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Tale of Three Saxes

Admitone

Admitone

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About a year ago, many decades since playing clarinet in the high school band, I found a Selmer SA80 Series II alto on Craig's list, and convinced an excellent saxophonist to help me get started.

After getting to the point I could play a few scales, I noticed that middle C# seemed quite flat, and as it couldn't be me, started looking for another horn. I tried his Purple Yamaha 62 and liked it, so I found a nice one on ebay.

Several months later, while experiencing yet another GAS attack, I noticed a pristine 1965 Mark VI on Craig's list, and decided to test for myself the mythical status of the horn.

I've heard it said that first you learn to play sax, then you learn to play a Mark VI. So while three techs all felt the Mark VI is in good shape, and it is indeed light and bright, I find hitting low C and below quite dicey compared with the other two.

My wife has imposed a three sax limit, and I'm longing for a tenor.

As I move back and forth between the three, I find myself more and more drawn to the Series II (still a tad flat C#), with the 62 in second place. But I'm hesitant to part with the Mark VI in case it's just me, and one day I might be able to make it truly sing.

What to do?
 
Admitone said:
I've heard it said that first you learn to play sax, then you learn to play a Mark VI.
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Well, chuck that chestnut of advice into the circular file right now.

Admitone said:
... So while three techs all felt the Mark VI is in good shape, and it is indeed light and bright, I find hitting low C and below quite dicey compared with the other two.
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Does this mean they all literally put a leak light in the horn, checked for pad leaks, checked for regulation leaks, checked for neck tenon leaks, etc, etc., and playtested the horn themselves ? And found everything to be sealing ?

Because, you see....no model of sax that I know of (and I have refurbed/serviced over 1200 horns) intrinsically is difficult to get to speak when it is leak-free. A few examples might have unstable notes due to the body design, but that results in 'motorboating' as opposed to "I cannot get the note to speak".

So....if the answer to my question is "yes, absolutely"...then I would suggest you have another sax player try the VI and see if they can repeat your problem. If they cannot, yes, it is you (oddly). If they also find something wonky down there, then the techs missed something....

Admitone said:
As I move back and forth between the three, I find myself more and more drawn to the Series II (still a tad flat C#), with the 62 in second place. But I'm hesitant to part with the Mark VI in case it's just me, and one day I might be able to make it truly sing.

What to do?
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Do the VI test with other players. See if an answer reveals itself there.

Then, if you need to sell it to recoup some money, sell it.
If, however, there is zero financial reason to unburden yourself of it...hold onto it and enjoy your 80 and Yama....
 
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JayeNM said:
Does this mean they all literally put a leak light in the horn, checked for pad leaks, checked for regulation leaks, checked for neck tenon leaks, etc, etc., and playtested the horn themselves ? And found everything to be sealing ?
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Light leak, pad leaks, yes. One played, others listened as the keys were closed. None seemed to feel the need to go further, but I don't recall anyone checking for tenon or bow joint leaks.

I can voice the bell keys, but they're hit and miss and overtone easily. The other two horns both seem more solid and I can play them with more confidence.
 
Sell the Yamaha and the Mk VI and get a tenor and a bari.

Note that the 3-sax rule is going to make it hard to have one of each (SATB).
 
nigeld said:
Sell the Yamaha and the Mk VI and get a tenor and a bari.
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Well, I actually already have a Yamaha 62 tenor, and am hiding it for now. But I've been told I could get quite a bit for the VI, and I'm not sure I'll ever be a good enough player for anyone to tell which alto I'm playing.

It would be hard to hide a bari, but a sop would be easy.
 
JayeNM said:
Because, you see....no model of sax that I know of (and I have refurbed/serviced over 1200 horns) intrinsically is difficult to get to speak when it is leak-free. A few examples might have unstable notes due to the body design, but that results in 'motorboating' as opposed to "I cannot get the note to speak".
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Motorboating isn't the problem. I just tend to get an overtone rather than the fundamental. On the Series II or tenor, I can hit low Bb (almost) every time. On the VI it's 50/50.
 
The problem with mark VI's are with its mythical status, if you have a great one then that's fine but there were and still are a lot of bad ones about, i owned a mark VI for about 20 years and it was handpicked from about 12 VI's, but I still parted with it because I found 2 Taiwan built horns that played and sounded as good.
 
Admitone said:
Motorboating isn't the problem. I just tend to get an overtone rather than the fundamental. On the Series II or tenor, I can hit low Bb (almost) every time. On the VI it's 50/50.
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Right, which leads me to believe the horn still has a leak, because VI's (even lemon ones) didn't intrinsically have a problem with low notes speaking, is all (except for gurgles on a span of their Altos, due to the bow design).

It just is probably worth having another player play it and see if the problem exists for them. A horn in good regulation should pop the bellkey notes, no problem. Often if they cannot, there's a (yet undiscovered) leak someplace.
 
JayeNM said:
Right, which leads me to believe the horn still has a leak, because VI's (even lemon ones) didn't intrinsically have a problem with low notes speaking, is all (except for gurgles on a span of their Altos, due to the bow design).

It just is probably worth having another player play it and see if the problem exists for them. A horn in good regulation should pop the bellkey notes, no problem. Often if they cannot, there's a (yet undiscovered) leak someplace.
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Thanks, that's good to know. It would be great to find a leak is the problem. There is much to like about the Mark VI. It's light to the touch (and .6 lbs lighter than my SA80 II) and seems filled with harmonics (which I may one day learn to control).
 
nigeld said:
The sop is nor easy to hide once you start playing it! Practicing high notes is rather noticeable.
But you could call it a metal clarinet.
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I practice in the basement where she can't see me play so I think a metal clarinet could work.

It's silly really. My wife is a retired Naval Officer and usually quite reasonable. I've paid a total of less that $10k for all three (actually four) saxes. That's less than a mediocre used car. They are all fine instruments, and, if anything, appreciate in value over time.

I think the fear is that I will end up filling the basement with saxophones. Hmmm....
 

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