Selmer Mark 7 and Selmer Super Action 80 series II

Let's hear the Selmer SA 80 series ii and the Selmer Mark 7.
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[@jamesadams8022]

The VII tenor has to be experienced in person imho- coming from a VI it’s a different animal. The VII alto on the other hand is absolute beast (in a good way imo!)

[@gutomouville]

damn, this mark 7 has a great sound! I'm a happy owner of a series II, but the mark 7 sounds much more gutsy, don't get why they are so disliked.

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Mark 7s are not disliked. But wiseguys can't earn much profit from them. Why? Mark 7 is in many ways a superior instrument; you buy one, and it works well. But Mark6 allows wiseguys more continuous profit; to find 1 fabulous Mark 6, you must try at least 10 of them. That's why they are always being "sold around" way too often. That constant "re-selling" creates hype, artificially inflates the price, and even below-average Mark 6 saxophones are now offered for a hefty price.

[@lukasalihein]

I had one - it was my first horn after school rentals - so I played it for a long time, and ended up hating it once I realized some of the problems I was having were the horn and not me. It was resistant, had wide octaves, and was very bright and edgy. Of all the tenors I've owned in my life it was my least favorite. My least favorite alto was a late Mark VI, which was wildly bright and from a similar timeframe.

[@Justmakesomenoiz]

@@lukasalihein so what saxophones so you like is my question now that you established that u didn't like the Selmer.

[@lukasalihein]

@@Justmakesomenoiz I liked ref 54 tenor and 1936 balanced action tenors I've had, I've also played some early mark VI altos that were fantastic.I'm not anti-Selmer, but many modern selmers I've played have been kinda klunky, resistant, and out of tune compared to other modern horns. My mark VII was the worst in all those respects. The horn that I think I trust the most - in that every one I played felt and sounded really good - is Yanagisawa. Keilwerth and Yamaha seem really good too. I just think a lot of modern selmers (not all of them) are overpriced/underperforming horns. I'd love to try a Supreme, but guarantee I won't pay for one :)

[@leycroftcoman5487]

Keywork was disliked the acoustics were fine .

[@benhostetler268]

I think the MK7 is a better Sax than many are willing to admit because they are so in love with the mystique of the MKVI that they can’t move on because then that holy grail Sax may not be as special as they thought.

[@XavierJordanMusic]

Man I tried a Mark 7 alto and lovedddddd it. I’m probably gonna get one at some point

[@firstname8873]

A friend of mine upgraded from a MKVI to MK7 and loves it. He feels it’s a better horn.

[@michaelroach4219]

I've been playing my Mark 7 for over 40 years. I think that it's a good sax.Some people say that the Mark 4 is better than the Mark 6.Someone told me that "it's not the arrow,it's the Native American indian."

[@mironhorodi4429]

I have a Super Action 80 series II Silver Tenor for a few years, also from the 90's, and I really love it. I only wish I could play it as well as you do. You are awesome!!!

[@Sirvalorsax]

Thanks

[@richardjones990]

That Mark 7 has that drag me through the alley bold husky sound I always look for. A beautiful horn that anyone would be proud to play and own.

[@kccarl7447]

I've been blowing a VII since 1982 and still love it. Nice demonstration of the two horns. You sound great.

[@DolphScreamingSax]

I always appreciate your sincere opinion on subjects. It's the little remarks like ''now that I'm a little older . . .'' that give it that real value.🙂

[@Sirvalorsax]

Thanks

[@dalemccullough5693]

Thanks for doing this comparison. A few years back I started questioning whether my Mark 7 was as good as other Selmer's. After playing some Mark 6's , as well as other major brands, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't finding a major upgrade in these other horns. Your demo through several octaves shows this to me even better.

[@leycroftcoman5487]

Monster sound on the Mk. 7.

[@bernarddaigle2830]

I played a Mark VII tenor for nearly 10 years before switching to a SBA. Can't say I miss it, but I would be curious to try one out again after 23 years.

[@Angel.joe.]

someday.... I'm gonna be able to play like you. love your content my man 💪

[@davidwood351]

I love my Mark 7 with full engraving.

[@aaronbensi9723]

That Mark 7 is a fantastic horn. Great sounding sax.

[@SteveDew]

Those sound & look like really good examples of their respective lines. I have one of each, m7 alto which got me through college & SA80ii bari, in addition to my late 50's m6 tenor. The bari is a beast & I love it. The alto is good too but it has some low register problems that were hard for my repair guy to work through. Another thing that challenges me is how different the ergonomics are between the 6 & 7. I don't play much alto but if I started to I'd need significant practice time to readjust from being used to the 6. Good sound today. What setup are you playing on for this video?

