Horns in my Life:
1960s Selmer Mark VI Alto
by Paul D. Race 
I’m not going to say much about this one, except that one belonged to me at one time. Most of the other horns I’ve listed are student model or intermediate horns, and there are certain folks who judge your value as a sax player based entirely on the brand of horn you brought to your most recent gig. Or who list the horns they own as a kind of “credential” to validate their playing, as though spending the value of a good used car on a horn automatically makes you a better player.
Did I sound better on this horn the few times I played it? Of course. Was I a better sax player when I played it? Of course not. In fact I “cut my (improvisational) teeth” on an intermediate horn - a Buescher-designed Selmer Signet tenor that still sounds great and meets most of my gigging needs. But I did think it was worth explaining to critics that, while I know what a difference a pro horn can make to your sound, I also know that you can learn to play, and play well on any well-made, playable horn with decent intonation. (Yes that still rules out a lot of horns.)
That said, I will also attest that everything you’ve heard about this model is true. Blowing is as natural as breathing. Intonation is fantastic. Getting a great tone that makes strong men weep is like slicing butter with a hot knife.
The Mark VI was an upgrade from the Balanced Action, an earlier Selmer attempt to redesign the sax for easier play. One of the most obvious updates is that the right pinky keys are tilted so they’re easier to push. The Mark VI also included a feature that made the instrument much more sturdy - most of the posts are not mounted to the body directly - they’re mounted to brass plates that are then mounted to the horn. The extra brass keeps the posts from wandering out of line and distorting the body. That’s one reason intonation on a 50-year-old Selmer top-of-the-line sax is often as good as new.
Later, when Japanese companies like Yamaha started making saxophones, they copied the Mark VI ergonomic features that they could without increasing their costs. Eventually Selmer had to follow suit on their student horns, which is why the Bundy II looks a lot more like this horn than the original Bundy (based on Buescher True-Tone designs) ever did. The posts-on-plates feature, however, is still limited to professional horns.
Some top-of-the-line horns from companies like Yanagisawa copy most of the features of these horns, and my friends who play them say they’re just as good. One thing’s for sure, though, these are still the horns against which all other saxophones are judged, and the ones I’d rather play than eat. :-).
Enjoy your music!
Paul Race
www.SchoolOfTheRock.com
www.CreekDontRise.com
Here are write-ups on other horns I’ve loved.
The list is in the sequence in which I owned the following horns, not in the sequence they were built, which is way different.
Other Articles you may find helpful include:
All material, illustrations, and content of this web site are copyrighted © 2011-2014 by Paul D. Race. All rights reserved.
School Of The Rock(tm) is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.
For questions, comments, suggestions, trouble reports, etc. about this web page or its content, please contact us.
|
