Dare I say Mark VI? Some are great some are just ok IMO

 

Anything made of pure silver.

 

You can qualify your thread title by opening with "Other than the Mark VI 5 digit serial...."

 

The Selmer supreme tenor may fall into that category. It felt fine, but certainly not the 12k worth of awesome. Haven’t played the alto.

 

Another vote for the Supreme... I played a bunch of them and all felt like an expensive "meh"

 

Hmmmmm....hard sorta thread to answer. I mean I would agree, the VI's status as untouchable ....that is a bit much, always has been. Yes a stellar model, but there were others contemporary with it , and certainly thru time, which were/are as well....

But what else ?

 

Piling on here. Agree on the Supreme. Tried the tenor and alto an NAMM. Nice - but not $10K+ nice.

My tech nailed it. "It's a great $6K horn"

 

Whatever horn I don’t like

 

I only heard a Supreme on a gig. What I did notice was the C#2 to D2 break was not noticeable. It was a great sounding horn, the player is also a music teacher at one of the private schools locally, married to a classical singer. Someone serious. I think at that time, there was a tenor played by someone capable. Maybe it's meh because it is too even. Bang for the buck is not the only motivation or criteria for buying a horn. I wish I could have tried it. Maybe I'll ask next time.

 

Mk vi and Sba aren’t overrated. They’re the standard, even today.


The truth is, with a good tech, most horns play great if they’re not totally worn out.

For example, I borrowed a 10m for a gig. The thing was so unbalanced, the mouthpiece kept hitting me in the mouth. It was clunky and tubby sounding.

A few years later, I got to try Pete Thomas’s 10m. Smooth action, well balanced, and could both roar and whisper down to low Bb.

 

For example, I borrowed a 10m for a gig. The thing was so unbalanced, the mouthpiece kept hitting me in the mouth. It was clunky and tubby sounding.

This is a well known condition caused by the placement of the neck strap lug in a different location, by Conn, on purpose. Ive read they did this because they put out a sax stand (made to play while standing up) and the original neck strap lug location was interfering with the stand. I have a 10m and my repair tech removed and replaced the neck strap lug, to the proper position of balance. This is a well known fix. Some techs put on a 2nd neck strap lug instead.

 

Re: answers for e.g Selmer supreme.. overrated is not he same as overpriced, which seems to be what most people seem to be discussing. To be clear, I haven’t even seen a 3D supreme from a distance of 200m !

 

Since this is inherently a haters thread anyway...

I'd say Selmer, in general.
Yamaha purple label.

 

For sure a brand new Yamaha (YAS200ADII or YAS 26) student alto for a middle school kid is the most over-rated instrument. (This is age where band starts in the United States). Costs about $2,700 now and in the LIKELY event that the student stops playing it in a few years, the average Joe (parent) can sell it for about $800 - $1,000. (Loss of over $1,500). You can get lots of brand new or used student Altos for less than $1,500 (after repairs if buying used). And you are still doing better financially if you end up throwing it away.

Besides, if you bought the new Yamaha and you truly are good enough to advance into music in college, you are definitely going to want an upgrade (more $$$$) ...unless you are only doing marching band.

Another way to say it is "By the time that instrument is paid off you will most likely either be grown out of the horn or you won't be playing any more". I've been the parent who has been stuck writing the check for my son on a brand new Yamaha band instrument due to pressure from the school band director. It ain't no fun.

.....and lets be honest, a Yamaha Alto is not going to make your middle school kid sound good.

The time to spend money on a new Yamaha is after you figure out if you have passion and skill related to the sax...and if you have passion and skill, I would not recommend a baseline student horn. Get one that is maybe a bit lighter and maybe has a high F# key, etc.

 

Do you really need a high F# key? It’s fun to have one on my tenor but my alto can play altissimo just fine without it

 

I'm going to say Selmer tenors, but I'll qualify it with the ones I have actually owned and played, i.e. (1) 1970s Mk 6 - OK; (2) !985 Super 80 Mk 1 - horrible, hated it!; !938 BA - Ok but not up to the hype; 1928 Modele 26 - OK. The best "Selmer" tenor I ever owned was a 1928 "Adolphe" which was just beautiful to play and to hear, but I foolishly sold it during a period of having too many tenors and not enough money! Having said that, one of the best tenors I ever played (only once) is an SBA from the early '50s belonging to a friend who won't part with it - very sensibly, in my view!

 

The Selmer Supreme is a decent, I like it, no real complaints , but not worth the cost.

The Selmer Signature…oh boy. To quote Luke Skywalker “What a piece of junk.”

I owned a more recent Series III and it was okay, a little sterile for me, yet still slightly dark French.
The signature managed to take the III and make it even more laser focused. If 10 is the maximum sound spectrum of a Sax, the signature is a 2. For me, it’s the most sterile monotonous saxophone I’ve ever had played. I see no reason to buy one at that price. Save your hard earned money, buy an Axos or any of 50 other Asian horns that will sound similar, or better, and cost less.

Mk VI horns can be overrated, some are very good or great.