[RREXX]

Hi all, I’m about to bite the bullet on a new tenor sax, and I’ve been able to find Mk VIIs in my budget.
I am shopping used, and for around the same price I’ve found cannonball vintage reborn tenors (I’ve had the
Chance to play them and I really like them)

The only issue is, while I love the sound of mk vi and mk vii tenors, I’ve never been able to play one,
And I don’t believe there are any I can try near me, I’d be buying them online via Reverb.

Opinions? I’ve heard the mk VII is criminally underrated and are often considered by those who own them to be fantastic horns.


P.s. The ergonomics won’t bother me (coming from a 1934 King H.H. white)

 

[wanderso]

Until someone weighs in with their experience with the sound of a MkVII, which may have no relationship to your experience--you are just going to have to play one, won't you? and since you mentioned budget, an obvious point is that if you buy a MkVII wisely, you can get almost all your money back selling it if you move on.
With a new Chinese horn, half your dough goes in the toilet on resale.
If new ergonomics and mechanism and reliability are important, fine. You said that won't bother you. Me, I'd still get a used Yanagisawa or Yamaha Custom if I were looking for affordable hi-quality modern instead of new Chinese.

 

[turf3]

Well, the Mark 7 is kind of a barren shoot on the Selmer family tree.

"More modern" as you call them horns are prettty much all copies of the Selmer Super Action 80 which was an updated copy of the Mark 6. So one could actually make an argument that the Mark 7 is more modern and that teh majority of current production saxophones are actually throwbacks to the 1954 design of the Mark 6.

The Mark 7 has little finger keys designed for someone with huge hands. This can be a real issue. There are players out there who use them, but the only one I knew to do so successfully was a big bruiser of a guy with hands like a bunch of bananas, and even he had had the tilting low Bb key disabled and soldered into a fixed position.

I think there is also a lot of variation amongst them as to intonation - some very good, some not so.

Coming from a King it is almost certain you will have to work to adapt to the way the tilting low Bb key requires you to apply high force in exactly the weakest direction of the weakest finger on your two hands, but then it falls away from you just when you most need it to be positive in action. And it's spongy as all get out too. Compared to a King with a simple direct acting light action, there will be adaptation.

A Mark 7 in good condition is a very well made instrument. But the newest are pushing 40 years old and given how much the saxophone community hated them, I would bet a lot of them have suffered through marching band.

 

[smash]

My first pro tenor was a Mark VII. I played it all through college and had it for about 10 years. I loved that horn and regret selling to this day. Interestingly, one of the other tenor players I was is school with also played on a VII. I don't have large hands (and neither did my friend) and the horns never felt as though they was too big or bulky. In fact, like my current horn, I have always preferred to have palm key risers for the left hand. Depending on the price, they are a great way to get into a vintage Selmer for less money than a VI (True now but even more so 25 years ago!).

 

[Grumps]

I got a VII tenor brand new when I was in high school. It served me well for about thirty years. Then I tried some other horns. I play them now.

 

[Sacks Of Phones]

You'll have to try one for yourself. I would not buy a Mark VII tenor sight-unseen.

 

[HeavyWeather77]

If it's a choice between a Cannonball and a Mark VII, and you don't have the chance to play either, and you simply have to buy one of the two, if I were you I'd go for the Mark VII without question. I think they're great horns. I've liked every single one I've tried, never understood the hate, and although their ergonomics feel a bit different from other horns, it's nothing that wouldn't become easy and familiar with a little time. If you're buying from Reverb, you'll probably be taking it into your favorite local tech anyway, so that will help account for minor things you might not like about the setup.

Mark VIIs are also going up in value, albeit slightly, while Cannonballs probably won't for the foreseeable future. So if you end up wanting to sell it, you'll reduce your chances of taking a bath.

 

[dexdex]

I’m one of those MkVII owners: fantastic horn. Mine just went through a full overhaul after 13 years. Pads, springs, everything. It is a big horn, a power horn. It invites to blow. Speaking of Kings, it has a bit of that raw grit some Super 20s have. I get positive feedback in most situations I play it. “Oh, a MkVII, really ?” Actually most people don’t care. I play it with a Ref54 neck, it gives it an additional vibe.
As mentioned above, they are massively underhyped, so you get a lot of horn for the money.

