The King is Back!

[AltoRedux]

My horn is back from it's tune up! :D

I thought I'd share with you guys, cause no one in my family, or at work, is very impressed. So now I can take back the icky selmer rental, and go play with the combo tonight. :D

Played it last night with an abersold - just fooling around. Boy it sounds nice.

Cheers.

[AltoRedux]

Ok. So nobody here is very impressed either. :(

Well I suppose I could get all petulant and practice rotary breathing till I turn blue. :evil:

But instead I'll just go have lunch.

[Hurling Frootmig]

Which King is it?

[AltoRedux]

Its an alto S20, Silversonic. One of the late ones, from '74. I played it for a couple of years, then stopped when I became a sailor. Put it in the closet till last christmas, then started playing again. Now I'm obsessed, spending the equivalent of the GDP of a small country on lessons, abersolds, realbooks, a windsynth to practice on late at night, new mouthpiece, new music stand, jazz camp, beer. My wife is starting to push for a second car, cause I'm out playing so much.

First paid gig is mid january. We're playing standards, latin stuff for a museum opening cocktail party.

Anyway the horn was having some major intonation problems, so I took it to the guy who's considered 'the guy' in Toronto. He replaced a bunch of pads that were disgusting, adjusted key heights, and fixed all the leaks. Which he said were major. I believe it, cause it takes way less air to blow the horn now.

The intonation is now much better. Still not rock solid against the tuner, compared to my teachers Mk 6, but I don't like the sound or the feel of selmers (particulary the stupid octave key).

Rehearsed with the combo on tuesday night, and the guys were very complimentary about the sound. Tonight is the monthly jazz camp alumni jam night, so that will be fun, cause I won't have to put up with the limitations of the rental thingy.

[Hurling Frootmig]

Sounds like a nice horn.

I like big free blowing horns as well so keep blowing.

[goodsax]

I wonder why there seems to be so much problems with intonation in the Kings? If you read King-related forums, intonation always seems to come up as the only negative issue about these otherwise great horns. And it doesn't seem to matter whether it's a Zephyr, Zephyr Special, or Super 20. Some have indicated better luck changing mouthpieces, but still not rock solid as, say, on a MK6.
:?:

[T.S.]

The intonation problems are more prevalent on the altos than tenors. However, a good set up by a good tech can eliminate much of this more often than not. They are usually pretty mouthpiece friendly, though, as with all horns, mp's, and players, some work better than others. They have tone for days.

[mbarnard]

A bit of apples and oranges, but . . .

I have a Super 20 tenor that plays well in tune. I also have a SBA alto that has serious intonation issues. I'm not at all sure that with the small sample spaces available to the average player that any conclusions can be drawn in re intonation.

Also, something to chew on. You've just spent $3500+ on a Mark VI horn. With that kind of money on the line, it's easy to delude yourself that you have MP issues, need time to adjust, etc.

Regards,

Mike Barnard

[goodsax]

Good point, mbarnard. I think I'll continue deluding myself that my intonation problems are not my Kohlert alto, but whatever mpc du jour I'm using. It's a lot cheaper that way. My SDA/S1 transition tenor Morgan mpc is doing just fine.
8)

[kingperkoff]

how much does a Super 20 cost?

[goodsax]

It's not that simple. There are different kinds of Super 20s. For altos, I've seen about $1300 - over $3000, depending on whether they have the silver neck and bell and if they do, whether the bell has the gold inlay with the silver engraving. Also, I'm fairly sure the earlier Super 20 Silver Sonics had socketed necks whereas later models did not. That affects value as well. Then you factor in the seller variable, meaning whether the seller is going for top dollar, or will take something less than appraised value.

In any case, they still sell, in general, for a lot less than the average MK6 alto, and even some Yana's. As SG's value guide indicates, the King Zephyr and Super 20 are way under-valued, a good thing for buyers.