SML Gold Medal alto sax, silver-plated good playing order, structurally sound

SML Gold Medal silver-plated alto sax. Good playing order, structurally sound.

Original pads seal well but a little hard through lack of recent use. Silver plate almost totally intact (98% plus) throughout but tarnished on the body tube underneath the keywork - of cosmetic importance only. These saxes have a specialist following as they are every bit as good as a Selmer Mark VI of the same vintage.

The intonation is particularly good throughout the range, especially above high C. Note this is technically the Gold Medal Mark II model. This sax has seen little use and has no dents, dings or repairs at all. It has been stored unused in its original (non SML-branded) hard shell case - which is included - for about thirty years. The pads are a little "clunky" as they are not as soft as new ones but they do all seal well.

The bell tones are not quite as easy to blow as they would be if the sax was repadded, but I'm sure this will improve once the sax starts to get used regularly and the original pads begin to hydrate naturally. Because the silver plate has tarnished on the main tube where it is impossible to access for polishing without stripping the sax down to achieve this, I cannot of course describe it as being in mint condition.

I'm sure that with the silver plate cleaned and polished it would look pretty much as new. The detailed pictures clearly show the current condition, and the polished silver plate on the bell, neck and key cups show that the plate has not deteriorated beneath the natural tarnish that has developed through age.

Whilst it is a very playable sax in its current condition, it would of course benefit from a complete strip-down, cleaning, polishing and repadding. If it does not sell in the near future, I shall probably have this work done and then re-assess whether to keep it as my main instrument (currently a Selmer S80 Series III, which I also have for sale). The item "SML Gold Medal alto sax, silver-plated good playing order, structurally sound" is in sale since Monday, February 4, 2019. This item is in the category "Musical Instruments\Wind & Woodwind\Band & Orchestral\Saxophones".