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To get up to speed on the Keilwerth New King/Tone King and its stencils, first see Saxpics' breakdown here.
I've emailed this info to saxpics as well, but in the interim between now and when he updates his Keilwerth page, thought it might be good to get this info out there.
Paste of the email I sent Pete:
"Did a bit of measuring and playing on a New King 15xxx alto lacquer and a King Modell 3 13xxx silver plate these past few days. I believe they are identical in body tube and neck, with the only differences being in keywork. The Modell 3's keywork is not as nice, and seems to be a "budget" model, if not just an earlier model. The differences are:
1. One less roller on the LH pinky table of the Modell 3. One roller between Bb and B (located on the Bb), instead of two (on both Bb and B) like on the New King, making the roll a bit less slick.
2. Regular side keys on the Modell 3, vs. the way cool ones on the New King.
3. No rollers on the low B and Bb activating levers (where the actual keycups are activated by the arms attached to the keys on the pinky table) on the Modell 3, while they are present on the New King. A little teflon makes this unnoticeable, however.
4. No front F on the Modell 3, while the New King has one.
5. No cool textured plastic G# key on the Modell 3.
I think thats it, although I am working from memory right now. The necks were interchangeable. The keywork is a mixture of Selmer, Conn, and what-have-you, and is surprisingly comfortable and modern-feeling, with the exception of the pinky table which is Conn 6M all the way (although I personally believe the M series pinky tables to be far superior to the modern Selmer style). The sound is... well, unbelievable. Full, powerful, sweet, ballsy, pure... the sax just seems to float in midair and never gets in the way.
The main issue when working on these has been that the rolled tone holes are WAY unlevel, and my horn at least was never refinished (not so sure on the New King, the lacquer is obviously very old, but is over the engraving, although the engraving looks very deep and even), so it must have come that way from the factory.
I will take a picture of them side by side and send it to you soon. Would you also like detailed pictures of both horns by themselves?
By the way, these are BADA** horns. And by bada** I mean everyone who plays them plays about .5 seconds of their first note and then yells "WOW!" into the mouthpiece, and then offers to buy it. These horns have my vote for best alto ever- although I am getting a gold plate Dolnet Royal Jazz alto, Buescher New Aristo #2 neck alto, and a Conn 26M with overslung "New York" neck AND microtuner this week- and I am hoping one or both of them will at least be able to compete, although to be honest I can't see that happening. These horns are THAT bada**.
My Modell 3 is my main alto now (dethroned a 28M by a frickin' mile and a half) and the New King I mentioned has replaced the long time main axe (a customized yamaha yas-62 purple label) of this guy: www.loganrichardson.com."
Picture of the two saxes side by side, New King on the left and Modell 3 on the right:
I've emailed this info to saxpics as well, but in the interim between now and when he updates his Keilwerth page, thought it might be good to get this info out there.
Paste of the email I sent Pete:
"Did a bit of measuring and playing on a New King 15xxx alto lacquer and a King Modell 3 13xxx silver plate these past few days. I believe they are identical in body tube and neck, with the only differences being in keywork. The Modell 3's keywork is not as nice, and seems to be a "budget" model, if not just an earlier model. The differences are:
1. One less roller on the LH pinky table of the Modell 3. One roller between Bb and B (located on the Bb), instead of two (on both Bb and B) like on the New King, making the roll a bit less slick.
2. Regular side keys on the Modell 3, vs. the way cool ones on the New King.
3. No rollers on the low B and Bb activating levers (where the actual keycups are activated by the arms attached to the keys on the pinky table) on the Modell 3, while they are present on the New King. A little teflon makes this unnoticeable, however.
4. No front F on the Modell 3, while the New King has one.
5. No cool textured plastic G# key on the Modell 3.
I think thats it, although I am working from memory right now. The necks were interchangeable. The keywork is a mixture of Selmer, Conn, and what-have-you, and is surprisingly comfortable and modern-feeling, with the exception of the pinky table which is Conn 6M all the way (although I personally believe the M series pinky tables to be far superior to the modern Selmer style). The sound is... well, unbelievable. Full, powerful, sweet, ballsy, pure... the sax just seems to float in midair and never gets in the way.
The main issue when working on these has been that the rolled tone holes are WAY unlevel, and my horn at least was never refinished (not so sure on the New King, the lacquer is obviously very old, but is over the engraving, although the engraving looks very deep and even), so it must have come that way from the factory.
I will take a picture of them side by side and send it to you soon. Would you also like detailed pictures of both horns by themselves?
By the way, these are BADA** horns. And by bada** I mean everyone who plays them plays about .5 seconds of their first note and then yells "WOW!" into the mouthpiece, and then offers to buy it. These horns have my vote for best alto ever- although I am getting a gold plate Dolnet Royal Jazz alto, Buescher New Aristo #2 neck alto, and a Conn 26M with overslung "New York" neck AND microtuner this week- and I am hoping one or both of them will at least be able to compete, although to be honest I can't see that happening. These horns are THAT bada**.
My Modell 3 is my main alto now (dethroned a 28M by a frickin' mile and a half) and the New King I mentioned has replaced the long time main axe (a customized yamaha yas-62 purple label) of this guy: www.loganrichardson.com."
Picture of the two saxes side by side, New King on the left and Modell 3 on the right:
