leaving this horn’s pads as-is for now. If you want to talk about getting one of my overhaul spots reserved with Matt Stohrer for this horn, I am open to that. It actually plays surprisingly well on the current pads, so you can definitely get a good idea of the tone just like this. It’s super fun to play. If you have any more questions, let me know. I’m tempted to just keep this one. This is what I play on alto myself, and I prefer the brass bell to the silver for alto as well. You just can’t beat these horns.