[Yellowhorn]

Today, I just played an old King silver-plated tenor (model 316, if I remember correctly?), and from the first note to the last one I played, that unmistakable, and yet undefinable King sound was there!

Now, I wonder: Besides the silversonic necks and/or bells we see on some S20's and Zephyrs, is there any S20 or Zephyr that is silver-plated?

This may be an ignorant question, but I'd like to hear from y'all King players out there!

If there is one, please post pictures or a link here.

 

[Yellowhorn]

I was just thinking after posting this: Was the S20 alto that Cannonball play a silver-plated one? From the picture I have seen of him with it, it it did not look like a silversonic one. But I can be wrong, of course.

 

[byas-a-drink]

silver super 20

Hi, i've seen some silver plated super 20. Only post 406xxx. One was even a silver sonic with a silver plated body.
I heard or read Cannonball had two S20, a silver sonic for live and a plain s20 for recordings.

 

[blackfrancis]

I once had a Yusef Lateef album where he was pictured on the cover with a silver S20. I don't remember the name of the record, but it was in the mid 70s.

 

[bbbouklas]

CHECK THIS OUT:
http://cgi.ebay.com/King-ZEPHYR-Ten...ryZ16234QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
looks great!

 

[martysax]

I play out on my recently acquired 1944 Silver plated Zephyr military alto. It's the balls and feels comfortably similar to my Super 20 tenor. Heres a picture before I had it overhauled and cleaned up:

I may be wrong, but I believe the Super 20 was only produced with a brass body and had options for sterling silver necks and bells. I recall seeing a late model S20 on ebay that had an obvious aftermarket silver-plate job. It looked nice, but wasn't original enough to sway me from my non-modified sweetheart.

Buying a silver plated Super 20 would be like leaving Jacques Cabaret with a very beautiful girl whom you had just met at the bar.:shock:

 

[Yellowhorn]

Yeah, that silver-plated Zepher looks nice!

So, I am hearing two different views here: Marty "believes" taht there were no silver-plated (not silversonic) S20s while others say there were.

What is the verdict, folks? Jason Dumars, Pete Hale, S20 Dan, Jeff Rasner, where are you guys?

 

[Jason DuMars]

I have seen at least 1 factory silver plated Cleveland Super 20 alto. It had the sterling neck only. You can tell King did it, because the body was done the same way as the neck, with that clear coat of lacquer over it, and the engraving was perfect. Because of the clear lacquer, it had the same appearance problems you see on SS necks and bells. Honestly, I thought such a horn would look a lot cooler. You'd be better off just doing it yourself if you wanted that look.