[moontom]

I've not done much experimenting w/ necks, and I'm just curious: if you swap the necks on a Mk VI and the results are good, what do you do with the rejected neck and now less-valuable horn?
in my case the less desirable neck does work on the other horn, and I want to sell it b/c I don't need two vintage horns. do people just keep the mismatched parts in case they want to switch back one day? or so they can sell the "original" gear one day?

no wrong answers here obviously, and thanks in advance....

 

[whaler]

You always keep the original to the sax, even if it’s damaged.
There’s no wrong answers, just wrong questions.

 

[Bari Sax Guy]

I have a Series 3 neck that I use on my MKVI Tenor. The original neck is set aside in the event that I sell the Sax. I'm sure a MKVI Tenor with a non-original neck
would be worth much less than a horn with the original equipment.

The sax is put in a Pro Tec case if it leaves the house, but I've kept the tri pack case for the same reason.

 

[JayeLID]

I've not done much experimenting w/ necks, and I'm just curious: if you swap the necks on a Mk VI and the results are good, what do you do with the rejected neck and now less-valuable horn?
in my case the less desirable neck does work on the other horn, and I want to sell it b/c I don't need two vintage horns. do people just keep the mismatched parts in case they want to switch back one day? or so they can sell the "original" gear one day?

no wrong answers here obviously, and thanks in advance....

Wait...so are you saying you have two horns and you just took the neck from the less-used one (less valuable) and are happy with how it works on the more-used (or more valuable) one ?

Always keep the original factory neck with the horn it came from - even if you prefer the replacement neck. Just play it with replacement, but do not sell the original.

If you feel you have no need for the less-used/valuable horn any longer, and you wanna sell it - well....that is the downside of preferring its neck on the horn you are gonna keep. You either sell it neckless, try to find a replacement neck for it which at least works (keeping in mind that even if the replacement neck is from the same mfr - it is still gonna take a significant hit in market value - if that matters), or just keep the second horn.

My 2 cents.

 

[JayeLID]

I've not done much experimenting w/ necks....

Good.

My suggestion ?

Stop

Now.

...unless you have disposable income and are entertained by digression....

 

[moontom]

thanks Jaye....yes, that's my situation exactly. I just stumbled into a VI that's really well set up but the neck is not great. was surprised how different it sounded w/ the VI from my main horn. like way better than main horn.

trying to decide about keeping the other horn or just selling it neckless (or w/ replacement neck) and taking a financial hit

 

[Keith Ridenhour]

Like Whaler said you always keep the original. I'be been using a Keilwerth Neck on my YAS 82Z and I keep the original neck so I'll have it when /if I sell it down the road. I also have a Mk 6 tenor and tried P Mauriet necks and Martin Necks on it but the results werent great. There are many places making necks for horns and some improve the original dramatically. Just have to check it out. But that only for the advanced player. If you arent' practicing and haven't had training those are areas I'd spend my time/money on first K

I've not done much experimenting w/ necks, and I'm just curious: if you swap the necks on a Mk VI and the results are good, what do you do with the rejected neck and now less-valuable horn?
in my case the less desirable neck does work on the other horn, and I want to sell it b/c I don't need two vintage horns. do people just keep the mismatched parts in case they want to switch back one day? or so they can sell the "original" gear one day?

no wrong answers here obviously, and thanks in advance....

 

[moontom]

haha -- I'm old and never have been tempted to explore necks. original equipment usually is all good. this was a "why not try the swap since the two horns are right here?" situation and it really surprised me.

 

[Dr G]

I prefer a Karsten Gloger neck on my alto, its original neck is in bubble wrap in a box in the closet - along with all the other Stuff I don’t use.

 

[1saxman]

Moon; sounds like you lucked into a great set-up. Describing these swaps gets complicated and is difficult to write down, so I'm a little 'at sea' on what you've done, but I think you have two MK VI tenors. You swapped necks and one combination was better than any previous set-up you had. Now here's the hang-up - if the necks are numbered, you end up with mismatches on both horns which will affect value. If they are not numbered and also match the lacquer on both saxes, and both saxes are higher than #140,000, you could sell the extra horn without taking a loss in value on either horn.
Beyond that, there are physical differences in tenor necks from different eras. However, assuming both your horns are, again, over 140,000, you would be okay with the swap and sale.
If one or both of the horns is from the 'golden age' between 1957-1967, and they were made for USA sale, both original necks would be numbered, and selling one with the 'wrong' neck would significantly impact value. In fact, it could be better to sell it without a neck and sell the neck separately - I've seen them listed for $1000 and more.
So this is a complicated question which hopefully you can clarify with some more info if you still want more opinions.

 

[LostConn]

I happen to have two necks for both of my altos, but I mostly use the originals. However, even if I preferred the alternates/backups, I would never sell the original necks. It's partly a matter of keeping the entire original saxophones intact in case of resale, as others have commented, but I also feel a sense of obligation to the horns, if you want to call it that. I don't think good musical instruments should be treated as transplant sources.

