Selmer Mark 6 v.s Selmer Mark 7

[Michael Bishop]

Hi Johnny,
Everyone speaks very highly of the Selmer Mark VI, but I don’t hear as many folks talking about the Selmer Mark VII; why is that? Is the Mark VI simply a better Sax than the Mark VII? The one thing I’ve heard said of the Mark VII is that most players who tried it didn’t feel as comfortable on the VII and they did on the Selmer Mark VI, that the Mark VII was better suited to players with bigger hands–how much truth is there to this?

[john]

I own a 6 and 7
Overall the 6 is a better horn
It feels perfect for me
The 7 has a slightly bigger setup on the low right hand cluster
That is those notes we play with the pinky: low b flat, b etc
So maybe someone with big hands would prefer this but I don’t
The 7 does actually sound a bit better than the 6 tho
I could do any type of gig or playing with either one happily
But the 6 commands a higher value
If you compared the 2 and the low cluster of the 7 didn’t bother you then you’d be lucky and get a horn that is just as good as the 6 if not better in tone for a much lower price

[Michael Bishop]

Even with the Selmer Mark 6, I’ve read in some posts where they’re not all created equal in the sense of the Serial Numbers. Check out these guys below with a shop called “Tenor Madness” at http://www.tenormadness.com They have a couple of Selmer Mark 6 Saxophones that are listed at almost $13,000 (that’s unbelievable) and they have others that drop down to $5,000. I would also imagine that the older these Saxophones get then the more expensive they will become–but also harder to maintain too. No, I’m not planning on getting one as my wife would never agree to me popping out that much $ on a Sax LOL Not going to deny I would love to have one 🙂 Most folks online are saying newer horns are better investments for a variety of reasons. Check out this article I copied/pasted from the website “Best Saxophone Website Ever” in a blind Test of the Selmer Mark 6 v.s. the Trevor James Signature Custom Tenor that the folks with Massullo Music had with them at the 2015 NAMM convention. I put the link at the bottom of the article that includes all products they tested…Nadir Mouthpieces were there and they got to test their MPs, pretty cool 🙂

“Another horn that I was able to try this year was the Trevor James Signature Custom RAW XS tenor. The finish of the RAW XS compared to the RAW has quite a bit more hand polishing which gets it down to the raw brass, and in my opinion resonates a bit more than the RAW, although they are both great models.

I had tried these saxophones at the Bari booth last year but had a chance this year to test play the various Trevor James Signature Custom Finishes at the Trevor James Booth. I thought Trevor James had a great idea in which they brought a fully-overhauled Selmer Mark VI tenor and told players to test the Mark VI against one of their Signature Custom models to see which one they preferred. I took the challenge and compared a Trevor James Signature Custom Raw XS with a 6 digit Selmer Mark VI tenor.

I found that both horns played great and felt comfortable in my hands, but from an intonation, even scale, and overall tone standpoint, I actually found the Trevor James Signature Custom Raw XS to be the better horn.

Each horn is built in a pro sax shop in Lenham (UK). The model Trevor James I was test playing also had a new “vintage” neck which I found to have resistance not unlike that of the Selmer Mark VI I test played. I thought this neck really made the Trevor James Signature Custom Raw XS model very Mark VI-like, but with modern keywork and better intonation. I was overall very impressed with the Trevor James Signature Custom RAW XS tenor and can see why they have been so popular overseas. So it’s good to see that they are now gaining traction in the United States”.

http://www.bestsaxophonewebsiteever.com/namm-2015-saxophone-roundup-2/

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