1954 SELMER Mark VI Alto Saxophone with “SC Neck”, very rare, 56xxx

The nowadays familiar blue “S” on the octave key on the necks of SELMER alto and tenor saxophones was introduced as early as 1953 on the first transitional SBA/Mark VI models.

However, in 1954, shortly after the market launch of the Mark VI, Henri SELMER Paris changed the design of the octave key on the neck of some saxophones. Instead of the “S” with a blue background, a squiggly “SC” was created, which stands for “SELMER & Cie”. As it is easy to confuse with two S’s, it is often referred to as a “double-S” neck.

Despite our intensive research in the SELMER archives and our own records over the last 20 years, we have unfortunately not yet been able to fully answer the question of “why” and “how much”.

We know that the “SC” neck Mark VIs were assembled between serial numbers 55400 and 56600. However, the majority of the Mark VIs in this serial number range do not have the “SC” design, but the well-known blue “S” as we still know it today.

It is clear, however, that the “SC” neck Mark VIs are highly sought-after collector’s items.

We are delighted to be able to offer this wonderful SC-Mark VI Alto!

Apart from being such a rare specimen, it plays beautifully: nice mellow sound with the focused core you would expect from an early Mark VI. The tone color is rather dark.

We got this Mark VI refurbished and have just fine-tuned it in our SAXOPHONIC wokshop.