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Forum » Vintage Saxophones » Beautiful and unusual King on e-bay


by kennyz
(31 posts)
17 years ago

Beautiful and unusual King on e-bay

Hello to everybody, there is a King alto on e-bay that I have never seen, it is unbelievable. It is gold plated but the engraving is not like others it is very very rich, on everywhere. I have seen many of engravings on the Conn gold plated but this, in "Olympic" style, is something of extraordinary... It also has all mother of pearl inlays like on the Zephyr Special but, according to the serial number, it should be of the late 1924, first of 1925. Why the Patent number doesn't appear? It is a model realized on ordination? Maybe it was a personal model of Mr White or Mr Henderson? ---just kidding... ; -)) I think that it is really a museum piece... cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=008&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=180060390124&rd=1&rd=1

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  2. by Michael Collins
    (13 posts)
    17 years ago

    Re: Beautiful and unusual King on e-bay

    It's a King "Artist" model, like it says on the e-bay page. The earlier King saxophones are the most beautifully engraved instruments that I have ever seen. Surprisingly, this horn is not as rare as you might think. It's mostly a collector's horn. Even though the earlier King horns were stunningly beautiful in apperance, they had lots of intonation problems and just aren't all that great as far as playing goes. Of course, that changed later with the introduction of the Zephyr and the Super 20. The Super 20 horns especially are some of the best horns ever made (some would argue that they are the best), right up there with the other great vintage horns like the 6m, 10m, Mark VI, SBA, etc.

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    1. by kennyz
      (31 posts)
      17 years ago

      Re: Beautiful and unusual King on e-bay

      Yes, I know that the "King" models before the Zephyr they have some problems of intonation but I don't know of what type, I have not tried them. Regard to the vintages, personally I think that some saxes of the past had some technical and aesthetical details that have been unsurpassed. I think to some types of octave mechanism, the presence of sophisticated mechanisms of regulation, the Nortons springs and, not last, the various finishes and engravings, today nonexistent in almost all the saxes. You spend $2.000 and you find engraved the serial number, the brand and some line only... Just the engraving and the inlays are the added value of this sax... how much would it cost to do a work of this kind today?

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