Zephyr Fan Club!!!

[mr00420]

I absolutely love my 323xxx 53' Zephyr Alto! When I went shopping for a new horn I chose it over a King S20 and a Conn 6M. At the beginning I thought it would still be nice to have one of the S20s I had tried out more than 5 years ago when I was living in Port., OR. Now that I have this horn under my fingers, I'm glad I didn't choose another one. While the 6M's a great horn, my Zephyr has such a range of sound possibilities. It sound great when I play dark, bright, and in the mulit-phonic range. There's nothing this horn isn't well equiped to do! I play on a Lakey mpc too, but I've no problems conrolling this horn (well, except when my lip starts going numb and blown out.) Who else loves their Zephyr?

[yaucante]

:D I'm selling my 229x Silver-gold, and it's a heartbreaker! I got it not long ago and had some adjustments to make (from being a Yamaha/new horn player) to solve certain tuning problems. the Zephyr has an upper register that may be hard to control with certain mouthpieces but it has so much soul that it's hard to put it down. This one is particularly beautiful (featured on saxpics, see link below) but I'm buying a super 20 Bari... and if noone wants the Zeph, I'll be broke but I'll keep it gladly ! Now, I've never played a Conn 26M and if you have, could you tell me how it compares to your Zephyr in sonic terms?

http://www.saxpics.com/the_gallery/king/zephyr/alto/2_tone_gold/king-229382-sq/

[mr00420]

I'm sure you can probably get your asking price w/ that horn... looks great! Mine's a later model w/ guards and keys like the S20. Are you selling it on ebay or something?

I've played a 6M, but not a 26M. The 6M is also a heavy horn (lots of metal to resonate.) It was pretty free playing, but more resistant than the Zephyr. It has a much fuzzier tone, which sounds awesome (yeah I tried a couple of mpcs on it) but wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I'd like to own one someday though.

[yaucante]

Yeah, it was advertised on ebay but the reserve price was not met (in the
1.5k). But one guy seems to be interested and came to check it out yesterday. Well, we'll see, but it's well worth what I'm asking for it. I'm gonna get this Super20 Bari next week (an early Eastlake from 1968-69) and I can't wait to get my hands on it. This is the first time I own a Baritone and I haven't played one for the last 15 years! If you know anyone who's interested in my Zephyr, it might still be available.

Thanks for your feedback on the Conn. I've tried 6M but probably not the right ones, so I was not convinced.

Cheers.

Yaucante

[shmuelyosef]

I'm definitely a Zephyr fan as well...My main tenor is a 281XXX with a sterling neck, also on saxpics:

http://www.saxpics.com/the_gallery/king/zephyr_ii/tenor/lacquer/281xxx/

I also have an alto 292xxx that has been stripped of lacquer with Ferree's conical resonators that I use for R&R...it's a screamer!!

[Wicked Good]

I can't speak for the Zephyrs, but if you go for a Conn 6M or 26M, try to get one with a neck stamped viii on the front. For some reason the viii neck 6M/26M altos seem to sound better, IMHO. Different bore, maybe? I think there's a discussion about that issue in the Conn forum.

I play a 26M, and I prefer its keywork to that on a 6M. It fits my smallish hands better, and seems a bit smoother in actual use. I notice that Gayle Fredenburgh has a couple of 26Ms and several 6Ms (and a Zephyr!) for sale on her website at http://www.vintagesax.com/alto.html if you care to check it out.

[yaucante]

shmuelyosef, so you play a Zephyr with a silver neck but it is not stamped "special", that's interesting. I guess, it makes sense in this serial range but I've always wonder if the silver necks fits the earlier models too, say in the early 200xx.

Wicked good, thanks, I did talk to Gayle at some point but although I
eventually sold my Zephyr, I can't afford to buy a new alto after all the expenses on the King Super20 Baritone. Well, I guess I will have to wait
sometime and I think I'd like to try other brands such as SML. But I'd love to play a 26M one of these days.

Y

[saxhotshot527]

I play a Zephyr tenor 188xxx with a Berg Larsen metal mouthpiece. Talk about a screamin' horn! My dad picked it up at a pawn shop for something like 250 bucks, then put about 450 into an overhaul. What a horn for that kind of money. I've tried a mark VI and a super action 80 tenor and this Zephyr just blows them both out of the water! My brother plays a later model Zephyr alto (not sure of the serial number, the horn's at his school) with a Meyer 6M. I can't say much for it since I don't play it, but what a sound he has on it. Sounds just like Phil Woods and Joe Eckert, and this kid's in 8th grade! He'll be playing ride tenor in our high school jazz band next year and I think I'm going to try talking him into letting me use it for lead alto.

[Swingtone]

I was gong to start a Zephyr Fan Club, but it looks like someone beat me to it (though considering that it was launched in Bush's first term, I wonder if the OP's still alive and kickin!).

