Selmer Mark VI Alto Saxophone 88xxx Fresh Overhaul

Description

This is a nice, clean American-engraved/assembled Selmer Mark VI alto in the highly-coveted 88xxx serial range. This horn is a very very very well done Selmer factory relacquer. It looks original, because there is NO buffing at all, and the lacquer is the right kind to be 50’s-early 60’s Selmer, and even the pads were right. This is one of the top 3 cleanest relacquers that I have seen, and it has none of the potential problems that relacquered Selmers sometimes have. The keywork is tight, there is no past dent work of any kind. It’s just like an original lacquer Selmer. The other thing worth mentioning is that the 50’s Selmer neck on this horn is also not original. From the design, it’s from the right era, and it plays like an 80k VI neck should, with a dark, punchy, powerful tone that is tenor-like, but it has no serial number. The lacquer matches well also. Also, when the horn was relacquered, it looks like Selmer swapped out the ring that connects the body to bow for a Mark VI part of that time (60’s-70’s).

This horn is a really excellent player. It just got a top shelf overhaul from Steve Collins of Collins Hornworks. Steve’s pad work is top notch, especially on Mark VI altos like this. (I am extremely picky about pad work/setup.) It has nice, firm Precision pads and domed metal resos, which is my favorite for this serial range of VI alto. The metals give you a bit more punch on the basic dark, powerful tone.

The tone on this horn is medium-dark, with a complex, colorful core that you only get on a vintage Selmer. The tone is great for any purpose from classical to jazz and rock. Intonation is generally very good, though sometimes classical players choose the later VI altos that have slightly better bell key intonation with a classical mouthpiece. The tone stays nice and consistent up into the palm keys without suddenly becoming brighter or going out of tune. This is basically as good as any 5 digit Mark VI alto (think $10K price range) but it’s cheaper just because of the non-numbered neck and the new coat of lacquer that it got from Selmer at some point. So here, you can get the real deal 5-digit alto for less than a new Ref 54. When you think about it, that’s a pretty good deal.