Why the s20 is not as popular as the MK6
I think there are several reasons why this is the case. The first is ignorance. Really, how many people really know about the S20 and its value (never mind the Zephyr)? This, as one of you pointed out earlier, has had to do with Selmer's more aggressive marketing strategies and image-building as the global horn maker for everyone--student, amateur, pro, or otherwise. King, on the other, hand started out as a company that catered horns to the US military (there are horns that are even marked with what brand of the military they served in).
Second is something called "herd instinct", which is begotten by ignorance. When people don't know any better, what do they do? Follow others! That is precisely what has been happening in the horn market. In other words, everyone seems to be playing a Selmer and, therefore, it is the horn I should go for. How often do we encounter other non-horn musicians and even horn players asking us if our horn is Selmer before we start a gig? In my case, it happens very often. And they are surprised when I show them my PMauriat tenor and how it can knock some French horns out! (Soon, I hope to show them an Eastlake '68 one;-) )
Third, and I am speculating here, King players kind of enjoy the fact that they own and play an S20 and know how great a horn it is, but don't bother competing with MK6 players or telling the world about it. To support this speculation, here is a story I recently told Dan20, who has posted here:
My late dad and his friends set up a church brassband in Bui Thai, Dong Nai, south Vietnam in the 60's, and they purchased mainly American horns (Olds, King, Martin, Vincent Bach, and Buescher). Among these horns were, and still are, a pair of King S20 silversonic (Eastlake) alto and tenor. I asked him why the band did not buy the MK6, and he said that it did, but found that the MK6 did not have the volume and physical rigor (to stand the tough weather and playing conditions in Nam, where they play funeral gigs in the open, and Vietnam is very dirsty and humid). So his friends and him returned the MK6 and had to put in more money to get the Kings.
Sure enough, the Kings have passed the test of time and abuse: After 38 years of continous, daily heavy use and being uncared for, these horns are dented (some keys are even missing), the lacquer is gone, but they still work, and that unmistakable King sound is still there!
I have been thinking: Except for a JK, or another American horn, what French or Asian horns would survive, never mind still in the business of making music until today?
If you go to the following link, you can see the kind of music these guys in Vietnam play and the silversonic alto (a small guy on the left of a group playing at a cemetary) I mentioned in one of the pictures:
http://viewmorepics.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewPicture&friendID=115989658&albumId=0
This is my contribution to this discussion.
Cheers,