[lambertckw]

Hello everyone!
I just bought this king zepyr alto sax.
From the picture, it looks like theres a layer of gloss on top. I am just wodering if this is one of those relacquered horns.
Besides, the seller said she took it to some technician and he said the sax is "bent inside" and currently not playable. However, the seller said there is no visible dents can be seen from the outside. How is that possible..?? I thought the only way for it to have a bent inside is to have a dent... How much will it cost to fix the bent?
This is actually my first saxophone and I am totally a beginner. Forgive me if my questions are dumb...
Thank you.
Pictures:
http://www.auctiva.com/hostedimages...41&formats=0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0&format=0

 

[Smokey613]

The body may be bent, even though it is not obvious from the pictures provided. I had this issue with my Super 20 before sending it to Tenor Madness for mechanical restoration. As for the relaq question .... I will leave that to the more experienced here.

 

[lambertckw]

Thank you for the reply!
Do you have any experience with King Zephy?
I heard that the intonation is really bad ??
Thank you.

 

[Smokey613]

I have never played a Zephyr. I have played a King Cleveland and of course my Super 20. Maybe JayeSF will jump in here as he resells vintage saxes and has a lot of experience with them.

 

[spike421]

It is difficult to tell based on your pictures, but it does not look like it's been heavily buffed, maybe hand polished and laquered several years ago, if at all. I've not heard anything bad about King Zephyrs, but I've only played a Zephyr Bari, which was not bad at all. Play it and enjoy it. Clearer pictures of the engraving would allow a more definative answer regarding the refinish question.

 

[lambertckw]

Yea, like this is my first sax and I really hope it works well.
I have been checking out ebay for a month to get my first sax and now it is here
I was gona get a conn new wonder series 1. People said the sound is great but the key work is hard to get use to
so i decided to get a king zephyr since I think it should cost much higher than 500
I found conn nw series 1 is generally cheaper so it can be easier to trade with people later on .

 

[lambertckw]

oh by the way
What mouthpiece is that in the picture??

 

[Grumps]

Relacquered.

 

[bruce bailey]

I say relacquered but you never know. A close up of the bell engraving would help. It appears to be bend in the upper tube area from about B up but it may be the photo. Sometimes if it has the bell pushed in a bit it will show an inward dent inside the bell where the brace is. The mouthpiece on the neck is a Brilhart Ebolin which should be a good match for the horn. The one with the reeds is a Henton and has some value to collectors but not more than $50. If the Brilhart is a Great Neck NY model it can fetch some money but would be a keeper for that horn. As to the body, if it IS bent like I see, a good tech can fix that but I would estimate close to $100 and it may be a good time to replace some or all of the pads. This is an early Z with the squared keywork which I think is really nice. Probably has a 3 ring strap hook too. I had a Z tenor and bari and they were really great horns but I have never played a Z alto even though I must have owned over 100 altos! I have been looking for one like yours in silver plate but they always go too high for me.

 

[lambertckw]

Hey Bruce!
Thank you for the informative message.
It is great to know the manufacturer of those mouthpieces. I think the Henton mouthpiece looks very unique!
You are right, I heard that the Zephyr are very sensitive to mouthpiece so I will just keep all of them. Also, I have a Meyer 6 mouthpiece that I use often. Do u think it will be a good match with the horn as well?
The horn has a double socket neck and 3 neckstrap holes (I love it at the beginning I saw it!).
I would love to send you more pictures, but I still did not arrive it yet. I will share some pictures when I do.
Yea I will have to get a repairman and get it done. However, I live in a small town and apparently there are so shops here that fix woodwind instrument. I will have to bring it to toronto or montreal.
Thank you very much !
Lambert

 

[bruce bailey]

I think the Meyer should be OK on it.

 

[lambertckw]

ok I will test it out.
In the other thread, I am asking what kind of repair does this sax need. any idea?
Thank you very much!
Lambert

 

[spike421]

Looks like you've gotten yourself a pretty nice horn, but it's impossible to tell what repairs it needs from your pictures. Take it to your local repair person and have them check it out for leaks, pads that need replacing, etc. It looks like this one has the extra Rudy Weidoff key (In the lower stack between the F and E keys. I think these were used to trill Eb, but I might be mistaken. A lot of techs will disable these because they are prone to leaks, I am told. Congrats, nice horn.

 

[lambertckw]

Hello spike421,
I am really amazed by how much you guys know about saxophones!
Unfortunately the town I live in does not have any saxophone repair stores. I am still looking for repairman in toronto or montreal
You are right. I didn't notice that Eb key there! Disabled? you mean soldered the tone hole?? Why is it prone to leak anyway? is it because the palm easily touches it when playing?
Thank you.
Lambert

 

[lambertckw]

Hello!
I found a brother of my saxophone.
http://www.saxpics.com/?v=gal&a=3152
The engraving is the same and they both have 3 neck strap holes lol
The serial number is very close as well.
Didn't know my sax can look that great!
Lambert

 

[spike421]

To disable it they detach the spring and cork it closed by pushing the cork between the key guard and cup on most saxes, as I recall. No soldering are permanent changes. I'm sure other repair techs have different methods. Frankly, I not sure why it's reputed to leak, but every repair tech I've ever used wants to disable it. I have an old Conn Alto that's done this way. Since it's not included on any new sax and if you develop technique using it and decide to move to another newer horn, it won't be there.

 

[spike421]

Looking at the saxpics page, I can't tell how yours is set up and I could be wrong about how that keyis set up to fuction. Find that tech and you'll have your answer. I'm not sure where you live in Canada, but you might want to look in Buffalo, Watertown, or Plattsburg, N.Y. if you're close. Good luck.

 

[bruce bailey]

I think we are confusing these keys. The pearl lever between F and E is the G# trill where you press the normal G# lever and this key pops up so you can trill G#. The Alternate Eb is the small pad on the back of the horn body. This enables Eb to be played by holding down F and E but letting the E pearl to stay raised. Great for going from Low C to Eb and back but it is prone to leaking as the E pear lever needs to close the small pad and the large E pad at the same time. I usually try to make it work but some horns are hard to keep in adjustment so I spring the little pad in reverse keeping it closed.
If you get some good photos of the pads, etc. we can probably give you an idea of problem areas. Horns don't leak from having any type of key arrangement. They leak when the pads get hard, torn or misadjusted. Expensive to fix sometimes.

 

[spike421]

Well there you go. It's been a lot of years since I've seen these additional keys and Bruce has the answer for you. I know my old Conn, had the small pad on the back of the horn which the tech told me it was a pain and he corked it closed. Good Luck.

 

[lambertckw]

Hello,
I finally received the sax and here are some pictures
I still couldn't tell much abt it, all i knos is that the octave key doesn't work.. but the horn is very heavy and well built
https://picasaweb.google.com/lambert.ckw/DropBox?authkey=Gv1sRgCJbn66CMotiLYQ#
Lambert