King Super 20 Alto Full Pearls 336xxx Outstanding

Description

This is an excellent condition, original lacquer King Super 20 Alto SN#336xxx with full pearls and solid silver neck. This is a primo serial range for Super 20 altos, and this one features the more comfortable left hand pinky setup that some people really like. It has a fresh TenorMadness overhaul (costs around $1400) and feels really good under the fingers. The overhaul is really important to how a horn plays, and this one deserved a really good overhaul. This was only done a couple of years ago, so the pads are still very fresh and in excellent condition, and I have also just had it setup again to my very picky standards. I have kept this as my personal alto for the last year – it is Super-Awesome. At this price, I am only breaking even on it. I bought it for retail because I just had to have it. Tonally, it is exactly in that classic Cannonball Adderley tonal universe. It’s that jazz alto sound that is in your ears and in the air at book stores and coffee shops everywhere. It’s also a super-responsive horn. It makes you just want to play and play. I have had a lot of luck finding good Super 20’s recently– they are just such great altos, it’s hard to exaggerate how much fun they are to play.

This horn is very clean mechanically, with only some light lacquer wear to speak of. The color is gorgeous. I need to do new photos in natural light because it actually looks way better than this! You may notice that there is still a little bit of the thin coat of “gold lacquer” that King sprayed over the solid silver neck. You only see that on very pristine examples of these. The neck serial matches the body, and the double socket is in good shape. The neck is in excellent condition and is not pulled down. The pearls are also nice and sharp, and not worn down at all.

This is an outstanding player, which was the best-playing full pearls alto owned by a guy who has collected King saxophones for about 20 years now, and has owned scores of them. He put it on consignment, and I bought it from him to keep!

The original case is in ok shape, but some of the binding is coming off the sides.

This is one great horn, and I will be sad to see it go when it sells. This is a turn-key purchase for a superior King alto that should make even the pickiest players very happy. You can find a cheaper Super 20 many places, but Kings are notoriously difficult to get totally right again if the nickel keywork has been damaged, and this horn is clean, turn-key, and has a top-quality boutique overhaul already done (which adds significantly to my cost, and makes life easier for you).