The Soundboard

[jeevesax]

I'm trying to decipher if it's just a fluke or if I really need to get a new neck for my Mark VI...

Long, long ago, in a time before I played saxophone, my father was practicing for his senior recital for college. When changing a reed, his dog came bounding into the room, jumped across his lap, hit his arm and in turn bent the neck of his Mark VI. He had the neck repaired, and the horn still plays today. He passed me the horn when I started playing, but didn't tell me any of this until recently. Don't get me wrong, I love my VI, and it plays wonderfully, with typical intonation for a VI...

I tried a buddy of mine's Mk VI neck on my horn, (for spits and gargles, lol) and my horn felt/sounded/responded completely differently. I only played on it for a few minutes, but could definitely feel a difference, and my friend heard a slight difference in my tone, but I didn't play long enough to decide if it was a good or a bad change. At the same time, I think I liked what I felt.

Now, on to my question(s)-
Should I get a new neck for my horn, or try and get my original one tweaked to perfection?
Where should I look for a neck for my horn?
What necks are compatible with my horn?
I've seen people using Serie III necks on MK VI's, and getting good sounds- What has to occur to make different necks fit?
Why shouldn't I change my neck?

If anyone has had a similar experience or bought an aftermarket neck, and had other questions that I didn't ask, please, let me know.


Jeevesax

[jschuth]

The Mark Vi has a unique design and profile. Selmer actually attempted to recreate this design for the Reference Tenor. I hear they did a nice job....but I won't give up my 65k VI.
It's part of what makes a Mark VI a VI.
You may need to have the neck reshaped and trued. Make sure you take it to a top notch repair shop. A hack will really mess up your neck if they don't know what their doing.

My $0.02

Good luck