Saxophones When will the Mk VII get the credit it deserves?

I've had a MkVII for 3-4 years and love it. However I was seduced by a Signature Raw with 'Roo pads and bought it (after thinking about it with the help 6 bottles of red on a Friday afternoon with colleagues). However, good decision and I don't regret it.

The point is I've tried to sell the MKVII and have heard so much rubbish I'm keeping it. No-one appreciates these horns and I think it's all due to negative PR/spin over the years.

My MkVII isn't as good as my Raw, but it's so close. It feels more feminine than the Raw, it's seems lighter and just more curvy somehow. It sounds rich, the action I find is great - better than my Borgani and Mauriat I owned, it's simply special. But no-one else agrees and it's value is a joke when I see MKVi going for £6-7k on a regular basis and these are worth £1,500, if you're lucky.

Am I just blessed with a good one? Has value got nothing to do with quality, but collectability? Should I keep from drinking wine after visiting a well-known retailer in London? Will my wife let me keep both?

I'm keeping my MKVII as a back-up (hopefully) but have to say, I'm loving my Raw even more and will never drink after shoping again. Promise.
 
If you want your wife to let you keep both I suggest you don't describe the MkVII as feminine and curvy with great action.
 
I played a MkVII for 2 years, it was in good condition, I got it at a very reasonable price and it played great. I had no trouble at all with the ergos and the sound was really good (as per comments from fellow band members).

It just wasn't what I wanted so I sold it.

A friend of mine who played professionally used (and still plays ocassionally) a VII and would not have anything else.

IMHO it followed what turned out to be generally regarded as the industry standard for this particular instrument which was just unfortunate, FWIW I've played a few VI's and although very nice I cannot see the money in them, having said that I don't have the expertise to bring the best out of them.

To sum up they are a very good horn at a good price (as you have unfortunately found out).
 
I know one player who has played one for years, but I personally had one and never really liked it.Maybe I expected too much but it lacked something for me.
But that's just my opinion
Regards Zoot
 
Good sound...terrible key layout...I'm more comfortable on a number of vintage horns. The Vi was a hard act to follow but simply put, the ergonomic decisions made on the VII were idiotic.
 
If you want your wife to let you keep both I suggest you don't describe the MkVII as feminine and curvy with great action.

+1 🙂))

I've had a MkVII for 3-4 years and love it. However I was seduced by a Signature Raw with 'Roo pads and bought it (after thinking about it with the help 6 bottles of red on a Friday afternoon with colleagues).

What the heck is a Signature Raw BTW?


A friend of mine, whose R&B band I used to play in, uses a Mark VII as his main tenor. He loves it. I must admit, after playing his sax over the years off and on, I have really grown to love the sound of these horns enough that I was looking for one in good shape with a killer sound. However, the prices for the tenors, here in North America anyway, have gone up somewhat over the past few years it seems, and they are no longer the bargain-basement price that they once were.

Will they ever be as valuable as a Mark VI? No, since the ergos alone make them less "desirable" in many players' eyes. Also their sound is not as flexible as that of the Mark VI. The VI tends to be able to play more styles of music more easily. That said, the VII is a very fine horn, and can easily hold its own again most of the pro horns of today. If the left and right pinkie keys weren't as clunky, I suspect the value of these VII would be even higher.
 
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I remember a story my teacher once told me about how all the pros had eagerly awaiting the release of the new Mk7 back in the 70s, many of whome traded in their 6s to get one, suffice to say the majority went back to a six once they realised how awful they were..(my teacher included!).
When you consider the short production span of the seven and the subsequent SA series that replaced it they must have been pretty bad..
 
What the heck is a Signature Raw BTW?

Trevor James top of the range.. Well almost top of the range. Not sure if it's available across the pond, but got rave reviews here when it was released.

Maybe you'll get something out of trevorjames.com doesn't work for me, keeps trying to switch to a non-existent german page when I go in there.

Quite a few reviews/comments on this forum as well.
 
Mk 7s are great horns I sold one a few years back that i should have kept hold of.

The TJ raw is a great horn and there are still mods being done to this great horn by Dave and the TJ development team to make it even better!

ps Col if your wife decides it has to go can I have first dibbs?
 
Hmmmm.....

A little tempted by the MkVII Tenor I've seen for £850 2nd hand. But this thread is a little off-putting!

🙁
It shouldn't be. Try the horn for yourself and make up your own mind, don't listen to what others say. They are really nice horns. But be aware the left and right pinkie keys may feel a little strange, that's all. Once you get used to the key layout, they're fine. Remember though, like all vintage horns, each is a bit different than the other. No 2 are necessarily identical. That's why play-testing is so important before you buy any vintage sax.
 
It shouldn't be. Try the horn for yourself and make up your own mind, don't listen to what others say. They are really nice horns. But be aware the left and right pinkie keys may feel a little strange, that's all. Once you get used to the key layout, they're fine. Remember though, like all vintage horns, each is a bit different than the other. No 2 are necessarily identical. That's why play-testing is so important before you buy any vintage sax.

This is the problem when you find out about a sax in London and you're in the Midlands. At £850 you're right, it needs to be play tested. Just trying to find out as much as possible from the seller before taking a trip....
 
+ 1 on the RAW.

Recently i tried a Mark VII alto for the first time and was very impressed and it was a minty too,only problem was he wanted £2250 for it,but i was tempted,very tempted.
 
are you sure that`s £850 and not £1850 David, if it is and it`s not a basket case then it`s unbelievably cheap .

Perhaps almost as unbelievably cheap as the MkVI alto for £900 the other week? Email back from that seller wanting (in a Nigerian accent) me to pay some cash forwarding company etc. You know the type of thing. Just waiting to see if I get the same response on the MkVII. It'll likely be the same person! Yawn...
 

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