Saxophones King Zephyr tenor

Why would you want to replace a good modern horn with an older horn with less good ergonomics and bought unseen through eBay ?

My view is that the starting price of £1,000 is steep, let alone the BIN of £1,750. I like the style of King saxophones and have heard good things about them, but haven't been blown away when I have played tenor or alto S20 Kings. The King Zephyr was the model below the Super 20.

But if you got a chance to play it in person before bidding, then it might be an easier decision to make.

Rhys
 
Why would you want to replace a good modern horn with an older horn with less good ergonomics and bought unseen through eBay ?

My view is that the starting price of £1,000 is steep, let alone the BIN of £1,750. I like the style of King saxophones and have heard good things about them, but haven't been blown away when I have played tenor or alto S20 Kings. The King Zephyr was the model below the Super 20.

But if you got a chance to play it in person before bidding, then it might be an easier decision to make.

Rhys

Thank you for the advice 🙂
 
Definitely not worth that kind of dosh.....unless it were a Zephyr Special with full pearls etc....which it i'snt....
 
I had exactly the same horn a few years ago. Great vintage sounding tone, but you will notice a difference in the action compared to your Yamaha. I paid £700.00 for mine, so I think the price of this one is a little on the steep side. I think the later Zephyrs are more likely to go for this sort of price and a bit more.
 
Nothing wrong with the ergonomics on these old Kings. The Zephyr Specials are supposed to be the same body as the Super 20. Great Rock and Roll horn, very good jazz horn. Certainly a more robust and colourful sound than your Yamaha 23. That said, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for one sight unseen. Troll US ebay a bit, lots of sellers will ship over here and a lot more vintage American horns go a lot cheaper. Just make sure to factor into the price the overhaul it may need.
 
Nothing wrong with the ergonomics on these old Kings. The Zephyr Specials are supposed to be the same body as the Super 20. Great Rock and Roll horn, very good jazz horn. Certainly a more robust and colourful sound than your Yamaha 23. That said, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for one sight unseen. Troll US ebay a bit, lots of sellers will ship over here and a lot more vintage American horns go a lot cheaper. Just make sure to factor into the price the overhaul it may need.

Hi Morgan,

Thanks for the advice. Just wonder if i need to pay 20% VAT for items delivered from the US?
 
I'm with Morgan. I like the sound/tone of Kings. Some of my Rocksax friends are blowing King Zephyr tenors. A big sound. I would say that they have rich tones. I think the overtones are differnt when it comes to King. If the King Zephyr on Ebay is in very good condition maybe the price is not that bad. So play before you buy.

Other brands, saxes that blows in the same style as King, Cleveland, you can look for: Toneking, New King (Keilwerth), Dörfler & Jörka built saxes (some saxes are Keilwerths), Hohner (Keilwerth, one of the brothers I don't remember his first name), Couf I & II and I also think Kohlert, Winnenden is blowing in the same style. These saxes use to be sold for less money compared to a King.

Thomas
 
Nothing wrong with the ergonomics on these old Kings. The Zephyr Specials are supposed to be the same body as the Super 20. Great Rock and Roll horn, very good jazz horn. Certainly a more robust and colourful sound than your Yamaha 23. That said, I wouldn't pay that kind of money for one sight unseen. Troll US ebay a bit, lots of sellers will ship over here and a lot more vintage American horns go a lot cheaper. Just make sure to factor into the price the overhaul it may need.

I didn't actually say there was anything wrong with action. I merely pointed out there is a difference.
 
Last time I bought an used sax from America I had to pay sales tax (Swedish is 25 % ) + custom 4,9 % (for saxes) = 29,9 %. Then I also had to 25 % tax on the freight and the fee for the company who get the sax through the custom.

So the best way is to fly out with a sax that you want to trade and bring back a ready-to-play-sax. If it's sop, alto or tenor you can have it in the cabin if you carry it in a flight case (SKB, Walt Johnson ...).

Thomas
 
Didn't mean to imply that you did, Rick.[/QUOTE]

Sorry Morgan, my mistake. ;}

I did find the key positioning a little high for my tastes though. I really loved the tone. It had been de-laquered and developed a lovely patina. The serial number was 179XXX. I did gig with it a few times, but in the end I sold it on ebay for about £500.00.
 
I play a Zephyr tenor #173000, the engraving is excellent on these older Zephyrs. The early super 20's were identical to the Zephyrs but were nicely decorated. I partially agree that some of the modern horns have better ergonomics than the King Zephyrs, but none have that famous King Zephyr sound. They are also built as or more solid than the modern horns. Sight unseen I wouldn't pay that much for one, but most reputable sellers will give a 3 day inspection period minus the shipping. Here is what the famous "Sax Gourmet" has to say about the "King" line of Saxes:http://www.saxgourmet.com/king__saxophones.htm Yours just might be one of the "Zephyr Specials" which would make it easily worth that price in good condition. If if has the double socket neck, then its worth the money.
 
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I agree that if we are talking about core sound, I'll take the King Zephyr (particularly the late 1940's/early 1950's models) over a Yamaha any day of the week.

If you are at all used to playing vintage horns, you'll find the Kings have keywork as good as any of them, and better than most.
 
I just paid $625 for a 1954 alto Zephyr off American ebay, good playable condition from a reputable dealer. (can't wait till it gets here) Seems like the altos are going cheap right now, even with your tax in Europe.http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...item=&sspagename=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_12633wt_724

Not sure if I fully agree with the last poster about the key ergonomics. I find that Selmers and Yani's are a little friendlier in that regard. But I think he was comparing the keywork with other vintage horns, and he's right. I choose the Zephyrs just for the sound and the cool factor.:mrcool
 
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Not sure if I fully agree with the last poster about the key ergonomics. I find that Selmers and Yani's are a little friendlier in that regard. But I think he was comparing the keywork with other vintage horns, and he's right. I choose the Zephyrs just for the sound and the cool factor.:mrcool

You seem to have missed my critical, underlined qualifier "If you are at all used to playing vintage horns, you'll find the Kings have keywork as good as any of them, and better than most", meaning the Kings are as good or better ergonomically as any other VINTAGE horns. You are comparing these to modern Selmers and Yanagisawas, which is an apples to oranges situation.
 

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