Hello everyone. I recently bought this SML tenor and I was wondering if anyone of you had some useful or interesting infos on this nice horn.
It has two 5-pointed stars and a "SUPER" engraving, but no number (e.g. 47, 48 or 49). The serial number is 73xx, so I assume it's a 1949 "Super". Is there a difference between a "Super" and a "Super 49" model, or are these basically the same ?
According to some serial number lists, this should be a "Rev C." (starting at serial number 7,300), but due to the engraving, I believe it's a "Super".
Before I begin to start cleaning and polishing it, I wanted to make sure I use the right stuff. I've read that all Super models are silver plated, but I'm not 100% sure if this is silver plated. Is there an easy way to determine whether it's silver or nickel plated ? If it's silver plated, I will buy some Hagerty silver polishing products; if nickel plated, I will use Unipol/Wenol metal polish.
Some interesting things I've noticed so far: The switchable articulated G# mechanism (I'm not sure if it works the way it is supposed to work) and the black (instead of white) mother of pearls. Is it possible that black pearls were still used by SML in 1949, after a shortage of white pearls during WW II ?
This saxophone hasn't been in at least a decade; possibly last played 15-20 ago. It doesn't look too shiny in this state, but for its age, it really hasn't got many dents or scratches. And the pads look and work surprisingly well !
This tenor already sounds great and I think it would totally be worth to spend some time on polishing and $$$ on small repairs and a professional adjustment/regulation :)
If people are interested, I could keep you updated and post more (better) pictures along the process.
- Marc