King Full Pearls SilverSonic Alto 303030 Fresh Matt Stohrer Overhaul Original Lacquer Charlie Parker Vintage!

Description

Well, well, well, what have we here? One of my favorite saxophones of all time! This is an extremely rare early King SilverSonic alto with sterling silver bell and ‘full pearls’. I have only seen a few of these altos come up for sale in many years of watching the market fairly closely. There are probably fewer than 100 altos like this in existence, and there are fewer that still have their original lacquer. Charlie Parker famously played King SilverSonic Super 20 alto SN#295173, which sold for an ungodly sum at auction several years ago. This horn’s body serial is 303030, which is the same version as Parker’s, and the neck serial is 295182, which is only 9 serial numbers later than Parker’s, so same small batch of horns. Not sure why the neck serial is different, but maybe because this neck played best. This horn was one owner going way back several decades before I bought it.

It just got a full overhaul by the best saxophone repairman for Kings that I have experienced, Matt Stohrer. Matt is a friendly and unassuming guy who has a passion for learning and sharing as much as he can about saxophone repair. His attention to all the little, time-consuming details of repair that take a horn from good to great is pretty hard to beat. This horn certainly deserved the best, and it came out great. It feels super great under the fingers – dry and snappy, with light, easy action and great response. The tone is that classic, warm, punchy, projecting, brassy-when-pushed, King alto sound that Parker and Cannonball made, at least for me, the classic jazz alto tone. It sounds like that sound you have in your head that you just can’t quite get on a Selmer or any modern horn:-)

You get a nice original Silversonic King alto case, as well as a deluxe black BAM France Trekking case, both included with the horn. The BAM for safe shipping, and the King just for fun. Hard to beat the Trekking for an all-around alto case, and it fits the King like a glove.

There’s certainly only one of these available. I’ve had this in my personal collection for years, and it’s up here in the museum for your enjoyment. If you want an alto that looks gorgeous, has a high likelihood to keep going up in value, plays great, and is not so perfect that you’re afraid to play it, you couldn’t do better than this.