 

[1saxman]

When you are trying necks and you find a great combination you have to go with it regardless of sentiment. The only question here is to sell the 'off' neck with the spare sax, and that depends on what the saxes and necks are.

 

[moontom]

correct 1saxman....two VI tenors. longtime horn has been a Varitone (143xxx). the other is 133xxx and a poorly done relac but it's super resonant. that neck is numbered, the 143xxx is not. best combination is the 133xxx body w/ the 143 neck. the lacquer is not an exact match, alas.

I think the move might be to sell w/o a neck and take the reduced value.

thanks for your insights everyone....

 

[greatlakeswinds]

a couple suggestions for the OP...

First, I would hold onto everything for at least 6-12 months just to make sure that you really want to go with this combination. If you just obtained the second neck/horn, it might just be a passing fancy. Unless you are dire financial need, try to hold onto everything for a while to be absolutely sure that you want to go with the proposed pairing.

Second, assuming you decide that you want to go ahead as previously stated, just sell the mis-matched horns/necks together. From a financial standpoint, you aren't going to do any better to buy an aftermarket neck for the body you are selling just for the sake of keeping the other neck, and anyway, that just would mean another VI out there with a completely non-original neck.

Another factor to consider is that lots of well meaning people hold onto these original items for lengthy periods of time, and then they never get re-united with the horn anyway. This could be because the saved items get misplaced, lost, or forgotten about, or even because the owner dies and heirs don't know to put the pieces together. I've picked up lots of random 'shoebox' items this way. If this truly is your forever combination, the chances of this go up significantly. In fact, I just experienced this myself in that I found all the original paperwork that came with a keilwerth alto that I bought new in the 90's, but sold 10+ years ago. Granted, that's not quite the same as an actual part of the horn, but still. I saved all that stuff for years, but didn't have a clue where it was when I actually sold the sax.

That's my two cents...

 

[1saxman]

a couple suggestions for the OP...

First, I would hold onto everything for at least 6-12 months just to make sure that you really want to go with this combination. If you just obtained the second neck/horn, it might just be a passing fancy. Unless you are dire financial need, try to hold onto everything for a while to be absolutely sure that you want to go with the proposed pairing.

Second, assuming you decide that you want to go ahead as previously stated, just sell the mis-matched horns/necks together. From a financial standpoint, you aren't going to do any better to buy an aftermarket neck for the body you are selling just for the sake of keeping the other neck, and anyway, that just would mean another VI out there with a completely non-original neck.

Another factor to consider is that lots of well meaning people hold onto these original items for lengthy periods of time, and then they never get re-united with the horn anyway. This could be because the saved items get misplaced, lost, or forgotten about, or even because the owner dies and heirs don't know to put the pieces together. I've picked up lots of random 'shoebox' items this way. If this truly is your forever combination, the chances of this go up significantly. In fact, I just experienced this myself in that I found all the original paperwork that came with a keilwerth alto that I bought new in the 90's, but sold 10+ years ago. Granted, that's not quite the same as an actual part of the horn, but still. I saved all that stuff for years, but didn't have a clue where it was when I actually sold the sax.

That's my two cents...

Damn good two cents! Totally agree with every point, especially the one about waiting at least a year. How many times have I rushed to sell something and regretted it later...
Plus there could be some simple reasons why the 143 is not blowing. BTW, I know about those 1966 130s - I picked up 130491 after trying it at Elkhart in 4/66 and played it for 23 years. My son has it now. I was not careful with it - you could say in my youth I treated it like dirt. It has had every procedure that can be done to a sax - multiple re-lacquers, dent removal, tone hole pulling and even cryogenic treatment! And it still plays.

 

[1saxman]

BTW, has the Varitone pickup adapter in the neck been removed and the hole patched properly? I guess since its the better neck you wouldn't mess with it either way. Also since the re-lacquered 133 neck is the 'bad' one, its possible that the neck has a problem like being slightly bent and/or out of round. The neck on my 130 had been buffed so many times they had to put a patch on it and its still the best neck on that sax, according to my son.

 

[Reet McVouty]

My YTS-875EX came with a G3 neck. Basically, I bought this horn brand new at a 30% discount from a store that was going out of business. I figured if I couldn't get it worked out sound wise, I could sell it and still make a couple of bucks. Anyway, my YAS-62II alto came with a G1 neck and is very free blowing with lots of projection, so I ordered a G1 for the tenor and now it's a keeper and I have no intention of selling it. So, the G3 is tucked away in the box that the G1 came in, and there it will stay until after I'm long gone.

 

[moontom]

The Varitone pickup has been patched but there’s still a small “holster” that held the cable in place — not going to mess with that. Fwiw, that Varitone neck feels noticably heavier than the other one.

 

[moontom]

And 1958 — that’s seriously good advice to wait. Thank you. Bc of course one’s sound concept changes and the tools need to change sometimes too. I never budgeted for having multiple vintage horns tho — might have to sell but I’ll definitely wait a while.

 

[1saxman]

'Varitone neck feels noticably heavier than the other one'

Probably because of heavy buffing on the 133 neck.