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Super 20 Fan Club

318K views 1K replies 236 participants last post by  Instrument Attic 
G
#1 ·
We're baa-aaaack! Super 20 players, stand up and be counted.

Super 20 tenor, 364xxx, silver neck, brass bell, no pearls on the side :(

I've had this horn since 1974 (sophomore year high school). Dad paid $75 for the horn, then another $100 for a complete overhaul/relacquer (it needed it).

Despite what you may have read, these are very flexible horns, adaptable to all musical styles. The combination of the sterling silver neck along with bore taper/neck curve/bow curve allows the Super 20 tenors to bring out the best in a variety of mouthpiece setups.
 
#52 ·
Hi Holiday. My S20 tenor is a brass 488xxx and a fine playing horn. Funny thing is that when I play my 1943 Buescher Aristrocrat with the same mouthpiece, everyone says I sound exactly the same on both horns. The S20 rocks--have fun!!
 
#54 ·
Add me to the list, as a fan and member of the club. I bought a 454xxx Eastlake, all brass, underslung from saxman pete (selmerfudd) to playoff against my '51 Conn 10M. It didn't take much to figure out it was exactly what I was looking for.

I dug the tone of the Conn, althought felt it was too spread out and not focused enough for me. The keywork was good on the Conn, with a major exception being the LH pinky cluster, which on the Super 20 is like butter in comparisin. Try the chorus section on Lush Life for a major LH workout. The 20 was sooo much smoother.

Tone, ergonomics, projection..the King has it all for me. I love playing it!

BTW, there's a great 10M on ebay right now....

Trevor
 
#55 ·
Since a few days I can call me a proud Super 20 owner. A 390K tenor, silver single socket neck, brass bell, lost some of its lacquer etc. In other words; not a real beauty.

BUT! A workhorse. An incredible sounding horn. This horn is never going to leave me. Slept really lousy last nights.... :D

Super 20 underrated? Maybe, but not by me!

Enjoy your 20's everybody, at least I will enjoy mine 8) .

And again, thanks for all the information gathered here. An invaluable source for the real saxophone addict.
 
#56 ·
Glad you took the plunge TenorReinier, I was despairing for a while when you said you were passing up that horn. Did you buy the first one you asked about or have you found a secret cache of them? If you want ugly you should see mine (354xxx); no lacquer, a funny matt yellow colour and all sorts of stains etc., but we don't care.

Slept really lousy last nights...
You not really meant to take it to bed with you, you wake up with funny indentations all over you and the horn gets fluffy.
 
#57 ·
JimD,

I'm glad too. Unfortunately the horn I asked about first was sold when I was in France for a week. When I got back and it wasn't in the shop anymore, I was quite disappointed, since I kind of decided in France to buy it. But because of this I was even more eager to search for one. So I did, and I found a great one, like I said a 390K with a great sound with not so great looks.

You not really meant to take it to bed with you, you wake up with funny indentations all over you and the horn gets fluffy
I don't think my girl would appreciate this very much, but if it weren't for her... :wink:

a bit of topic: when I was in France I decided to see if there were some nice horns in the local shops. Don't. But it's funny to see their faces when you ask for a non-Selmer sax :)
 
#59 ·
Hank Mobley used a Super 20

During the period of 1955-1956, Hank played on a Super 20. Contrary to the belief that the 20 is a bright horn, Hank's tone was so dark and sonorous with a hip dry quality about it. 8) Later, he used SBA and Mark VI and his tone was slightly edgy, but he was still Hank. I had a chance to buy a silver neck tenor for $700.00 20 years ago, I kind of regret that I passed it up.
 
#64 ·
Went and did it again, my S20 Tenor is intoxicting to say the least and I've recently pulled the trigger on a #470XXX Eastlake SilverSonic Alto that really sings.Still working on a mpc but so far the old Dukoff sounds real good on it..The pads are fairly fresh with oversize browndome resos.
I got the thing practically sight unseen, but since it came from Roberto's in NYC I figured it would be good.They hit it at 92% original lacquer and I woulda gave it an 85 but so what.. the way it sounds I don't care. It's still drop dead gorgeous with the Gold inlay and not a dent or real scratches anywhere although the guy musta had those acid hands 'cause most of the nickle on the side, palm and pinkies is toast. Lotsa speckles too..Musta been a hand on the bell guy too, the clear lacquer is missing on some of the bell, but the sterling is polished so nice it's still beautiful..Some of the gold Bell wash is gone too but again the sterling underneath is like a mirror you have to look closely to notice a difference in the color.

