Sax on the Web Forum banner

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.
 
#30 ·
Does anyone here has experience playing classic music with a King Super 20?? I sold my 295xxx tenor because it wasn`t flexible enough. This tenor was the LOUDEST I ever owned - great sound and feel, pearls all over. This horn was gold plated ( !!! ) and I sold it to a friend to keep it in my eyes. Maybe the best horn I ever owned, but my Mark6 plays at ppp and fff more clear and I can use it on every job with very good results. Classical music and King ????
 
#31 ·
PB said:
Does anyone here has experience playing classic music with a King Super 20?? I sold my 295xxx tenor because it wasn`t flexible enough...Classical music and King ????
That's pretty much all I play on my Super 20 tenor (364xxx, 1959, silver neck, brass bell, no pearls) . Well, not necessarily "classical", but mostly sacred and other "legit" stuff. This is the only tenor I've ever owned (bought it while in high school in 1974), so I've really had no choice but to use it for everything.

I have never bought into the stuff about the Super 20 being strictly an R&B or jazz horn. They're all saxophones, and while some horns definitely have different response tendencies thanks to varying bore/taper designs, you can't convince me that anyone could tell the difference between James Houlik playing a Super 20 or a Selmer Series II tenor.

It's all in how you play, not what horn you're playing.

It's true that Super 20s are very free-blowing horns, and some consider this to be a handicap to playing in a classical style. But I know from my personal experience that you can create the desired resistance by changing mouthpiece/reed setups.

PB - Are you suggesting that your Super 20 simply would not respond at all unless you were blowing triple-forte? What type of mouthpiece, with what facing, and what strength reeds did you use? And how was the horn set up with pads and resonators?
 
#32 ·
The King was great, even for classical playing. But it wasn`t really nice when you played ppp. My english stops here to explain what I really think. The Mark6 I have now is one of the strongest horns I ever owned and it still has this singing sound when you play a Bozza or Samuel Barber at ppp.
This horn does the Rock jobs great, too. I play a Brilhart Tonalin 5* with rico royal 3 reeds or Hemke 3 1/2 - that`s all. Not a screaming equipment at all until you push it.
 
G
#37 ·
Forgive me if I'm asking a stupid question or asking in the wrong place, but I read with interest the old archieved thread on King Super 20s that were produced after the Super 20 "officially" went out of production in 1975. Let me explain the background of my question.

About 1991 I was a sophomore in high school and looking to upgrade from my very old worn out Buescher Aristocrat alto. So I went to a couple of music stores down in Atlanta. The first one had a Mark VI - I liked the way it played, but it was in pretty rough shape and the price seemed kind of steep ($2300, not including a mouthpiece). The second one had something labeled a King 2414, which the music store said was really an unlabeled really late King Super 20. According to the UMI website the serial number 865,xxx, puts the date of manufacturer around 1981 - the booklet says that it was from the King Musical Instrument Company, Eastlake, Ohio. The saxophone was in remarkable condition - in fact it basically was brand new - apparently it had floated around various music stores unsold for a decade - except that the mouthpiece had vanished somewhere along the line. Since I really liked the way the it played (it has wonderful response) and it sounded quite good even using a really cheap plastic mouthpiece (which was all the store had available) so my father and I decided that given the condition it was a better purchase than the Mark VI since it was almost $1000 less.

I've been now playing this saxophone for about 12 years now, and I still love the way it plays. I've never regretted not getting the Mark VI when I had a chance. My older sister also plays saxophone (her main horn is a 1952 Selmer (Paris) Super Balanced Action) and she was sure that we had gotten ripped off by buying the King and that we should have bought the Mark VI - until she played it and then she had to admit that the King is a very good saxophone.

But this leads me to my question. Does anyone know what a King 2414 is? Are they really King Super 20's or was the music store lying to us? not that it made a lot of difference, I didn't know how legendary the Super 20 was at the time, and I mainly bought the horn based on its condition and the way it played. I searched the internet and found only one website that mentioned the King 2414 - a German site which is right here - http://www.saxophon-service.de/homep/gloger/kglo01.htm which only deepens my curiousity about what exactly it is that I own.

Also if the King Super 21 was built around 1995 how come it has a lower serial number than my instrument which had to have built at least before 1991?

But I figure that even if my father got ripped off in buying my King, he more than made up for it when he bought my sister's SBA a couple of years for about $1000. And if nothing else, I can always aspire to own a real Super 20 - maybe once I get my law school loans paid off :)
 
#38 ·
Well, I'm back after a considerable absence, just too busy until this week. Nice to see the new style of the forum since I've been gone. I used to be a Mike W. in the olden days, but I see the "new" Mike W. has taken the moniker, so I will henceforth live under an assumed name on this forum now :wink:

I have four 20s in all: an early '60s HN White silver neck (an absolutely beautiful pice of work), an early 70s Eastlake that I bought brand new off the shelf in 1973, a late-70s (?) tenor (one of the ones made out of spare body parts, w/over-the-top octave key), and a mid-70s Eastlake baritone that actually shows up on saxpics' pages somewhere. I also have a Marigaux that solves all of my[/i] ppp problems for me, but that's a story for the SML thread.

