[jlima]

This is something I'm curious about. My 73,xxx Mark VI has a high F# key. My friend's, which is from the same year (1957), but with a lower serial number (71,xxx) has none. I've read that in some series of numbers Selmer did place a high F# key on this model, but when did they start doing this? Could it have been this earlier?
This is mostly a curiosity of mine, I'm not too worried about the horn having the key, it plays beautifully and with excellent intonation.

 

[bjornblomberg]

I have a 77,xxx tenor and a 78,xxx alto (both 1958), and neither of them have high F# keys. I think Selmer produced horns with and without high F# concurrently for a number of years. I read somewhere (probably at SOTW), that the popularity of the high F# key rose with the guitar-based rock music which increased the need for high F# playing. Still some players felt the horns without the F# key tended to have better intonation. I don't know how true this is, but my 1958 non-high-F# horns have impeccable intonation.

 

[Horned Toad]

You can find high F# back in the SBA run as well.

 

[saxyjare01]

You can find high F# back in the SBA run as well.

COMPLETELY TRUE! Just look at Branford's Tenor.

I also have a friend with and SBA that I picked out for him. It's smokin' and has an F# key. I think the F# key worked a lot better with the SBA and BA than the Mark VI.

 

[bruce bailey]

Some have it, some don't. It depends on who wanted to pay the extra $$$.

 

[Souportwenty]

Yes, I think Bruce is right. My 71XXX alto has it. I'm the second owner of this sax and the guy I bought it for paid extra for the option.

 

[BarrySachs]

Frank Wess has a #56k mk6 tenor with a high F#

 

[saxpiece]

I have a 1956 Mark VI Alto with a high F# key that I never really use.

 

[Mike F]

Some have it, some don't. It depends on who wanted to pay the extra $$$.

Exactly. It was an optional extra on MKVI's from the beginning.

 

[jlima]

Thanks guys, I'm learning so much from you.

 

[sideC]

I paid Charles Ponte $25 extra for the high F# on a new mk6 alto back in 1975. The factory list price for the option back then was $100, if I'm remembering correctly. My present alto, from the 58,000 series, also has the optional key. I use it constantly.

 

[jazzcat58]

I also have a 73" model and it has a high F#..i think a lot of the later models did, put it this way i have not seen a later model without one!..

 

[spike421]

It seems there were several options that are more common on French assembled VI's than the US assembled versions. Engraving was an option in Europe, along with nickel silver long side key rods and high F#. I have a tenor (late 60's) with all three.
Horns brought into stock in the U.S., as I understand it, were primarily "plain Jane" horns assembled and engraved here. Buyers, of course, bought what was stocked at their dealers and probably had no idea the extras were available, by special order.

 

[Souportwenty]

That would make sense to me. My 71XXX alto that was purchased with the F# option is a "London Selmer" and not of the assembled in the U.S. variety.

 

[AMASAX]

S-E-A-R-C-H

This has been beaten to death on SOTW over the years...for example:

http://forum.saxontheweb.net/showth...od-The-Bad-and-The-Ugly&p=1502379#post1502379

On Selmers, the F# first became available on late BA altos. I've owned one and have pics of a couple others. Euro models, not a listed option in the U.S. catalogs, so not seen on this side of the pond much.

On the tenors, SBA is the first model I know of w/F#. Wasn't advertised in the U.S. until around ~1952, late into the SBA run, so early/mid range SBA tenors w/F# are usually Euro models.

In the U.S. catalogs, of which I have several from the SBA run, the optional F# was $30. Btw, in 1967, the optional low A alto option as an additional staggering $65 So, for $105 extra, one could pick up a low A Mark VI alto w/high F#...but, that's another topic...

 

[woodyreed]

I happen to have a 1970s low A and High F# Selmer 6 alto. Contrary to belief it has great intonation. I use it every night in a Las Vegas Show on the strip. I love it!

 

[scotsman]

I happen to have a 1970s low A and High F# Selmer 6 alto. Contrary to belief it has great intonation. I use it every night in a Las Vegas Show on the strip. I love it!

Here is a link to a 52/54 SBA Tenor for sale in the Uk with a pic.. Not Mine!! Regards

https://www.gumtree.com/p/saxophone/selmer-sba-tenor/1292672997

 

[Sidepipes]

Yes, I paid the extra $30 for the high F# on my 81XXX tenor! So glad I did.

 

[Tenor Mattness]

It's funny how now-a-days people pay extra not to have a high F#!

As for Selmers, yeah, the high F# has been there at least since the SBA's.

 

[JL]

As for Selmers, yeah, the high F# has been there at least since the SBA's.

Just for greater clarity, I think you mean the high F# key was available at the buyer's request (when buying the horn new) at least since the SBA. Most Mark VIs I've seen, including the one I own, do not have that high F# key.

In any case, I've never felt any need for that key.