Selmer Balanced Action Alto Saxophone 21532 1935 Beautiful! Overhauled!

Beautiful example of a very early Selmer Balanced Action alto. The engraving is especially nice on this alto, as is the dark lacquer color. This has the rare individual adjuster screws on the lower stack keys, which you only see on the earliest BA’s. The Balanced Action is beloved for its warm, spread tone that has a sweet lyrical core. And for its modern keywork (all modern horns copy the Balanced Action design).

It does not have any significant past repairs. I really don’t see any. No dents, no dings, no resolders. Neck is in great shape with a little lacquer wear from use. Bell flare is undamaged. It’s quite nice. The engraving is very sharp and looks great. I don’t know for sure whether the lacquer is original, but with the engraving so sharp and the lacquer nice and dark like this, it probably is. Pricing it on the low side so someone gets a deal!

This beautiful Selmer Balanced Action Alto just got a fresh overhaul, and it plays BEAUTIFULLY! What a warm, sweet tone. Plenty of power if you push it, but mainly lyrical and balanced. Response is excellent. Low Bb is just another note. Saturated subtone ppp is no problem. Altissimo pops out easily. The pad work is super great, with a ‘dry’ feeling under the fingers that means these pad seats are wicked flat. It has the nice reusable slightly domed metal resonators that I love on Selmers. They’re very much like the vintage Tone-x resos, and you can keep them on your new pads if you swap a pad out sometime. You just get a bit more tone out of the horn with these, without changing how it was meant to sound. It’s rare to find a BA this nice, WITH a high end overhaul, and priced affordably!

There’s no better looking or sounding Selmer in my opinion. Only one available!