King Cmel

[Karl Dunkel]

Hi folks -

To make a long story short, I "Inherited" an old King Cmel (S/N 52xxx) that's in relatively poor shape. The case is almost shot (Still has structural integrity, but the interior is bad), the silver finish, on a scale of 1-10 I'd put at about 4. The action is surprisingly good, although clearly a good oiling and cleaning is in order, and a few of the springs might need replaced. It's hard to tell right now.

I did put my tenor mpc on it and it played, I could tell the pads were kaka, although they didn't look that bad. (The mpc that came with it, don't know if it's original or not, is still soaking in a mild soap solution - the mold and mildew smell just creeped me out, although the old mpc "looked" clean. Call me silly.)

Initially I was thinking of selling it as is, but after I played around with it for a while, I've been toying with the idea of getting it refurbed and hanging on to it.

So, I guess my question is - what are your thoughts? My point of view is that if the sax is only worth a few dollars, or if it's not a "good" sax, I can't see sinking a lot of money into it to make it playable, just to keep it as a novelty. Any input as to its worth strictly as a musical instrument or otherwise would be greatly appreciated.

No, I have no delusions about this horn being a lost masterpiece...

I'd also like to add that I'm not a pro, I play for my own enjoyment and have recently started playing again after about 15 years...

Also, if I DO decide to put the money into the King, can anyone recommend a good tech around Pittsburgh, PA? (I'd be willing to travel, but I'm only about 40 miles or so west of Pittsburgh, and it's the closest "big" city to my location.)

Thanks a bunch, folks.

Karl

[Les22]

Karl,

Have some fun with it: restore it yourself. Assuming it is mechanically OK or only needs minor work, it is doable and fun. Clean, shine, replace pads and corks, try to play, fix leaks, etc. Read about how to do these things right here on SOTW. When I got back into playing tenor sax after a 12 year layoff, I spent time restoring a vintage alto in my garage. Took many months working an hour or two here and there, and a lot of trial-and-error, but I learned a lot. I bought a sax kit from MusicMedic and pads from Ferrees.
Les

[Les22]

Karl, One more thing. You saw the silver plate is a 4/10. Did you try removing the tarnish. My experience is that silver plate is really ugly on old neglected horns, but can be shockingly beautiful when cleaned up. My alto redo mentioned above is a great example. It looked totally worthless when I bought it from the original (elderly) owner, but after removing the tarnish I found I had an incredible horn, with a satin silver plating that looks wet and a gold wash bell. I get comments on its beauty whenever I play it.
Les

[Karl Dunkel]

Thanks for the reply, Les. I've actually been a little hesitant to work on the finish, it does look reasonably solid although tarnished, and there is definitely a gold wash in the bell. I'm worried about destroying what's left, but I have been reading some of the other threads about finish care, etc., so i might give it a shot.

One thing about restoring it myself. Although I am pretty mechanically inclined, I don't want to end up doing more harm than good. Even though this horn hasn't been played in decades, I don't want to destroy it through my own error, or get to a point where I'm completely lost and have to take it in somewhere to get my screwup fixed. Who knows, I might take a closer look at it and try to give it a go. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?

Take care,

Karl