Why the Selmer Mark VI is NOT the Best Saxophone in the World

what's the best saxophone in the world so you're looking for a new saxophone maybe you're dreaming of having a Selmer Mark 6 how about a pink one that used to be owned by Dexter Gordon so this is Dexter Gordon's mark 6 from 1969 did you play it have you played it no yeah too late that one's already been sold what time is it now Wow it's 11 so I spent one hour in the shop that's great so here I am at the IKE a got free to shop in Copenhagen where I used to work all right here on a Saturday afternoon I used to work right at that bench right there fixing saxophones the new owner of the decks ignored until we found lucky Wow how will you pay oh yeah okay good thank you now you have something something to practice them on and this is my good friend and legendary saxophone player Bob Rockwell we sat down and talked about our favorite subject saxophones I asked Bob what's so special about Selmer Mark 6s this is mine serial number 166,000 why does everyone always want to know the serial number and the mark Seixas you know our myths and I mean some there's a very few good ones so I thought it would be fun to try out all these Zack falls on this is like I'm in a sea of Mark six tenor saxophones again I was gonna get a mark six alto and I mean we went to the dealer in Minneapolis and I must have tried at least 15 marks six Altos and I didn't buy one of them and they were all out of tune yeah there was a toll it was they were terrible a New Haven brand-new they're all different this one is gold-plated this one has no lacquer on this one is silver-plated this one over here looks like it's been real a Kurd and it looks like it's got what the lacquers worn off it and there wasn't one that you could you could take anything the Altos especially if had you know because they kept changing the bowl sizes summer didn't know what they're doing they change their horns all the time and the mark sixes got changed constantly so that can be attributed to the some are good some are the guys going like oh yeah you know the serial numbers here is like this is the one you know I've tried them like close to each other and they're not the same that's one thing about these mark 6 exports is there's a big difference that can be at least from one to the next unlike some of the more modern saxophones like Yamahas and Jana showers and even the newer summers that have a bit more consistency from one to the next then if you got that you got that one horn but like you know you go by amore out you can always get another one yeah you buy a gazelle you know he's getting off you guys get another one okay so we're gonna start off with this this is a gold-plated mark six seventy thousand serial number hey so you think there are some mystical mark sixes with superpowers that there's no there's some really good mark sixes this one this horn used to be mine it's a hundred thousand it's your number a pretty sure is real a card at some point 146,000 mark six tenor this looks to have been deal a kurd 122,000 silver-plated looks to be the original silver plate but as another friend of ours said to me Peter yes and yeah it said the only reason there's so many good mark sticks is right now it's because they've been repaired so much so this is the thing that's the repairman standpoint they're a nightmare sixty-six thousand okay and on this morning look like it's been through a war the neck has got bits of brass on the sides there was a pickup has been patched over lacquers pretty much all been worn off bit beers for the bow there's like there's been some extensive repair looks like this whole tone this whole new flat tone halls been rebuilt it's had a lot of work done [Music] my first I have to displaying a few notes on it first impressions this is like a player's home I've got a lot of orange man you know I've had really a lot of orange I've had two cons I've had achoo and I mean I've got it still got a 10 M which is a killer and I've had I don't know 5 6 7 mark 6 is this one has been played a lot usually the ones that you see and he's really beat up kind of condition like this that means they've been played they've been on the road and they've been used for decades by good players and although you know people try to buy used horns in really good shape when you see one like this just stop for a second and say hmm maybe it's all beat up because it's really been played because it's a player okay you know King cuff that is Kyle worth yeah that's a verbal one you had all the new summers I like I remember when I had all the new summers yeah I've had every I haven't had a series three I had Borg Ani that's right I remember you had the book on eat some Thai there's quite a few [Music] [Music] I shoulda sold that one that's one thing people always ask what one should I buy what mouthpiece should I buy what Reed should I buy it you know people always ask me I'll try anything and like my whole thing is to be as different from anybody else as possible that's why you don't see me playing at the same equipment as anybody maybe that's why these days you see so many pro players of the highest level that have given up their mark 6 for some other option whether that be Phil woods and his Yamaha or Bob mincer and his Eastman 52nd Street or Eric Alexander and his issue Morrie Vincent herring on his Yanagisawa and these days Yamaha