King Alto?

[yrly]

I never had never even heard of a King sax up until Friday. When I went into a local thrift store and spotted a King Alto Sax, having always wanted a silver sax I bought the thing as it appeared to be in decent working order (pads didnt look bad, looked to be all original except for them). Couldnt really play test it there so I bit the bullet and bought it as it was. So I took it home, cleaned off all the tarnish (darn it looks nice!), and gave it a play test. Nice stuff! First time in a good long while that I actually had some fun playing again. I had been using a Yamaha since about 1991. I tried to gather up what info I could, serial number in the 79k range, the 1925 patent was not yet granted (says Patent Pending), so I assume it to be just prior to this. So was this thing a good purchase? I probably would take it in and have the shop do a once over on it, but its fully playable, and sounds good at that. Now if I could only secure an ample supply of these old Ciccone Symmetricut reeds I like, an old local shop had them on clearance and I got them dirt cheap in every hardness I normally play on. I bought them all, never had another reed that was comparable.[/img]

[SAXISMYAXE]

I happen to like the early H.N. White KING Saxophones of 20's vintage, but many won't even give them a second glance. I have found them to be very well built, to have relatively comfortable keywork for the era, and tonaly they speak easily and have the famed KING clear, powerful projection that the later KINGS are known for. Some say that they have quirky intonation, but I haven't found that to be the case at all. Depending on your setup/playing style/sound etc. they CAN have a distinct, sweet 20's sound to them that is a bit different than a modern horn, though.
The only complaint would be that they do tend to be a bit fussy mechanically, and go out of adjustment often. I restore and repair my own horns to a degree, so I am able to fix these little problems when they happen, but others might find themselves in the repair shop a bit more often with these early horns. Also, some find that they must put a cork/baffle etc. in the bell to accomodate playing the bell notes due to the split bell key design, and problems that can be associated with it.
Whether you got a good deal or not depends on what you paid for the horn, and what you will have to put into it to get it in proper playing order. I would expect to pay no more than four or five hundered for the horn, in good playing order and condition(For an Alto). These horns just don't demand the high prices of a CONN Chu of roughly the same vintage, for example....yet. I purchased one in excellent condition that needed only 2 pads for $120.00 at a local antique shop (I got a super deal on that one, grant you). Purely from a collector's point of view, some of these early King's can have breathtaking engraving work on them, too.

[yrly]

Cost just over $200, I have been looking up and down the web and have not seen many approaching the condition this one is in, certainly one of the better looking examples in my estimate. Most have brassing through the silver plate in many spots, about the only place any brassing is noticed is on the neck strap hole. Rest of it shines very nicely. I am not really a professional player of any sort, but I played it alongside my Yamaha, seemed to be equally good up and down. I had no real trouble hitting notes all the way up and down the scale, more beyond what I would usually encounter in most music I play. I actually think I would prefer it after a few more rounds. For whatever reason I just like the feel of the keywork. It actually is in quite good playing order as it is, a couple of screws had worked their way a bit loose but it did not appear the horn had been used in a good while so I tightened them up but that was the extent of the work. Most of the pads look pretty decent. Maybe two or three that look like they could go for replacements. I think I made out pretty good, it certainly looks nice, plays good (probably would be better after I get those pads done). Might not be everyone's cup of tea but I am not going to complain so long as it works for me.

[SAXISMYAXE]

Sounds like you got a good deal on a vastly underrated Sax. Wait and see; as a long time collector, I can tell you that the prices on these models will start to climb the way most other vintage horns have over the last few years. You can be part of the "early birds" club and enjoy them as I have before they start grabbing them up at MUCH higher prices. I watched the same thing happen with the CONN "M" series a few years back. :wink: