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Selmer Mk 6 Bass saxes

14K views 46 replies 17 participants last post by  ladyraygun 
#1 ·
Just wondering - does anyone have any idea how many were made and what sort of price one would expect to pay for one?
 
#4 ·
I dont think $20K to $30K is realistic. I think they do bring a bit more money than a vintage american bass but not that much. Around $8K to $15K seems to serve my memory better. This is mostly because in terms of intonation, the Mark VI bass is "known" to be wacky (or at least more so than most other basses).
 
#6 ·
Seen a few on eBay and other places. They seem to go for about $10k. Unlike the tenors, not everyone is clamoring to have a Mark VI bass.
 
#8 ·
Yeah, spent the rest of the day looking up bass saxophone prices, and looks like they've come down considerably since the last I looked. As has been mentioned, the VI bass does have a rep for intonation issues. Others seem to knock the keywork in general. Most players seem to prefer the modern Selmer offerings to the VI. Guess that also explains why most saxophone ensembles seem to favor the old Conn and Buescher basses. You learn something new every single day.
 
#9 ·
Something about having a horn that isn't stuffy and out of tune does seem to have an impact, I guess.
 
#11 ·
....Any idea how many were made though?
Sorry, but can't resist saying "too many...." :bluewink:

ladyraygun - I see you're in the UK (too) - there can't be too many in the UK, and shipping something that big from outside the UK is fraught with expense and risk (and often crippling import tax/VAT if it's outside the EU). Why not take a trip to Oxford and try out the one at Allegro ?

Even if you're not ready for one yet, be a great chance for 'hands on'. Me, I'd book a nights B&B and play it to death for two days :mrgreen: They might even reduce the price if you'd promise take it away....
 
#12 ·
The five digit ones still have the SBA G# cluster. Don't know when that changed, or whether that affects value. You should not have to pay more than $10k (unless you just can't abide to live without the one that comes up for more - it's all about supply and demand), but expect to pay more than $8k. My anecdotal evidence suggests that there were even less MkVI Basses made than low-A Altos (but, how many is THAT?)...
 
#14 ·
BTW, that price is also about what you'd expect to pay for a playing Buescher or Conn. There are no cheap bass saxophones, unless you just happen to find one nailed to a wall in a metal scrapyard, as Graysax did.
 
#15 ·
Depending what you want from a bass as far as range goes, MkVI basses are keyed to high Eb and don't have a Bis Bb key.

I saw a near mint condition one listed the other day, but can't for the life of me remember where I saw it. The only imperfection was a small spot of flux bleed under the lacquer by one of the pillars in the area of the LH main action.

But if you want a new Selmer SA80II style bass and don't want to break the bank, Wessex Tubas and Gear4Music both sell the JinBao basses for a fraction of the cost of a new bass.
 
#16 ·
Well I went ahead and made the investment! I got what I consider an excellent deal with case, jiffy stand (homemade industrial-looking!) harness and original selmer bass mouthpiece. And I'm thrilled. Yes it does have the stuffy d and some quirks but it is perfect for me and what I plan to do with it. It is in great condition, only needs a new pad or two and re-corking on the crook.

Now I'm thinking about a new mouthpiece as my tech thinks it will be a lot more powerful with one. I'm not a pro so think a pickle barrel might not be the way to go - does anyone have any suggestions about what might suit a small keen amateur lady bass-saxist to get an even more powerful richer sound out of this behemoth?
 
#18 ·
I use a Jiffy stand on bari and as Selmer basses are fairly low to the ground (unlike American basses), they ought to work well.

On my bass I use a SaxRax stand when playing seated - it tips onto two legs for the perfect position, but I had to make a new lower cradle from high density foam as the floor spike fittings are fairly long. I also made a wooden peg to lock it in place - the peg goes through the holes in the floor spike fittings to lock it onto the lower cradle so it won't slip out when it's tilted onto two legs. If I'm marching with it I use a JazzLab harness.

I use my Lawton bari mouthpieces on my bass - the one that suits it best is a plain 7 ebonite. But try all manner of ebonite bari mouthpieces to see which you like best. I'd love to compare a MkVI bass with my Chinese SA80II copy to see how different they are, although I'd be lost without the Bis key as I use that a lot.
 
#19 ·
I am a bass sax owner but only a very infrequent player - I mainly play baritone and tenor.

On my Keilwerth bass (a different beast to the Selmer) I tried lots of bari mouthpieces and they were generally OK, but had some minor tuning challenges. But the horn really started sounding like a bass sax when I used a Pillinger bass mouthpiece. For a more modern sound I love the Zinner bass mouthpiece that has quite a high baffle. http://www.hans-zinner.de/html/bass1.html I think it must be the #64 on their website with modern parallel sidewalls rather than the big round chamber model.

The Legere synthetic reeds for contrabass clarinet fit my bass sax mouthpieces and work well.

Good luck with your bass.

Rhys
 
#20 ·
The MK6 Selmer bass has nothing to compare with alto and tenor ones, please avoid it and run away from this piece of ****!!
I own a SA80II and this one is really a good one (but I could not see (or hear) more differences with his chinese clone from Jin Bao) I own too a Conn (1925) it is a completely other type of horn
 
#21 ·
Wow - people really hating on my sax!

I am a keen amateur (as i said earlier) and play in an amateur sax choir and have been invited into some other ensembles. I am a pro steel pan player and plan to use both my saxes on my next pan album, I really wanted to get that bass sound, and I have a nice guy in the studio who has a computer which I believe can help any 'quirky' tuning. Personally I am really happy, yes it is quirky and I am not a pro but I love the sound and am quite happy with bass lines (I have a GGSM in double bass) so feel this one will serve me well.

Here's my website: http://www.steelpan.co.uk/index.asp There are music clips from my last album.
 
#22 ·
What I'd personally miss on the MkVI bass is the lack of the Bis Bb, but otherwise it should be a good player. The middle D will need helping by opening the high D key from very slightly to fully (experiment with it to get the best results) and as you want to use it as a bass instrument anyway, you don't really need it to go above high Eb. I bought mine mainly for the low end which adds more tonal weight and punch to the tubas (and there are some tuba players that need punching!).

If you're fairly new to sax then the lack of the Bis key and the high notes shouldn't pose a problem. I wish Simon D'Souza was still around as he used to do large sax ensemble events and having more bass saxes will add the low notes beyond the range of baris.
 
#24 ·
So that was you on steel pan at his funeral procession! I was on bass drum there and then some bari playing back again with Straight No Chaser in the pub afterwards (I was on bari with them from 2003 to 2009). Simon's funeral was also the last time I saw Ian Price - another great loss to the sax world taken way before his time. I played bari on four tracks on the 'Navigation' album and then at the album launch in the Brunswick.

I miss regular big band playing as that's where I cut my teeth, but things are starting to pick up with a couple of bands - one that rehearses over Chi and a new one just formed in Fareham which will be a working band which is good. Nice to be back on familiar territory again as I'm doing far more oboe playing than I ideally want to do.
 
#27 ·
I had this recurent middle D problem on my first bass sax a Noblet made by Beaugnier and I used the high D palm key, but a friend of me pro bass player tought my how to adapt my mouth cavity, and now I have no more problems with any bass sax
on my Conn (1925) my technician added a Bb finger key, which it is more convenient
 
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