I haven't played enough on a march 6 with a not holding in what she probably and you know right but you did I did I know I did for a minute here for a couple years when I took a break from after my poor Connie period and I was looking around for something and then I you know the moral of the story the summer mark 6 is highly overrated and overpriced so here's my take is a teacher a player a repair technician and general saxophone advice-giver if you watched some of my other videos you've probably noticed that I'm usually playing a young Sawa that's because I genuinely prefer to play on my Yannick as always even though this isn't great saxophone I've owned to mark six tenors but I've played many many many in the repair shops that I've worked in the horns that I've overhauled for customers I've played many of them I think the difference the biggest difference between a really good Mark six and just an okay or not so good mark 6 it's the neck if you've got one with a good neck then the rest of the horn can be gotten into shape with a good repair technician it's got to take a lot of work and it usually a pretty serious investment to get one of these old vintage horns to play like a new horn I've worked like crazy on this saxophone on the especially on the mechanisms getting the key heights right so it plays as well in tune as I can get it [Music] replacing the springs getting the right tension it's been a lot of work there was dents there was damage to the body all of that stuff had to be fixed meticulously carefully and it took a long time and if I were to have done that for someone else I would have charged a lot of money now I can safely say this pretty much plays like a good new saxophone and I love it it's a great horn I still prefer my youngest hours though no saxophone plays perfectly in tune but with proper adjustment you can get a mark 6 to play as well in tune is pretty much any other professional horn the summer mark six horns are prone to quite a lot of mechanical problems for a variety of reasons number one they're all old and old saxophones especially ones that have been played a lot the mechanisms the metal on the mechanisms wears down which creates play so that these keys have extra movement I've taken out the play in this horn but you'll see with most vintage horns there's some extra movement in these keys that extra movement is going to cause you leaks no matter how well you adjust the pads even when you've got a great summer Mach 6 with an excellent neck restored to play like a new saxophone it's still probably not the greatest saxophone in the world my personal opinion when I picked this horn up like I just did and play it after not playing it for a while I'm always like wow that's a great horn I love that horn why don't I play this horn and then I go and I play my own I guess now and I say ah that's why so I'm not saying that this is not an amazing saxophone it is it's just not as amazing as some other saxophones that are being made today I think if I played Yamaha some of the new summers or any one of a number of other great saxophones that are being made today I would feel the same way the bottom line is the seller mark 6 can be a great saxophone but it comes with a lot of headaches and most importantly it comes with a big price tag on a popular saxophone website that has classified ads for selling used saxophones I just counted 35 different listings within the last month and a half selling selmour mark six saxophones with that many for sale one has to ask why hey listen if you paid too much for your summer mark six I'm sorry but other than collectors horan says nothing to justify a price tag higher than some of the great top-of-the-line saxophones being made today those are already pretty expensive if you think you need to get a seller mark six to seven your best then I hope I've given you some food for thought on this subject the truth is it's not about what saxophone you're playing or even what mouthpiece or Reed ligature your playing is not about that it's about the work you put in get something good get something solid get something reliable that's fun to play and stick with it I have lots of horns because it's fun if you want to have fun and collect saxophones please by all means do so but if you're working on really getting good at playing the saxophone don't get caught up in the equipment it's a waste of time get something solid get something good and practice now I know I'm gonna hear from a lot of you on this subject so the comments section below is the place to discuss let us know which saxophone you've replaced your mark sticks with or let us know why you're sticking with your mark 6 and why you think is the greatest horn for you as always if you've got some value out of this video please click the thumbs up go ahead and share this with anybody else who might be interested and thanks for watching

Channel: Better Sax

Views: 396,808

Keywords: Mark VI, selmer mark vi saxophone, better sax, jay metcalf, bob rockwell, ik gottfried, tenor saxophone, best saxophone in the world, pink mark vi tenor saxophone, alto saxophone, which saxophone should i buy, yanagisawa saxophone, selmer mark 6, professional saxophone, vintage saxophone, collector saxophone, selmer mark iv saxophone, tenor sax, alto sax, copenhagen

Id: puApTzibuHM

Length: 13min 50sec (830 seconds)

Published: Wed Sep 05 2018