Sax on the Web

Sax on the Web Forum Archive / Selmer saxes / Blue neck

Yo
User ID: 9579203 Nov 28th 2:40 PM
What models are the s the the neck blue

Randy M.
User ID: 7259523 Nov 28th 10:43 PM
Trying to remember a post that was deleted. Many of the Mark Vi's and S-80 have blue "S" on the neck. Seems like the Mark VII had "7" on the neck and black if colored.

Lost Lamb
User ID: 0331974 Nov 29th 9:45 AM
yep Randy. Some Mark VIs had blue paint, some black, some no paint.
Mark VII has the big graphic M and the "7" in black paint on the neck itself.
I think we're going to be doing a lot of collective recollecting. No Selmer and no Vintage leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Alan
User ID: 9892733 Nov 29th 11:27 PM
Most of the Mark VI's I've seen had the blue.....but on early ones the blue looked more like black or a really dark blue. I've never seen a 7 with the black on the front of the neck, but that doesn't mean some didn't have it. Lots of the 7's didn't have the royal blue on the neck either. Some did, but all the newer Selmer's seem to have the blue around the S on the neck.

Noel
User ID: 8179663 Dec 5th 9:57 PM
One of my sax teachers says that the "Blue VI's" were actually french models that were not actually ment to be sold in the US. The guy knows a lot of stuff about vintage instruments so I wouldn't doubt him. I think there is some info about that french models at SaxGourmet.com.

MBushaw
User ID: 7100053 Dec 6th 10:25 AM
Noel, that makes sense as the MkVI's sold in the US were lacquered in the US. The blue paint would presumably have to be applied on top of the lacquer. Hmmm, maybe the early VII 'dark' blues had the lacquer applied over the blue? Oh, and US silver horns may have had the blue neck as there was no lacquer applied.

Ron
User ID: 9467593 Dec 6th 12:41 PM
I have a '68 Mark VI tenor - no blue paint, larger tenon. I have a '72 Mark VI - no blue paint, smaller tenon. And I have a NOS Mark VI neck with blue S that has the smaller tenon. Were there any blue S necks made with the larger tenon?

amasax
User ID: 1536664 Dec 11th 3:51 PM
Noel, that's not true about blue necks only being the euro models, as i know a guy who had a Mark VI that he bought locally, probably around 1970 or so that the blue neck. Nothin' special about the horn, just another Mark VI alto.

Danz
User ID: 9614573 Dec 25th 3:17 AM
All the mk 6 saxophones imported into New Zealand and Australia had the blue octav key logo.The blue can wear off quite quickly under some conditions .

GaryL
User ID: 1572034 Dec 25th 4:56 PM
What is the significance of a black Mercedes?

There is nothing significant about a blue Selmer neck, pay it no mind. I've painted some of those necks myself, some black, some blue, left some clear.

amasax
User ID: 0478154 Dec 26th 11:56 AM
btw, this shade of blue is commonly known as 'French Blue'. Countries have 'national' colors(Fr=Blue, Italy=Red, Germany=silver[if memory serves], U.K. = 'British Racing Green',etc.). First came across this when i started following Formula One racing...when F1 was setup around 1950 or so, these colors were used(not sure when the color scheme was actually setup; probably before F1, tho). That's the original reason one sees so many 'Ferrari Red' Ferrari cars...Italia and all that good stuff, although, up thru the 1960's, red was not used near as much on Ferrari's compared to later, particularly in the 1980's-today.

So, probably not surprising that if the French boys & girls are gonna paint up a sax a bit, it's gonna be French Blue...

bennymobebop
User ID: 0512724 Dec 27th 12:01 AM
I've seen a pair of matching VI silver plated altos, both with the 'S' area painted red (both 5 digit serial #s). Has anyone else seen anything of the sort? I dunno if it was original, I would assume so, but who knows. They were both at Sam Ash in Manhattan at the same time and looked like they had fresh overhauls. I don't know if the repair tech got a little creative or what, but I would expect Sam Ash to be more sensitive to vintage accuracy than that.

bennymobebop
User ID: 0512724 Dec 27th 12:02 AM
Maybe they were for the Italian market... :-)

anon
User ID: 9725373 Dec 28th 11:19 AM
these 'red' selmer necks are probably not original, best guess someone repainted...would be interesting to peel the paint & see if blue was underneath

Bob
User ID: 9272753 Jan 11th 2:57 PM
I thought the new series III's have the blue S.

Alan
User ID: 9892733 Jan 11th 11:25 PM
They do.

