King Super 20 Alto Cleveland Original(!) Silver 423xxx

Description

The King Super 20’s that were made in Cleveland (like this) are the most desirable type among most players and collectors. (As a side note, the early Eastlake horns can also be very good.) The unusual thing about this alto, is that it is original silver plate, which you almost never see on a Super 20. I have heard of a few other original silver Super 20’s, and one gold plated one, but there are VERY FEW of these out there. So this is one of those “good luck finding another one” type of horns. It looks to me like a factory special order, a one-off made for a customer who paid extra for a custom silver alto.

It had a recent repad when I bought it, but I spent another $450 on it, getting most of these pads replaced, so that the horn now plays at a much higher level than it did and feels great under the fingers. The Super 20 is a classic jazz alto, famously played by Cannonball Adderley and Charlie Parker among others. It has a nice, medium bright tone that can cut through as a lead alto sound with the right mouthpiece (Meyer, Brilhart, etc) . It’s also a versatile, do it all kind of horn for most other types of playing (though I wouldn’t particularly recommend it for serious classical study). Super 20’s are great altos, and mechanically clean ones like this don’t come around that often. Most of the ones you see are beat up and consequently will never play as well as they could. This one is nice and clean. In terms of a picky description of flaws, there were a couple of very small dings removed from the neck. There are no resolders, and no other past dent work that is apparent, save possibly some small ones from the back of the bow area. The super-thin gold wash on the bell is pretty faint. The rest of the silver plate is still quite nice. The neck has not been pulled down and matches the horn. It’s a nice, straight, all-original, and very collectible Super 20 that also plays really well.

It ships in the original case. If you love collectible Kings or silver plate in general, get this one before it’s gone. Who knows when there will be another!