But seriously, does anyone else play a Zephyr anymore? I know they are maligned more than ever and I hear "0" buzz about them these days, but I have found them to be basically Super 20's in "sheep's clothing."

The biggest negative you seem to hear is that they are an "intermediate" horn, but then isn't this true of some horns that are supposedly "professional"? I think one of the true tests of whether a vintage horn is a pro horn is the number of pros that actually played them back when they were new. Case in point: the The Martin, especially the tenors. There is an extensive thread on "who played a Martin" on here, but about the only A-List tenormen on the list are Hank Mobley (who appeared to play one briefly before switching to a King!) and Tex Beneke.

So since the pros were not really using them--when you consider that a great percentage of The Martin tenors were actually used in school band programs back in the 50s and 60s, aren't they kind of defacto "intermediate" horns?

I really think that newbies get too hung up on the whole "pro horn" thing--"I've gotta have a pro horn, yada yada yada." Never mind the fact that they would sound like a "honkin' goose" on a Mark VI (how my band director actually described my sound in 1979).

And then you get into the whole topic of what is a pro horn (at least where the vintage horns are concerned)?

At any rate, I don't see why people should write off King Zephyrs as student horns when in reality they are just as good as any "pro" Martin IMHO....

[drakesaxprof]

I had a 285K tenor for several years, before I lucked into a '52 Super 20. I sold it to a lucky SOTW member, and it was stellar--huge resonant sound, extremely responsive, and very good intonation. Here it is:

[Martin Williams]

I've got three Zephyrs!

Mi main alto, is about 50% original lacquer, the tenor and bari are both original Silverplate, gold wash bell. They're all 50s late model Zephyrs

[greyteque]

I had a 285K tenor for several years, before I lucked into a '52 Super 20. I sold it to a lucky SOTW member, and it was stellar--huge resonant sound, extremely responsive, and very good intonation. Here it is:


... and I'm that lucky SOTW member! I love this horn!! :D

[martysax]

There are times when only a Zephyr will do:

[Rennie]

I joined the club! In fact, with a model from the same period as the OP - I've got a 323xxx alto too. Marked U.S. Though it has a 322xxx neck, so it is really a 322xxx ..

I already love this Zephyr. A tenor player for the longest time, I picked up the alto a year ago, and I really start to get the alto jones. This horn has a great projection, good sound in the higher register. I play it with a Phil-Tone Meyer 6m and 3.5 Rigotti's. The horn has a few dents in the bow - I'll have those taken out in due time. For now it plays great already.

Reine

[super20dan]

i also had a execelent zep with silver neck that wasnt a special also. i sold it but could get it back anytime . have silversonic tenor now

[Michael Ward]

I'm playing Series 1 alto and tenor Super 20's and a King saxello. I want a pro level King bari from the same late 40's early 50's. I know the Super20 bari wasn't out for a few more years so what bari did King have out in the late 40's early 50's? When was the Super 20 bari introduced?
thanks

[Jacques5646]

Happy to join! When on tenor, this was exclusively on a fantastic "Chu" but I was looking for something a bit more aggressive for the 5-sax + rhythm + voc outfit I've been playing with for years. Had the great luck (it is a luck indeed, over here, Switzerland, where any non-Selmer player is seen as a dangerous deviant) to find a 423 600 Zephyr... which quickly became my main (even if the Chu's still the first choice for a classic swing big band I also play with). All the qualities mentioned by previous posters present; a delight. Sole problem: intonation (both with a "no USA" FLA Link and a metal "fluted" Dukoff); I now succeed in correcting most of the deviations but this is quite a challenge for a non-pro like me. Has anybody stumbled upon the same problem ?

Question: as said, my S/N is 423 600 something, whereas Saxpics says the Zephyr has been re-engineered... at 423 000 at the take over from King by Seeburg. Mine looks very exactly like the 376 000 featured on Saxpics http://www.saxpics.com/?v=gal&c=2046 .(however this one seems to have a double socket; the latter supposed to be eliminated further down the S/N). I think and hope mine to be one of the very latest "real" King-manufactured. Any more precise hint about these changes and more exactly when they appeared ?
Long live this club and the Zephyr !
J

[claybo77]

In response to Jacques, in Switzerland.

If your horn has nickel plated parts like the 376K you refer to, try to notice whether it looks like brass (under the plating, where it has worn off from use). Look ONLY on the rods running up and down the body and the right thumb hook. If you can't see brass yellow under the worn places, the horn is made with nickel alloy rods etc.

If your horn HAS the double socket neck? Extremely good indicator... And it has the NOT-brass rods. You have one of the GOOD ones. That is my opinion, but I have read hours and hours of what other people (with good opinions) have said.

I have a GOOD 320K alto and a GOOD 305K tenor.

Best wishes,
Clay

[Jacques5646]

In response to Jacques, in Switzerland.

