Vintage KING soprano

[chising]

Did anyone here own a vintage KING H.N. White soprano, (not King Margiaux from SML), any comment, experience, intonation issue? How about...compare to vintage Conn or TT? Thanks.

[bruce bailey]

I played on one about 30 years ago (curved) and it had a free sound that was actually better than a Conn I owned at the time. I have been watching these on ebay and they seem to go for about half of the price of a Conn. The worst part is that many only go up to Eb, but some are to F. I guess that it is what is available at the time, but they sure are better than most of the newer horns from China.

[Thomas]

I briefly owned an old King straight soprano that had been well overhauled but the intonation was terrible and just couldn't be corrected by my very experienced tech

[knighttrain]

I own one now - vintage 1926. Intonation is on par with the Mark VI, which is not quite as good (IMO) as on most modern pro-level horns. As long as you don't over-use the alternate fingerings in the mid range, there is no real problem. However, the sound is something else - Big and full. If you're a purist on intonation, don't buy one. If you can adjust a little, grab it.

[Dave Dolson]

Chising: I owned a King Saxello and once played it next to, and compared it with a straight King soprano owned by a fellow employee. The ones I played were not in the same league as the three TTs sops I've owned (still have two) nor my Conn straight sop ('23 vintage), nor most of the newer sops I've owned/own.

However, every horn is different and maybe the King sop you are considering is fine. Only a thorough test can answer your question. DAVE

[chising]

I actually own a TT and love it, but I am considering getting one more straight sop since my work place and my home is distance, I would love to have one on each location, personally I am not a big fan of curve sop for purely asthetic reason, it looks like a little funny baby sax, although the new saxello from Rampone & Cazzani looks great but no one will carry it near where I live, I probably can assume that its a very good horn. I saw a King sop on Ebay but no so sure about it, in reality I am really looking for a good stright CONN, if anyone of you got an offer, please let me know, many thanks for your info!
Best Regards.

Chising aka George