Selmer MKVI neck question

[Mad Duran]

I had a sales person tell me that with a Selmer MKVI 172xxx late '69 early70's horn the neck has NO serial number and that after a certain serial number on the horns the necks never had serial numbers. I have never heard this...it is true?
thanks, mad

[Nefertiti]

I have a 174 that has no serial number on the neck. That's as much as I know.

[Tharruff]

Madduran,

After a certain time, Selmer apparently did stop match stamping necks. I don't know exactly when. But I can tell you that I have a 1963 Mark VI of which the neck IS stamped with the same serial number as the body. So in very general terms...it was after 1963.

PS. My 1940 B/A is NOT stamped either. Apparently it was made BEFORE Selmer started stamping necks to match.

I played an SBA Tenor on consignment once (did not buy it though) of serial # 52XXX and its neck WAS serial number stamped.

A little info for you...but not much...

[MBushaw]

Tharruff- check the inside of your BA neck, mine has the last 3 scratched inside.
Also, as far as I know, only Selmers sold in the USA had serials on the neck, ever.

[danm]

As far as I know MBushaw is correct. The only horns that had a serial number on the neck were the usa assembled horns. They did that to keep track of what neck was shipped from France with what horn. They had no need to do this in France as they were never separated in the assembly. At least thais is what I have read. But I think they also just stopped putting them on all the later model MK VI's. I could be wrong though :lol:

[frankbiff]

I have a 1971 MKVI tenor, 191xxx. There is no serial number on the neck.

[Anonymous]

as has been discussed here before, sometime around WWII, the U.S. changed the import duty tax structure on a variety of goods, including musical instruments. It became much cheaper to import the saxes in parts form, then assemble, plate/lacquer, engrave them in Elkhart. Part of this process involved stamping the necks, and sometimes scratching the last few serial digits into the inside of the neck or inside the tone cups, as a manner of tracking inventory. That is why the stamped necks started during the SBA run and went into the Mark VI run. I do not know why they stopped stamping the necks, could be duty/tax changes, may have been that Selmer/Elkhart wanted more flexibility with switching necks, who knows? Could be the scratched serials inside horn parts still exists, but I haven't personally checked or heard anything about the last part of the Mark VI run to be able to verify this.

[Chazz Jazz]

I have an alto, 1619xx with no neck serial. A friend has another alto, 210xxx with no neck serial. :wink:

[1saxman]

The neck serial number stamping stopped around #140,000, when they did the last major revisions on the Mk VI. These consisted, in part, of a reduced neck tenon and upper bore diameter (tenor), a different neck profile (tenor), strengthened keywork and simplified decorations (no more 'chain' design around the bell bands). More Mk VIs were now furnished with the high F#, but it didn't become standard until the Mk VII. On post-1967 (post 140,000) saxes, look under the octave rocker for the serial number. Sometimes it will not match on a horn that is known to have the original neck - this is because they did play-matching of necks during the evaluation/grading process. They still do this, pulling the very best horns off the line for the Selmer Artists and other high-profile users. The next grade goes to the larger, more favored outlets and the third grade to everywhere else. This is not to say that the third grade is not good - the differences from top to bottom are subtle. Not everyone would know the difference. These saxes are still handmade, and there are variations - play as many as you can before choosing.

[Stretch]

I have a 99,000 Mark VI tenor with no serial number on the original neck. The Canadian VI's were assembled in Paris with the French engraving and lacquer [slightly more of red tinge to it]. The French engraving has not changed all that much in forty years as the modern Selmers have a similar pattern.

[King Bee]

I have a '67 and a '71 tenor (no serial number on either neck), a '61 (93K, neck stamped with matching number) and '72 alto (no number on the neck). The latter was a Euro horn without engraving, the others have American engraving.

King Bee

:D

[Howlin]

'58 tenor - no serial on neck

[TopDaddio]

I have alto SN M173xxx, no serial number on neck.

[Mike F]

They still do this, pulling the very best horns off the line for the Selmer Artists and other high-profile users. The next grade goes to the larger, more favored outlets and the third grade to everywhere else.

I thought this was a MKVI 'myth', ie something that some people said happened, but with no evidence to prove it. Surely it must be possible to find out if this actually happens now. Even if it happens in the USA, I'm quite sure that it doesn't happen in Europe.

[Antofa]

I have a '65 MkVI Tenor (M131xxx) with a serial number on the neck. I believe only a few thou. more were stamped on the neck and then, only if they were assembled in the US.
Hope that helps.....

May your g# never stick.... and your low b never warble..... ;)

[SplitTony]

172,xxx no serial number on neck.