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Sax on the Web
Forum / Selmer
saxes / Black Lacquered MkVI?
Andres
User ID: 1543764 |
Jul 15th 7:05 PM
I was prowling EBay and found this
for sale:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=893986979
And it knocked me out. I had no idea that Selmer did this with
VI's (I thought it started with the SA80 series).
Does anyone know
if this is a one-of-a-kind or not? |
Paul C.
User ID: 0534004 |
Jul 20th 8:39 PM
As a teenager, in the late '60's, I
wore out about half a dozen Selmer sax catalogs/price lists, from carrying
them around in my back pocket, drooling over the horns at every
opportunity. I can say that black lacquer was not offered by Selmer, and
in fact was unheard of in those days.
The Mk VI was offered in
gold lacquer, silver plate, gold plate, and yes, even nickel plate. The
plated finishes were available only on special order. Price of nickel and
silver were printed. Gold plate varied, and was a "Price on Request" item.
NO black lacquer was listed, I can assure you.
By the time I was
in college, about 1973, a friend had returned from a trip to Europe. There
he saw a red lacquered saxophone in a jazz club. So, apparently colored
lacquer was at least known in Europe at that time.
I have no idea
if the factory offered colored lacquers. If so, they did not do it in the
US.
From my look at the pictures, I see lots of places where the
engraving was not recut, filled with the blue. It is obvious the blue or
black was not the original lacquer, but applied sometime after it left the
factory.
Ho hum. |
saxpics
User ID: 0220464 |
Jul 21st 1:45 AM
Adding to the list of plating
finishes:
- Lacquer body with nickel keywork -- the fairly popular
"French style" finish.
I've seen, and have pictures of:
-
Silver plate body with gold highlights (kinda like the gold-plated King
Silver-Sonics -- one example)
- Silver plate body with gold keywork
(two examples, one was a replate)
I've heard:
- Some folks on
this board saying that there were horns with lacquer bodies and silver
keywork, but I think the folks that mention this either don't know from
nickel plate and/or the horns they're looking at were relacquered silver
horns, a la some of the Conn New Wonders.
In this particular
instance, I tend to want to go with Steve G.: I'd want a certificate of
authenticity before spending large amounts of $. I also agree with Paul
C.: the colored lacquer doesn't seem to have been applied very well,
irrespective of the origin.
Besides, here's a better point:
there's absolutely no evidence to indicate that a change in lacquer
affects the sound. Plating, yes, depending on the thickness. Lacquer, no
-- except if it was a relacquer.
It is possible that it's
original: I've seen Mark VI's done up in a variety of custom ways, from
engraving to keywork (G# trill key? Selmer's got ya covered!)
Also, remember that color wasn't unheard of: colored enamels were
introduced in the late 1920's on Buescher and Conn horns.
However,
TS, I am interested in your statement. Where doid you hear this? Can you
document this?
(Anybody write to Selmer France and ask them?)
Take care!
Pete
saxpics@gmail.com
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