This is a beautiful Selmer Balanced Action Tenor saxophone from 1936 that has a fresh overhaul done by Aaron Barnard from Barnard Instrument Repair in Cedar Rapids, IA. Aaron does excellent work and this horn is no exception - Pisoni Italian leather pads, reusable made in USA slightly domed metal resonators, and everything is nice and tight and snappy. There is really nothing else like a Selmer Balanced Action tenor sax. This was made when Conn set the standard for saxophone tone, and Selmer goes for the Conn-like big warm, spread, velvety tone with the Radio Improved and Balanced Action tenors. This is an early BA with the individual key guards (which I love) and it feels almost like a Radio Improved tonally. But it has the keywork that changed the game and that was the huge leap forward on the Balanced Action model. All modern saxophones imitate the BA keywork style, so it's the combination of the BA tone (that becomes progressively more focused and less spread and warm over time in later Selmers) with the BA keywork that makes these early BA's so special. My personal BA tenor is one of my favorite horns ever.
This is an originally-unengraved tenor that has been relacquered, but the lacquer color looks right for Selmer USA factory relacquer, and I don't see any sign of major damage or repairs at all. I think this was played but well cared for, and then probably sometime in the 50's it got the new coat of Selmer lacquer to get it back looking its best again (which was standard practice at that time). With Aaron's overhaul, and mechanical play that it may have had after its first 90 years has been reversed, and it feels like a new horn under the fingers. The saturated pp low Bb pops out effortlessly, which is just such a pleasure.
