Selmer Series III Alto 602xxx $400 Setup!

Description

The retail prices of Selmer Series III alto saxes just went up again, and the quality of the new ones is still uneven, and the factory setup is frankly pretty bad. That makes an excellent condition, good-playing used Series III with new, better setup and new pads an even better choice than it was before. This horn comes from a discerning classical alto saxophone teacher and pro player who used it for graduate study as well as performance and teaching. He took excellent care of it, so that there is only minor playing wear. There have been no dents, dings or past repairs at all.

Of course, this horn has a great clear round tone like all the new Selmers, as well as excellent intonation and excellent ergonomics. On top of that, it has almost all new pads. A major problem with new Selmers is that the pads they use are too thin and they have no shellac behind them at all. This means that there is no way to adjust pads when they get leaky, and there is no way to replace one of the ultra thin pads with a replacement pad that will be the same thickness and provide the same key heights across the instrument. As a consequence, these horns unfortunately need work not long after they come from the factory. This horn has just had 14 new pads put in by Matt Stohrer, who is one of the best in the business. All of the sprung-open pads are new, and some of the sprung closed ones are as well. The factory setup of octave mechanism was also a mess, and now feels like it should. The pads feel firm, snappy, and are sealing perfectly with minimal maintenance needed for several years.

So you are getting a nice, clean horn cosmetically, which is (far) better than new mechanically. That’s hard to beat, for a fraction of the price of a new one.

This horn ships in a nice BAM-Selmer form fitted softpak case.