[@zvonimirtosic6171]

Series II continues on the Balanced Action from the 1930s; focused, compact, bright, even more immediate sound than the original. It works well for the classical genre and playing in orchestras; there nobody wants that your saxophone “bleeds sound everywhere” and ruins the harmony. Mark 7 is a superior saxophone to the Mark 6. Build, consistency, tonal stability. While 1 in 10 of Mark 6 saxophones will be fabulous, nearly every Mark 7 is fabulous. That’s the undisclosed catch behind the “hype about Mark 6”; to find really good 1 of them, you must buy then sell again other 9. Wiseguys figured out they can earn big money like that, even on below average and poor specimens.

[@kennethmerritt2778]

I Have Always Loved the Selmer series 3 over the 2 and I can pick out the differences from each of them blindfolded. Also loved the Mark 7 over the 6..

[@berkeleyboathouse7426]

The series II is my current tenor. Love it. I heard that the series 3 and 2 were made at the same time, and not much difference between the two. Thanks for the review!

[@thomascohen9924]

I play a Series III and love it. Never tried a Series II. Of course, you sound great here as you always do!

[@Sirvalorsax]

Thanks

[@jjlivepattern]

… love to hear you on a good 10M and Conn ‘early Transitional’

[@SkylerinAmarillo]

I have an alto MkVII that I got new back in ‘78 or so. I played it in high school and in college in jazz band. It always played well for me. In the past few years I started playing again and figured it needed new pads after so many decades. I sent it to get an overhaul and it came back with a lot of flaws fixed that were in place since it was new. It’s amazing to me how good that horn plays now. I suspect Selmer’s build quality suffered a lot in the last half of the 70’s but their designs were still good. It was noticed when they changed to the MkVII but the late MkVI’s were just as bad straight out of the factory. Properly corrected, the MkVII is fantastic, but the stigma remains. It’s so bad that Selmer France’s web site at one time made no mention of the MkVII when listing all their models over time. I still love my horn though. Someday someone else will own it after I die and I think they will be very happy.

[@Sirvalorsax]

That happens when all the hate hype dies down

[@ruicalcada6149]

I have a series 2 alto from 2005, and it is an excellent saxophone, suitable for all musical genres. I also have a Mk 7 Tenor from 1980, which is from another galaxy, starting with the timbre, quality of the materials, it is an excellent saxophone, and for those who don't know, when the Mk 7 Tenor came out on the market, in addition to being an upgrade of a Mk6, it cost approximately 500 Euros more. Having larger keys is a matter of adaptation that lasts a maximum of 6 months. Now your big problem is the shadow of the quality of the Mk6., and the problem is that excellent is the enemy of very good, the Mk 6 is excellent (some), the Mk 7 is synonymous with very good

[@ph2738]

Back in April, I took my tenor into Wally’s Music i. Oregon City because I couldn’t figure out where it was leaking. While I was waiting, I asked if there were any tenors I should try. They got down a Super Action 80 and a Reference 36. I thought the Super Action played like a dream, and really liked how the low notes blew and sounded. The Reference 36 played real nice too, but I couldn’t hear $1500 better than the Super Action 80. So I got the Super Action 80. N397243, so manufactured 1987. My first pro horn.

[@Sirvalorsax]

Did you trade your other horn?

[@ph2738]

@@Sirvalorsax Kept it for sentimental reason and back up and travel

[@ph2738]

It is an very humble “Accent”. I think it is a Chinese brand

[@Sirvalorsax]

@@ph2738 ahhh, I wish I could have kept original alto

[@ph2738]

@@Sirvalorsax I have my original alto that I got in 6th grade. 1966?

[@Butterking99]

so glad you made this video i recently picked up a selmer usa model 164 “omega” aka the American vi its a little cheaper than all three of these horns but i’m almost certain its a mark 7 or a super action 80 in disguise just assembled in the US it was sold for a brief period in the 80’s only the early serials are the good ones in the 820,xxx - 829,xxx before they changed to a completely new student design and kept the same name but different body tube and keywork the early ones with mark 7 body tube and six style key work it was sold as selmer usa’s top professional model it sounds identical to the mark 7 from doing research online if your looking to get the same sax for half the price sir-valor it might be a great option they might be hard to find in person to test but people are now starting to figure out that there hidden gems so they went from being mistaken as a student horn around 500 bucks to being listed for 2,500 but realistically i think you could find one for 1,500 to 1,800

[@jasonharris5664]

Had no idea you were from my area. Took my first lesson at Gatusso’s from Joe Menendez almost 30 years ago!!👴🏻

[@Sirvalorsax]

Wow, I haven't seen Joe since the 1990's when I was in college

[@jasonharris5664]

@@Sirvalorsax Joe’s actually still playing! Living it up playing in several traveling cover bands down in Florida.

