[nwjfletcher]

Hi there,
This may of of interest to some members. There was a musical instrument auction at Bonhams in London yesterday 7th August, and three saxes were up for sale. I went along after plenty of research and had a good look at the 1955 selmer tenor. Silver plated, excellent condition, but a couple of issues. There had been an impact on the lower ket guard where it meets the body tube, resulting in the bow to tube ring being slightly bent and also the other soldered end of that same keyguard being pushed in. It wouldn't be possible to remove the dents without the solder coming undone I think, and the body tube ring is a pretty thick area of metal. The pads were also shot. However, I worked out that it would be worth about £4500 or so and could be sold on for a little profit if needed. It was an original factory plated and assembled engraved instrument. This apparently makes it rarer and possibly more valuable, but only a good dealer could recoup that money and also the cost of an overhaul.
Anyhow, despite thinking I would get it for a song early on in the bidding, it crept up via Internet and phone bids, finally finishing at £4750 plus vat on the premium taking it up to £5000

So, was it a good buy? No idea now as that seems a lot for a sax needing complete overhaul and a very tricky dent removal. But I have seen tenors of that year listed for £7000 or more.

It came with a c melody cousenon soprano that I guesstimated to be worth £300 or so.

Interestingly, a completely knackered silver Chu berry sold for £680 which seems very steep.

A fun event, and Picked up a besson fanfare trumpet and 2 very old 1870 boosey and co fanfare trumpets for less than 200!

So, if someone tries to sell you a 1955 mark vi silver factory plated tenor, do look for that nasty dent!

Cheers

 

[Sigmund451]

I remember when you had to work to give away a silver Mark VI. I really think that bit of the silver ones being stuffy is a myth but it did hang on for some time...aparently its largely forgotten.

 

[JL]

There had been an impact on the lower ket guard where it meets the body tube, resulting in the bow to tube ring being slightly bent and also the other soldered end of that same keyguard being pushed in. It wouldn't be possible to remove the dents without the solder coming undone I think

...finally finishing at £4750 plus vat on the premium taking it up to £5000

So, was it a good buy? No idea now as that seems a lot for a sax needing complete overhaul and a very tricky dent removal. But I have seen tenors of that year listed for £7000 or more.

Interestingly, a completely knackered silver Chu berry sold for £680 which seems very steep

That VI doesn't sound like a good buy to me. The Chu seems like a far better deal, relatively speaking. I realize prices are different on your side of the pond.

 

[hgiles]

I had a friend that had an original lacquer VI in good condition and he had it stripped and silver plated it in order to sell it....Wha? I think it's a 155xxx or something..., but it's out there in circulation somewhere.