Selmer Super Balanced Action Tenor Saxophone 55024 Original Lacquer Fresh Overhaul

Description

This is a beautiful, original lacquer Selmer Super Balanced Action tenor saxophone in excellent condition. Selmer SBA tenors have gotten really hard to find in the last year or two, and this is among the nicest I have seen in that time. It is priced very reasonably for what you get, based on all the other ones I have seen for sale recently. This is a late SBA with the more comfortable thumb hook that is a transitional feature shared by the early Mark VI tenor that came out around the same time that this horn was made. (Selmers often show a little overlap between models, and frequently have transitional features shared by overlapping models.)

The ‘late’ Selmer SBA tenors like this have gotten particularly hard to find, because they combine the warmer, more delicate SBA tone with the best bell key tuning. This one tunes great, and is quite free blowing, warm, and moderately focused, with a lyrical core tone. Tone is tricky to describe, and obviously the horn sounds completely different depending upon which mouthpiece you use etc. But it plays just how I would hope a great Super Balanced Action tenor would play. You may notice, this has the ‘euro’ engraving style done on Selmer Super Balanced Action tenors that were lacquered and engraved in France.

The overhaul is recently done in California by Manny Gavrilov at the Horn Connection. Manny’s work feels quite good, with a dry, snappy pad feel. Spring tension is just right. The horn resonates beautifully, and the pads are sealed (hence the red color) to protect against moisture and to make the overhaul last forever. I’ve played horns with red sealed pads that had 25 year old overhauls that were still going strong. It really does a good job of sealing the horn up like a drum, and it just feels like normal medium firm leather pads. The resonators are domed metal and are correct style for a late SBA like this. They look like Selmer Tone-x resonators, and are probably the original resos reused on the new pads. This horn has been played and loved, so it’s not mint condition, obviously. But the wear is ‘honest’ wear from use, not from a bunch of past repairs. I see nothing resoldered at all, and maybe some minor bow dents were removed a long time ago, leaving only very slight evidence of anything having been done. You’ve got a custom octave key thumb rest cover installed, but it’s easily removable, and the original octave thumb rest is under there and looks fine.

This comes with its beautiful original tan leather Chesterfield case from Selmer with the latch style opening, which is more durable than the zippered Chesterfield. I like the way the leather binding forms one continuous circuit around the case exterior. Just the case is worth some $$! If you have any questions, feel free to ask. I’m happy to help. If you’ve been looking for a great vintage Selmer with some warmth, power and projection, that is in top playing condition, original lacquer and priced reasonably for an original SBA, then here you go. This one is hard to beat.
Pair with our new GS SLANT tenor mouthpiece for a classic mainstream jazz tone.

Only one available!