King SilverSonic Alto Near Mint with Gold in the Engraving – Early Series III 358843

This is the nicest King Series III SilverSonic alto that I have seen, and it’s also the earliest serial one that I’ve seen in person. If you’re into Kings, then you already know what this is, but if you’re not, then in my opinion, this is the second best version, and to many players, this is the best version. The Series II Super 20 is what Cannonball played on Kind of Blue and Somethin’ Else, before switching to one of these after the new ones came out (he went through several horns over the course of his career). The Series II has the ‘full pearls’ on side keys etc, and the Series III lacks the extra pearl key touches, but it gains much more modern feeling keywork in exchange, while keeping the full, rich King tone of the Series II. The ones like this, made shortly after the end of the Series II (which ends around 343k serial), have a little warmer tone than the later Series III horns, more like the Series II, in my opinion. That makes this something of a unicorn – excellent to near mint condition, original factory pads and setup still intact like a time capsule. Double socket solid silver neck in perfect shape. No dents or dings. No past repairs. Solid silver bell with the thick decorative gold in the engraving, which makes this extra rare. All in all, hard to beat. You’d need to get it overhauled. I’d be open to using one of my reserved spots with Matt Stohrer to get this overhauled for you, if you wanted to get Matt to do it for you. He overhauled my personal King alto, and it’s just fantastic. His work on these feels like the King factory just finished building the horn for you. If this suddenly disappears from the site, it’s because I decided to keep it. These altos are really hard to beat, and among the best ever made.

Only one available!