Nice to see that this is still going!
 
#39 ·
Can I join!?

Sorry for the late post, but I just joined SOTW today. Posted something similar on the Silversonic MPC thread but...

388xxx Silversonic Tenor - bought for me when I was in high-school in 1973 by my Dad. Silver neck & bell (no pearls :() but the squid-brain who owned it before me drilled a hole in the neck near the mouthpiece for a pick-up (It was the 70s I guess).

Um...does the wacky octave key configuration (with that rocker bar) drive anyone else nuts? Mine was always coming loose (I used to gig with a screwdriver in my pocket to tighten it up between songs) until Dan at Rayburn's recommended Lok-Tite.

Anyways there's a pic at http://sambossa.home.comcast.net/pics/dave_larry.jpg

I feel like I'm home with friends!
Larry G.
 
#41 ·
I am Impressed!!

All,

I just had the opportunity to play a King Super 20 with a silver neck, and I have to honestly say I was VERY impressed. I played it right along side a 167xxx Mark VI and I am was leaning more toward the King. It had a wonderful sound and response. Being one that had never played a King before, I was skeptical, but I am now a changed man.

Sincerely,
Matt
:p
 
#44 ·
Mine's a 379xxx Cleveland, sterling double-socket neck, underslung octave, no side or palm pearls, engraved on bell keys. I've had it for about 4 months now. It's my first 'real' horn after deciding not to invest further in my high school (late 70's) Noblet. I play mostly in church, praise and worship stuff, with two trumpets, two trombones and an alto sax plus a full rhythm/perc section. The KS20 has no trouble cutting through. I had folks tell me they heard me for the first time the day I uncorked the little beast! YAHOO! Even the kids like it. The day after it arrived they met me at the door when I got home from work asking, 'was I going to practice again tonight?'. :shock: The King'll be staying for awhile...

BTW, I use a new STM Link 7* with 2 1/2 V16s. This is OK for most things but occasionally I want to darken a bit. Any other MPC suggestions welcome. Thanks!
 
#47 ·
Re: Super 20. what's it worth?

bobsax said:
I have an alto sterling neck and bell serial#295195,Does anybody know its value?
bob
Probably one of the more valuable kings out there except for the very special gold inlay models. As always depends on condition, but Tim at Sax Alley and Saxquest have both sold horns like this recently for $3500-4000. The often get >$3000 on eBay, even in less than perfect condition. The market is a better indicator than Steve's page, although I'm sure that we all reference it regularly (thanx, Steve!)
 
#48 ·
Re: Super 20. what's it worth?

I agree. The bottom line is, it's worth what you can get for it. The trick is in maxmizing that. My personal opinion, based on several years of watching ebay auctions for these things, is that you should not accept anything less than $3000 for it. Ebay is the best way to sell it, just make sure you take lots of good digital pictures.
 
#49 ·
all the pearls

My Super 20 is a 300xxx tenor with all the pearls, brass bell, no engraving on C/C# (some will tell you that this number range should have this engraving, but I've never seen it). I've had it 12 or 13 years, it was only the second S20 I'd ever seen. I saw the first one in Hermie's in Schenectady, NY, when I was shopping for a tenor to replace my 1st horn, a Carl Fischer--wish I had pix of it so I knew who made it...anyway, this S20 was also with pearls, and it sat in the case next to a Conn 30M. Many of you know how nice the Connqueror is, but it looked like a middle school Bundy next to the King. The neck, the pearls, the engraving, even the conical pad cups, everything said it had to be the best! I went back again and again, staring and drooling, till one day I brought my trade-in and a wad of cash--only to find the Conn sitting next to an empty stand! I'd been beat. Well, I needed a "real" horn, so I went home with the 30M, and it sounded great, but the next time a S20 crossed my path (Cole's in Watervliet) I almost broke my arm pulling out my wallet. Who knew it could sound as good as it looked! I've used S80 C**, rubber Link 5, and metal Link 6* in college groups with excellent results, and I'd put my tenor's intonation up against anything but a xylophone. The old-style keywork (pinky table looks like Balanced Action but hinges backwards) has never bothered me and the action is ridiculously fast compared to anything modern that I've tried. And with all that, I'd still pay the same $1200 even if it played like a dog, just to look at it.
Postscript: I just had a Zephyr alto, 343xxx, donated to me, and if a neck ever turns up for it, I'm going to overhaul it (I'm a rookie professional tech) and see what comes out. I've seen enough to know, they don't make 'em like that anymore.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top