Description
Here’s one of those baritones that people dream of owning. It’s an original lacquer Selmer Mark VI low A baritone from 1959. It is in very good structural condition, with a few resoldered key guards and a small amount of past dent work in the back of the bottom bow. It looks great throughout (neck, body tube, bow, bell) and is in very nice shape currently. It has a recent overhaul done with black RooPads and reusing the original domed metal Selmer Tone-x resonators. Just an original resonator set for a 5-digit baritone is worth more than some saxophones! The horn plays and feels great. It is recently overhauled, an then I had Matt Stohrer do a thorough $300 setup on it, to make it even better.
The reason the price is not $3-4k higher on this horn is that it has been engraved twice. Once by Selmer in Elkhart, and again by a former Selmer engraver who still lives just outside Elkhart. Mark VI saxophones between roughly 75xxx-84xxx serial are engraved from the factory with a very light touch. (I have tons of photos of this era in the museum section, not to mention my personal VI alto 84xxx and tenor 81xxx.) The guy who owned this horn before I got it, thought that the light-looking engraving should look deeper, so he took it to Sherry Huntley (former Selmer engraver) to get it engraved again over the original engraving to make it “pop.” better. Sherry initially refused and told him this WAS the way the original engraving should look, but he insisted, so she reluctantly engraved new engraving over the original engraving. “Hey Mom, is that a…tramp stamp?!?”
I tried to take some ultra closeups that you can expand to full screen to see what I’m talking about. It’s pretty hard to see unless you look very closely. So basically, this is an original lacquer VI baritone that I’m selling for a significantly lower price than it normally would cost, because it has been re-engraved, even though it is original lacquer and engraving already.
Playing wise, this horn is lots of fun. The tone is just what people lust after in an 80k VI (the most desirable serial range for a Mark VI). It’s dark, focused, and powerful, with a complex core to it. Warm, interesting-sounding, resonant. The intonation is good, and the ergonomics are of course very good. After all, it’s a Mark VI. I’m tempted to just keep this as a sibling for my alto and tenor. It’s just a great baritone that would make just about anyone happy. And all for less than a new Yamaha.
If you don’t mind that this has double the engraving, it’s a rare chance to pick up an original lacquer VI bari for thousands below the normal price. With a good overhaul, and just setup by Matt Stohrer.
Only one available!
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