Patrick
User ID: 8722703 Jan 17th 9:08 PM
The 36 has the blue.
The 54 has the black.

Yo User ID: 9579203	Nov 28th 2:40 PM What models are the s the the neck blue
Randy M. User ID: 7259523	Nov 28th 10:43 PM Trying to remember a post that was deleted. Many of the Mark Vi's and S-80 have blue "S" on the neck. Seems like the Mark VII had "7" on the neck and black if colored.
Lost Lamb User ID: 0331974	Nov 29th 9:45 AM yep Randy. Some Mark VIs had blue paint, some black, some no paint. Mark VII has the big graphic M and the "7" in black paint on the neck itself. I think we're going to be doing a lot of collective recollecting. No Selmer and no Vintage leaves a lot of unanswered questions.
Alan User ID: 9892733	Nov 29th 11:27 PM Most of the Mark VI's I've seen had the blue.....but on early ones the blue looked more like black or a really dark blue. I've never seen a 7 with the black on the front of the neck, but that doesn't mean some didn't have it. Lots of the 7's didn't have the royal blue on the neck either. Some did, but all the newer Selmer's seem to have the blue around the S on the neck.
Noel User ID: 8179663	Dec 5th 9:57 PM One of my sax teachers says that the "Blue VI's" were actually french models that were not actually ment to be sold in the US. The guy knows a lot of stuff about vintage instruments so I wouldn't doubt him. I think there is some info about that french models at SaxGourmet.com.
MBushaw User ID: 7100053	Dec 6th 10:25 AM Noel, that makes sense as the MkVI's sold in the US were lacquered in the US. The blue paint would presumably have to be applied on top of the lacquer. Hmmm, maybe the early VII 'dark' blues had the lacquer applied over the blue? Oh, and US silver horns may have had the blue neck as there was no lacquer applied.
Ron User ID: 9467593	Dec 6th 12:41 PM I have a '68 Mark VI tenor - no blue paint, larger tenon. I have a '72 Mark VI - no blue paint, smaller tenon. And I have a NOS Mark VI neck with blue S that has the smaller tenon. Were there any blue S necks made with the larger tenon?
amasax User ID: 1536664	Dec 11th 3:51 PM Noel, that's not true about blue necks only being the euro models, as i know a guy who had a Mark VI that he bought locally, probably around 1970 or so that the blue neck. Nothin' special about the horn, just another Mark VI alto.
Danz User ID: 9614573	Dec 25th 3:17 AM All the mk 6 saxophones imported into New Zealand and Australia had the blue octav key logo.The blue can wear off quite quickly under some conditions .
GaryL User ID: 1572034	Dec 25th 4:56 PM What is the significance of a black Mercedes? There is nothing significant about a blue Selmer neck, pay it no mind. I've painted some of those necks myself, some black, some blue, left some clear.
amasax User ID: 0478154	Dec 26th 11:56 AM btw, this shade of blue is commonly known as 'French Blue'. Countries have 'national' colors(Fr=Blue, Italy=Red, Germany=silver[if memory serves], U.K. = 'British Racing Green',etc.). First came across this when i started following Formula One racing...when F1 was setup around 1950 or so, these colors were used(not sure when the color scheme was actually setup; probably before F1, tho). That's the original reason one sees so many 'Ferrari Red' Ferrari cars...Italia and all that good stuff, although, up thru the 1960's, red was not used near as much on Ferrari's compared to later, particularly in the 1980's-today. So, probably not surprising that if the French boys & girls are gonna paint up a sax a bit, it's gonna be French Blue...
bennymobebop User ID: 0512724	Dec 27th 12:01 AM I've seen a pair of matching VI silver plated altos, both with the 'S' area painted red (both 5 digit serial #s). Has anyone else seen anything of the sort? I dunno if it was original, I would assume so, but who knows. They were both at Sam Ash in Manhattan at the same time and looked like they had fresh overhauls. I don't know if the repair tech got a little creative or what, but I would expect Sam Ash to be more sensitive to vintage accuracy than that.
bennymobebop User ID: 0512724	Dec 27th 12:02 AM Maybe they were for the Italian market... :-)
anon User ID: 9725373	Dec 28th 11:19 AM these 'red' selmer necks are probably not original, best guess someone repainted...would be interesting to peel the paint & see if blue was underneath
Bob User ID: 9272753	Jan 11th 2:57 PM I thought the new series III's have the blue S.
Alan User ID: 9892733	Jan 11th 11:25 PM They do.
Patrick User ID: 8722703	Jan 17th 9:08 PM The 36 has the blue. The 54 has the black.