I suppose I paid way too much but, this thing has a sound and feel that makes it worth every penny.The real Deal. :king:
 
#65 ·
Man, it sure is nice to see that this thread has some action again. I've had kind of a love hate relationship with my Super 20 (1949). Whenever I think that I need to find an "easier" horn to play on, all I have to do is try just about any other tenor and/or practice for a couple more hours. The practice usually clears up just about any problem but it's scary to try any other tenor out there. Do Selmer players realize how wrong they are?

BTW my setup for the last year or so has been a Soloist opened to .095 and a SS berg at the same opening (JGerber for both).
 
#66 ·
Wait now Sebastian.. I'm a life-long Selmer Player and I don't believe there's a "better" all around horn made..Action, depth of tone etc. My KING's are just different..I own two Selmer tenors a '67 VI & '49 SBA, plus a VII Alto. and new series Sop & Bari. I have owned and played many others Selmers as well.
But, yes my KING's have their own voice and I love them.. :cool:
 
#67 ·
Re: Hank Mobley used a Super 20

hardbop said:
During the period of 1955-1956, Hank played on a Super 20. Contrary to the belief that the 20 is a bright horn, Hank's tone was so dark and sonorous with a hip dry quality about it. 8) Later, he used SBA and Mark VI and his tone was slightly edgy, but he was still Hank. I had a chance to buy a silver neck tenor for $700.00 20 years ago, I kind of regret that I passed it up.
Kings always had their own unique, dark sound, going all the way back to the very early horns. They had their own ideas about bore tapers and tonehole placement. The print ads for Super 20s used to refer to them as having a dark sound. But it was the combination of the silver neck, the specific curves of the neck and bow, tonehole placement, and the effect of silver-soldering the toneholes on the metallurgy of the body that produced the classic "Super 20 sound".

btw, Dad bought me my 364xxx tenor in 1974 for $75.
 
#68 ·
Our lead alto just got a Silversonic Alto about 8 months ago.

I got a chance to play it.

Man, I thought the TENOR action was slick....

The finger spread being much smaller, the alto flies!

One thing I always loved about these horns is the extremely fast action....you can play some tempos with these things! Makes my 30M feel like a Bundy in the action department, lol.
 
#69 ·
Do Selmer players realize how wrong they are?
I'm a big King fan, but I have to disagree with you on this. There's no right or wrong here. It's personal prefrence.
My alto is a Selmer SBA, that I wouldn't part with for anything.
I think both King and Selmer have made some of the best horns ever produced. It depends on what you like, and what your using them for.
 
#71 ·
Another S20 owner added to the ranks...

I just bought a very late (630k) Eastlake Silversonic alto with gold-inlaid engraving. I compared it to my near-mint 6M and there was no comparison -- this S20SS is the horn I have been dreaming of. Happy Birthday to me! :D

Now, I'm going to engrave the key cups like the originals had, and then do the rest of the body in the same style! Woo hoo! I love being an engraver!
 
#72 ·
Re: Another S20 owner added to the ranks...

Jason DuMars said:
I just bought a very late (630k) Eastlake Silversonic alto with gold-inlaid engraving. I compared it to my near-mint 6M and there was no comparison -- this S20SS is the horn I have been dreaming of. Happy Birthday to me! :D

Now, I'm going to engrave the key cups like the originals had, and then do the rest of the body in the same style! Woo hoo! I love being an engraver!
I wondered if you'd had an opportunity to emulate the old King engraving. I'd like to have original-looking key-cup engraving added to the low C# and C keys on my 364xxx Super 20 tenor. Maybe the Eb key, just to be different. Please let me know how it turns out.

Welcome aboard! Now go de-lacquer that silver neck! :wink:
 
#73 ·
Done with phase 1

I went a little nuts on my Super 20... I did the bell keys in the King style, and it was a little difficult to do, but I think it turned out well. I engraved a nude watching a butterfly into the side of the bell, engraved the bow, body and even pants guard! You can see more photos at my site, if you scroll down to the project log. Here are a few sample photos:







Let me know what you think! It's definitely a swanky-looking Super 20 now!
 
#76 ·
Hey wow, I didn't think that what I said would be reacted to this way. Perhaps my Canadian sense of sarcasm was taken a little too seriously! I've played lots of Selmer tenors but they just don't stack up sound wise for my taste. This is why I posted in the FAN CLUB area. I guess you could say that I'm a fan. I play a Mark VI alto and I enjoy it. But it doesn't have the balls that my old 6M had (with 30 year old rotten pads to boot!), or even a Zephyr that was in a pawn shop. I use it because it is warmer than the Series III that I used to have but good retained that technical facility that I require. Tenor. The only other tenors that I've liked were a 1950 SBA that belonged to a military band, a new Series III and the new B&S medusa (I think my favourite one).

Good to know so many people out there are in love with their Kings. Now if I could just afford a S20 Alto I would be in heaven.
 
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