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Mark VII - Serial Number 205xxx

10K views 32 replies 16 participants last post by  AG 
#1 ·
This horn is marked Mark VII
it plays really well and has a nice sound and the keywork is similar to that of a mark vi
it has the serial number of a 1972 mark vi
could it be one of the first mark vii's or even a misprinted mark vi?
 
#8 ·
Is Mark VII stamped on the front of the band that joins the bell to the bow?
 
#10 ·
That serial number is certainly reaching well back into the VI realm. :scratch:

No chance it might be 265xxx or 285xxx ? :dontknow:
 
#11 ·
There was certainly a time when MKVI's and MKVII's were being produced simultaneously and some MVII's have lower sn's than some MKVI's, but 205xxx is too low to have been in the cross over period.

Again, pictures will be the only way for us to help you.
 
#18 ·
The side-keys (right hand palm and pinky) are definitely MkVII's. The neck seems to be a MkVI. They ARE compatible, and hugely improve the overall sound and playability of the MkVII. The main mystery remains the low serial nr.
 
#24 ·
I don't remember a lot about the horn except that I thought I probably should have bought it...I don't actually remember any particular soldering but it had been a working players horn. The sound was good, broader than my late VI, so perhaps more typically VIIish, nice to blow even though it needed a bit of work at that stage there was a lot of potential there I thought.
ilikejam on this forum would probably remember more details about the horn, I think he spent more time on it.
Good luck with it, whatever the history I thought it was a good one.
 
#26 ·
the spatula keys looked like those of a VII to me plus the tear drop F#; it appears to be an early VII with the European style engraving & a VI neck...a very early VII, the earliest I've ever seen as far as the serial number goes. if it plays & sounds good who cares? I tried a VI neck on my VII alto but didn't like it...stuffy, but then necks vary a lot too....that one may have been "the one" for the sound it's player wanted.

value depends on what someone is willing to pay....$1500 to $1800 maybe....dunno without seeing more pics & never having played it.
 
#27 ·
Yup. There was enough overlap on serials and bastardizing of parts to account for this. After all, SOME horn has to be the first, doesn't it? As far as the neck, could be a previous owner figured out what some here have posted - that a Mark 6 neck was worth a swap.

I worked at a music store during the Mark VI/VII transition that was very well plugged into Selmer/Elkhart. They had a horn in the back that was a real bastard - Mark VII, but with -some- Mark VI keywork. Really looked strange. At the time, I wasn't keeping up with serials and such, so I didn't write down the serial or take extensive notes on the differences. Just a weird looking alto...

On this board, we're U.S. oriented, but it's worth noting that Selmer may have started M7 distribution elsewhere first, and the OP being from down under, that could account for the discrepancy. Also, it's possible that Selmer made up some sample/demo models and sent some to each of their major markets. All the while continuing M6 production.

M6 to M7 transition was a biggie for Selmer, as it was for both alto and tenor. They couldn't make this change overnight, so it's easy to see why such a long serial overlap on this one. Their production numbers were way higher by this time than on the earlier model transitions, so it should come as no surprise that there's so many horns seemingly out of sequence.
 
#28 ·
Howdy. Came across this when doing some VI research.

An opinion: if you look at http://www.selmer.fr/histdetail.php?id=76, it says very clearly that the VII took "three years of development." 205xxx is 1972 and 1974 is the release year of the VII. Thus, within the three year window.

Prototype? Possible. Someone fool around with some spare keywork? Possible. Hey; the pictures aren't the best and I can't see the whole horn. I'd like to see if it's got a VI or VII bell-to-body brace. I can just barely make out that it has an altissimo F#.

Until then, the lowest serial number on a VII I've seen is 236,105. Trust me: I really, really want to find older examples.
 
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