How Much Would You Spend On A Minty Mark VI From ‘67?
Author: Helen
Now I admit that I’m not really much of an alto player anymore. I do however have a minty Mark VI 240XXX alto from 1975. It is a wonderful horn, and it sounds as good as any Mark VI alto I’ve ever played.
Now I know there is A LOT of hype about the 1967 altos because of Sanborn et al. However, this eBay ad I saw this morning caught my eye because it seems to take this hype to a new monetary level.
Maybe I don’t pay a lot of attention to altos since I’m not much of a player, but I don’t remember seeing an alto for $20,000 before. Do you?
Source: eBay.com
Here is how the seller describes this beautiful Mark VI alto:
If you are a collector…. This is a find that is truely priceless!!!!! You are looking at a truely mint condition 1967 Selmer Mark VI Alto sax for the most sought after serial number range of all mark vi alto’s. Players like David Sanborn, Warren hill, Candy Dulfer, & Kenny Garrett only play on this serial number range due to their sultry yet focused classic mark vi sound. Their values continue to rise and are becoming rapidly rarer and rarer to find. This horn has been kept in a time capsule. If you are serious about mark vi saxophones, this is a find that you are likely to never see in this kind of condition again. The original laquer has sweet honey gold patina! Intonation is spot on! Laquer is %99.9999999999. only imperfection to speak of is a tiny discoloration (notated in pic 11) of where the bell brace is. No type of repair work done……EVER!!! No dents!!! PERFECTION!!!!!
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
Source: eBay.com
This is a beautiful horn, but $20,000? I’m not getting it. (In more ways than one, am I not getting it! 
)
The auction for the 1967 Mark VI alto ends on November 19. At the time of writing there were 9 offers on this sax.
It seems that the revered 5 digit Mark VI tenors have finally been dethroned. If this eBay ad is to be believed, collectors will be snapping up 1967 altos… Or perhaps they already have been, and I’ve just not been noticing… A very distinct possibility.
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Update: This sax did not sell for $20,000, but the seller did re-list it. In that auction the sax did sell for… Are you ready for this? … $14,000.
Several years ago, the sales representative from Selmer did a tour of Selmer dealers in the USA. It seems that two Selmer Mark VI altos, very much like this one, had been discovered, unsold, at a music store. Both were brand new horns. The sales rep allowed prospective buyers to play one of the horns, but the other one stayed in the case. As I remember, the asking price was something similar to the prices quoted here.
I wonder if this is one of these 2 altos?
It is interesting that these kinds of things turn up from time to time. They are like a small piece of saxophone history. Preserved in a time capsule.