 

[1saxman]

Vintage Selmer Paris MK 7? Get it. Great bargain now. The main reason the MK VI players didn't like the 7 was the way it hung on your neck. With the taller/shorter neck piece, it brought the sax 'in' and changed all the angles, especially for standing players. There were some other gripes too, like not being able to 'bend' notes. To me, I would simply get a Series III neck for it which is just like a late VI. That fixes everything.

 

[Lambros]

Excellent points and if I kept my VII, a neck change may have made it a bit more comfortable to play. It's a bigger spread on the key work as well. It's more like a heavier Superba I in feeling, with a similar neck profile. Very sweet top end and a huge bottom end in reserve; it played in tune better than most Selmers I owned. It really only looks modern, IMO as it is very vintage overall.

Vintage Selmer Paris MK 7? Get it. Great bargain now. The main reason the MK VI players didn't like the 7 was the way it hung on your neck. With the taller/shorter neck piece, it brought the sax 'in' and changed all the angles, especially for standing players. There were some other gripes too, like not being able to 'bend' notes. To me, I would simply get a Series III neck for it which is just like a late VI. That fixes everything.

 

[Grumps]

Some of the common complaints you'll find with VII tenors are a booming low end, a whiny top end and manufacturing defects like spacing in the bow/bell joint.

 

[Maddcow]

I definitely don't recommend buying a Mark VII (or ANY horn) without being able to play it first. Just my 2c

 

[Jazz House]

I really like them. I've played probably 5 of them and liked them all. Then again, I have big hands, so maybe that's a factor. I think they sound great and feel good to play.

 

[B Flat]

I miss my VII Tenor.
Traded it for a VI Baritone.
Big mistake.
However I then traded the VI Baritone for a 33 Conn Transitional Baritone, so it worked out in the end.

 

[StanleySaxMan]

I currently have a two Mark VII tenors and I had a VII alto. They are decent horns and will serve you well and they are definitely not everyone's cup of tea. Best advice would be to try and play one to see how you feel.

 

[John Laughter]

Played my VII tenor for many years. Big sound. Excellent horn. As previously stated, the only issue I had was the shape of the VII neck while standing so I got a Series III neck which works fine. Also had a VII alto which was real nice.

 

[goldenskyhook]

Hi all, I'm about to bite the bullet on a new tenor sax, and I've been able to find Mk VIIs in my budget.
I am shopping used, and for around the same price I've found cannonball vintage reborn tenors (I've had the
Chance to play them and I really like them)

The only issue is, while I love the sound of mk vi and mk vii tenors, I've never been able to play one,
And I don't believe there are any I can try near me, I'd be buying them online via Reverb.

Opinions? I've heard the mk VII is criminally underrated and are often considered by those who own them to be fantastic horns.

P.s. The ergonomics won't bother me (coming from a 1934 King H.H. white)

I played an early MK VI tenor for most of my career. I played a MK VII a few times. I found it stuffy, unresponsive, and utterly useless for anyone that doesn't have enormous hands. Both pinky key tables were unreachable for me, due to my short fingers. IMHO, the VII was made entirely because someone new took over Selmer, and they stupidly decided to update the VI. It's often a huge mistake to do something different, just because it's different.

 

[dchcsop]

have you looked at or considered the Santees? Others please weigh in.

 

[philippea1]

The only issue is, while I love the sound of mk vi and mk vii tenors, I've never been able to play one,
And I don't believe there are any I can try near me, I'd be buying them online via Reverb.

Opinions? I've heard the mk VII is criminally underrated and are often considered by those who own them to be fantastic horns.

I have one that I bought in France more than 25 years ago, and I just really started playing 4 years ago (kids, etc were in the way) .. never played anything else expect a Vi that belongs to a pro friend that plays to stadium audiences.. I tried his vi and could not hear a difference - he tried mine and said , as was mentioned above, that there is a huge variability among vii s and mine is a great one... Now that I get to be more of an an intermediate player, I can see the issue people may have with the left pinky table. I had it adjusted , softened the springs, etc, and I find it ok to use (and the tech said the instrument was remarkable) . You can come and try it, I am near salt Lake City...

 

[72MkVI]

I heard the altos are really good. I don't know, but would like to try one.