I Just Gotta Poke that Hornet's Nest ....

[pete]

Or you can file this under, "Stupid Selmer Mark VI tricks."

Popular "wisdom": The 5-digit serial number Mark VI is the bestest Mark VI you can get. Keep this in mind.

I've been doing some research on the VI, primarily because of a statement on www.selmer.fr in the form of, "We're kinda sorry about that Mark VII thing. We shoulda kept producing the VI." (Go to http://www.selmer.fr/, click on "History." Click on "History FAQ." It's in the lower left corner of the Flash.)

Anyhow, I perused some pictures of the VIs. You probably know that on the VI (alto, tenor, bari, bass) there are a bunch of patent numbers stamped above the serial number. The thing I discovered is that not all of the patents are stamped on all horns and this doesn't follow a specific serial number range. This got me thinking, "What if the bestest Mark VI is the one that does/doesn't have a particular patent stamped on it?" Hey, it'll give the folks that want to pay $20K for a VI alto to look for an extra thing!

Here are the patents:

Brev. S.G.D.G. No. 383098 (patent's not available online)
Brev. S.G.D.G. No. 920653 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ...n_EP&FT=D&date=19470415&CC=FR&NR=920653A&KC=A
Engl. Pat. No. 11824 (patent's not available online)
Engl. Pat. No. 632799 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ...n_EP&FT=D&date=19491205&CC=GB&NR=632799A&KC=A
US. Patent 2090011 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ..._EP&FT=D&date=19370817&CC=US&NR=2090011A&KC=A
US. Pat+ 2710558 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ..._EP&FT=D&date=19550614&CC=US&NR=2710558A&KC=A
US. Pat+ 2846917 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ...C=A&FT=D&date=19580812&DB=EPODOC&locale=en_EP
US. Pat+ 2940640 http://worldwide.espacenet.com/publ..._EP&FT=D&date=19491206&CC=US&NR=2490640A&KC=A

The latest patent is dated 1949. There may be other patents stamped on some horns, too: I don't have that many pics of the patent/serial numbers on many horns.

Enjoy!

 

[pete thomas]

I've been doing some research on the VI, primarily because of a statement on www.selmer.fr in the form of, "We're kinda sorry about that Mark VII thing. We shoulda kept producing the VI."

Thanks for that link, interesting couple of paragraphs and there is possibly a couple of ways to read between those lines, another being "Sorry about those pesky Japaneses, it's all their fault"

Also interesting they mention improvements in "emission". Do they mean pollution from cleaning all those shell casings?

 

[kevgermany]

Sounds like patent Pick 'n Mix...

If people buy into this, then maybe there'll be some Mk VIs that are affordable again....

Good of you to poke fun at the cr*p, Pete.

 

[pete]

Also interesting they mention improvements in "emission". Do they mean pollution from cleaning all those shell casings?

I'm writing a bit for my blog on the Mark VI (it'll be posted eventually) and I'm going to say something about translating a website for a large corporation using Google Translate .

Also interesting is that there are two versions of US Patent 2940640. The Selmer one is (A). The other one is this one. Amusingly, it's for a fertilizer spreader.

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You're welcome, kev.

I'm currently concentrating on projects that I really want to do on my blog. I do have other stuff that I should do, like re-writing the serial number charts that saxpics.com took down. I do more work on the former, rather than the latter.

 

[pete]

Now I'm just going to knock that hornets nest over and stomp on it a few times.

So, I'm obviously doing Selmer research again -- my Selmer musings became the most popular page on my blog in about two days AND it's not even finished. I was looking through my hundreds Selmer alto pics and I discovered something: I had no pics of 1956 altos (according to Selmer's official chart, that's between s/n 63401 and 68900). Odd, I thought. I hit eBay. Of the hundreds of ads, I see only one 1956. Of course, you know who's selling it: Quinn. That guy's got too many toys.

OK. Time for Insane Troll Logic:

1. Pete never got pics of a 1956 Selmer alto in 12+ years that he was researching saxes
2. Pete gets most of his pics from eBay and dealers
3. There's only one 1956 Selmer alto for sale in all of teh Intertubes -- and it's pretty rough

CONCLUSION: The 1956 Selmer alto HAS to be the best: NOBODY wants to sell one because they play so good!!!!!111one

===============

On a semi-serious note, I did do some checking. I really could only find one 1956 alto for sale. There WAS one for sale at TenorMadness, but sale is pending.

It is mildly interesting that I don't have pics of an alto from that year, but there were only about 5,000 Mark VIs made that year. Hey, I've seen more from 1955 and 1961/2 the lowest production years (appx. 4,000).

So, if you have a 1956 alto for sale, I hope this post drives up the value of your horn. Please send me a bit of your profits.

 

[JackL]

OK. Time for Insane Troll Logic:

Oh lord, a link to the biggest time sink on the Web ... That's kinda mean.

And actually, the logic makes good sense. From a certain point of view, anyway.

(I won't presume to speak for saxophones, but I've seen the same logic apply (arguably) to guitars and various non-musical items.)

 

[pete]

Oh lord, a link to the biggest time sink on the Web ... That's kinda mean.

I'm especially fond of the Darth Wiki's "fractured Aesops" where they list what you've really learned from watching a particular TV show. It IS a great time sink, though. Hey! I can get TVTropes on my Crackberry ....