[@Sirvalorsax]

@@jasonharris5664 Awesome. I just moved back to Ohio from Florida

[@FerCarranza2]

MK7 wow!!!

[@mistrsax]

I think the MK VII is hands down better; fatter, cleaner sounding. I've had a MKVII alto for 40 yrs and it outplays a slew of other brands I've tried. I play a MKVI tenor that's great. However, I've always wondered about the 7 .. If I come across one, I'll probably be tempted to get it. They're not very plentiful. Thanks for your video! 👍

[@Humbardi]

What mouthpiece did you use in this comparison ?

[@davidsmusic]

I had the chance to play a series III in alto and tenor, I love the mechanic!! but I still happy with my conn shooting stars by the way there is no money to upgrade but energy to learn more! could you make a review of Conn intruments from the students series to professionals? that´s will be so good, these horns has a great sound master. Regards from chile!

[@Sirvalorsax]

I'll see if some are available. The Eastman 52 saxophones are meant to be Conn vintage inspired new horns. I've heard good things about them but I haven't played them yet....

[@davidsmusic]

@@Sirvalorsax yeah Sir!! I hope you will check them, but no joke about how good sound has the shooting stars series, of course the naked lady, wonder and something else are so cool and great series but the shooting stars to be the “beginner-middle” model has good sound. Maybe one day you should test Taiwanese horns, one time I had play a Lazer tenor horn with metal resonators, what a great sound of the instrument!

[@drope-wx5ho]

Good Job SVS

[@Sirvalorsax]

Thanks

[@C.JFletcher]

Mark 7 gets my vote.

[@willemsaxman6393]

Great video. Just wondering, why are all the big saxofonist players here on KZbin (Better Sax, MCGill, Scott Padock, Johnnie Fereirra etc etc) dont review the "The Martin" saxophone? I play this one for years and realy love it. Are they not that good ?

[@Sirvalorsax]

I had one that had a great sound but it was a mechanical disaster. To make matters worse, it got bent from being checked at the airport and that pretty much ruined was left in it. I'd love to find one in really good condition and play test it for a video.

[@howling_at_the_moon1]

MK7 Hits the spot for me , o yes. I can almost hear the rest of the Big Band waiting for there que

[@Sirvalorsax]

😆

[@JakeWerkmeisterHi8]

They're both good horns, and have more in common between them than not. I take a little issue with the size of the VII pinky keys, and prefer less surface area as I feel it makes navigating those low notes a bit easier. My large, and slightly sweaty hands would rather travel between a Mark VI low Eb to C than the larger Mark VI. That little bit of moisture slows your pinky down when it counts, and lifting the finger requires extremely precise timing as not to get a ghost note. However, the VII is a great horn. As such, the Serie II is a great horn, pretty much because it is a VII with refined key work, and just a few tonehole tweaks. They have much more in common than not. I've owned the OG Super Action 80 for years, which is still basically the same where it counts. I've come across some good VI's, but nothing that would make me want to get rid of my horn. From the VII onwards, intonation on the horns seems a bit more locked in as well.

[@Sirvalorsax]

The OG Super action 80 is one of my all-time favorite saxes.

[@JakeWerkmeisterHi8]

@@Sirvalorsax same here. It's been my weapon of choice for over 17 years. If kept in good operational condition, they're hard to beat, especially when you consider the price versus other Selmers. I did buy a Buescher 156, for 80 bucks that may give it a run for its money, once the shop is done with it.

[@marktyler3381]

I had a MK7 alto. I didn't liked the flared trousers.

[@nickychuck]

I liked the Series 2 sound the best... I already have the shirt

[@yee3545]

I saw some information about the necks of Mark VII and Series II tenors. They are shorter and higher-arched than Mark VI/Series III necks. Many players change the neck from Mark VII to VI/SIII necks. Are they really matter on playing? Do you suggest the need to change these necks?

[@Sirvalorsax]

I like to play on necks that are made for the original saxophone. The neck is a direct extension of the mouthpiece and can have a huge effect on the sound and feel of the saxophone. If you like the feel of a Yamaha but the sound of a Mark VI, switching the neck is a good idea assuming it will fit

[@TNVGAMING]

I remember back when I played my first Mark VII, I liked.the horn, but the neck threw me off. While I was playing I felt like I was holding the horn higher than normal. So I threw on my Reference 54 neck and the problem was immediately resolved. I wish I brought it home.

[@6strings5904]

I own a MK 7 from 1976 it’s ok.

[@bobblues1158]

Both great horns and I wish still had them. I too have become a better saxophonist LOL!