This is a beautiful original lacquer Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone from 1959, and one of the most desirable vintage alto saxophones out of basically anything I can think of. The 80k range has been the most popular for Mark VI's for as long as I can remember. My personal VI altos over the years have been 82k and 84k serial, so I guess I can also count myself as another data point among the players who prefer this serial range (and my tenor is 81k). The tone of this horn is dark, powerful, focused, and tenor-like in a good way - bigger than a normal alto, and very colorful and complex. It's not magically way better than any other alto, but it is definitely a really good one. The overhaul was done by Sebastien Tassé in Montreal, and he did a great job on it. The horn was entirely original condition before overhaul, including original pads and resonators. Original Tonex resos were reused on the new pads. Original neck has the matching serial number. Everything feels dry, tight, and snappy under the fingers, and this feels like a new horn to play.
There are no past repairs or resolders. No dent work, no past or present neck damage or pull down. It has some regular lacquer wear on touch points, and that's the only thing that takes it out of the near mint category. It's easily 'excellent' condition and has to be one of the nicest 80k serial altos in existence. Original case comes with it. It's actually kind of weird to me, that despite saxophone being an extremely popular instrument, the best saxophones ever made are still not that much more expensive than just a regular new saxophone made today. A regular Selmer Supreme is $9100 on Sweetwater, and for not that much more, you can get this amazing, overhauled, original lacquer 1959 Mark VI! I know the vintage guitar market pretty well, and this would never happen there, nor among string instruments of any kind. But for the time being, you can still get a prime serial VI for a quite reasonable price, or even a later serial VI for the price of a Yamaha.