If your horn has nickel plated parts like the 376K you refer to, try to notice whether it looks like brass (under the plating, where it has worn off from use). Look ONLY on the rods running up and down the body and the right thumb hook. If you can't see brass yellow under the worn places, the horn is made with nickel alloy rods etc.

If your horn HAS the double socket neck? Extremely good indicator... And it has the NOT-brass rods. You have one of the GOOD ones. That is my opinion, but I have read hours and hours of what other people (with good opinions) have said.

Clay

... mmm. inspector Clay, the investigation seems to progress: definitely no brass under the (well worned) thumb rest nor under the rods (even if palm keys seem to be of plated brass). It's a single socket but, as said before, seems that the double socket had been dumped earlier. Your verdict ?

Thanks for the contribution, all the best


J

[Helen]

I too joined the Zephyr fan club in '09 when I bought a 1950 tenor serial # 307XXX from Sarge at WWS. This screamer (which is why I bought it for my rock & blues work) has replaced my Mark VI that has been my main axe for 25 years. My poor Selmer has been relegated to back-up status. It doesn't know what hit it. :dontknow:

This horn is naturally 95%+ delacquered due to use, and while not the prettiest Zeph out there (I could have picked a prettier one, but none of the ones I play-tested sounded better) gets the job done better than the late model (post White family) Super 20 I used to own. (The horn that my Mark VI replaced.) My set up on the Zephyr is a S7 Dukoff, and a 2 1/2 Fibracell.

[Rennie]

Sole problem: intonation (both with a "no USA" FLA Link and a metal "fluted" Dukoff); I now succeed in correcting most of the deviations but this is quite a challenge for a non-pro like me. Has anybody stumbled upon the same problem ?

I have a Voll True II alto as well. The intonation is manageable - as I wrote before, I don't have much experience with the alto, so I couldn't say whether it was me getting used to alto playing or the quirks of the horn. Notes above high A were sharp, and notes beyond low F too low. I could play the Voll True II in tune with proper adjustment of the oral cavity - and it has a beautiful tone throughout all registers. Now, my Zephyr plays in tune with just the tiniest effort. Quite a difference!

Reine

[playatsax]

Just became a member of the club. Bought a 283XXX from the local pawn shop for $160. There is not a single dent or scratch or bit of rust on it. Someone kept it in the closet for 60 years. Plays well, but looking for a mouthpiece to smooth the tone and intonation. Any Ideas? Also, the mouthpieces I have tried barely fit on the neck to get in tune, as if the horn is too short. Any theories?

[xax]

Just became a member of the club. Bought a 283XXX from the local pawn shop for $160. There is not a single dent or scratch or bit of rust on it. Someone kept it in the closet for 60 years. Plays well, but looking for a mouthpiece to smooth the tone and intonation. Any Ideas? Also, the mouthpieces I have tried barely fit on the neck to get in tune, as if the horn is too short. Any theories?Tenor or alto?

[Honeyboy]

I have an early 203xxx Zephyr alto with the triple neck strap hook and double socket neck with the art deco engravings. I like it alot and have used it on gigs when playing with a 10 piece Rock band. It is noticeable brighter than the tone I get on my Martin altos and has a more "modern " tone in that it cuts through the mix really well. The tone quality I am getting from it is similar to Art Pepper's tone on "Summertime" from the "Modern Art" album. ( don't get me wrong, I'm not comparing skills w/ Mr. Pepper, just basic tonal qualities). Also, I can't seem to get that light airy sound he gets with his Martin on my The Martin, but I can get it easier with my Zephyr.So this is a very flexible instrument as well. Intonation "quirks" are different than those on the Martins, Conn, and Selmer I own but no worse, just different. I seem to make adjustments subconsciously on all my horns, non of which have perfect intonation. I've made alot of money using this horn, so by my definition, it is a professional horn. :) I use a Richie Cole RC5 (BARI brand) mouthpiece.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2gST36TZS24&feature=relatedn.:)

[playatsax]

Sorry. My "New" Zephyr is a tenor in the 283xxx range. Great fat sound, and I'm still looking for the majic mouthpiece. The problem is the tuning. It runs really sharp, leaving only about 1/2 inch of neck in the chamber of the mouthpiece. I've been able to tighten it up with a stiffer reed, but a full night of that is hard on the face. I still need to see about pulling it out at the neck to get more cork in the mouthpiece. Anybody got some ideas on mouthpieces? I'm thinking Link Metal to really appreciate the big bore and big sound.

[Grumps]

I've got an older Zephyr alto that my son used that has incredible bite. I don't play it often, but when I take it out intonation can be pretty whack with my regular mouthpiece. It ain't bad with an older styled Woodwind Co. piece, but if I need to use a spare in place of my True Tone alto, I'd likely grab my old Signet instead.