Rare 1955 Tenor Saxophone SELMER Mark VI, US version with high F#, 56xxx

And here we have another rare version of a SELMER Mark VI tenor saxophone: it is a very early Mark VI, which was built in the official launch year of the Mark VI and was shipped to SELMER USA in Elkhart in its raw state. Unfortunately, there is no further information about this Mark VI tenor saxophone in the Henri SELMER Paris archives. What we do know for sure is that it is a rare SELMER Mark VI for the US market, equipped with a high F# key. Presumably the saxophone was originally silver-plated, which is even rarer (probably only 1% of US Mark VIs were silver-plated! And how many of those were fitted with high F#???)

The beautiful floral hand engraving on the bell and knee is shown to its best advantage on the pure brass.
The early SELMER Mark VI, which were assembled in Elkhart USA, were still engraved on the bell and on the knee; from 1955 onwards, the US Mark VI were normally engraved only on the bell. The neck seems to have been replaced at some time in the past. Although it was also silver-plated and later desilvered – just like the saxophone – it does not bear a serial number in the neck, which was common at the time.

Rare or not, the important thing is whether it is a good Mark VI. And yes, it definitely is! We got the saxophone overhauled, the overhaul was done very well, CHANU pads with INOX metal resonators without rivets were used. We have improved a few small details on the mechanism and replaced a missing mother-of-pearl insert and the low Bb roll. The horn can be played flawlessly and tends to have a rather dark tone colour. When played powerfully, it develops a lot of oomph without losing its warm timbre. This 1954 SELMER tenor saxophone has a beautiful homogeneity, as we are used to from the Mark VI, as well as the typical Mark VI core in the sound.

A marvellous Mark VI, rare in the past, even rarer and unique today!