Selmer Mark VI Alto Saxophone 112xxx Original Lacquer

Description

Here is a nice, clean, original lacquer Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone in my favorite serial range for *tone*. The VI altos around 95xxx-119xxx seem to have an extra resonant, powerful, dark, focused core that makes them a lot of fun to play. With a Meyer or similar mouthpiece, you get that classic lead alto tone that makes these horns perennial favorites among all levels of players.

This horn has pads that are in the middle of their usable life, and it plays great on them. It doesn’t need any work at all and plays and responds very well. The intonation is good, and there are no problems there to mention, save low B and Bb being a bit flat, but only if you are using a small tip opening, large chamber mouthpiece. If you use a Meyer or something similar to that, the low notes play better in tune. So I might not recommend this for classical saxophone quartet, but pretty much any other situation it would be ideal for. There just is no other saxophone that does it all as well as a vintage VI like this, and this is a good, original example of one. In terms of past damage, there’s not much to mention: the low Eb keycage has been resoldered, and some small dents were removed from the back of the bow, and from just below the serial stamp. The neck has also had a *very* minor pull down – like a 1 on a scale of 1 to 10, and it is in excellent shape.

The price is also very attractive, not least because you will not lose money if you ever want to re-sell a horn like this. Modern Selmers have gotten so expensive relative to vintage ones that you can now buy a great VI like this for the same price as a new “Reference 54,” only your 54 goes down in value and your VI goes up, and the VI is (in my opinion) still a superior instrument in terms of tone and build quality.

Talk to me about adding a BAM case for safety/protection/gigging, at a great price. The original case is here as well, if you want it; it is is the large gray suitcase style one, but I love BAM cases for keeping your VI in good shape and carrying it around in style.