King 606 Serial #

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Basie1955
Posts: 91
Joined: May 15, 2018

by Basie1955 »

Hey All,

Saw this 606 on eBay saying it’s from the 50’s

Serial # 283837

Not sure when the 606 debuted but is the seller

using the old King serials?

(I may be looking for a 606 bell for a 3B slide)

https://www.ebay.com/itm/363086493578

Thanks,

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BGuttman
Posts: 7368
Joined: Mar 22, 2018

by BGuttman »

King hit 999999 some time in the 1990s (I think) and started again at 100000.

Note that in the 1950s, the student horn was American Standard and there was Cleveland and Gladiator. 606 came MUCH later.
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Basie1955
Posts: 91
Joined: May 15, 2018

by Basie1955 »

Thanks! That’s what I guessed. It’s got the newer counterweight too.

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Crazy4Tbone86
Posts: 1654
Joined: Jan 14, 2020

by Crazy4Tbone86 »

That style of case and mouthpiece blank was not issued until the early 2000s. The horn is also from the early 2000s.

I remember when those new cases started coming through the shop. I sang a song of joy because the King 606 cases from the 1990s always had dents in the corners and we had to remove the case dents by using a heat gun. Of course these new cases had their issues as well.
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Basie1955
Posts: 91
Joined: May 15, 2018

by Basie1955 »

Do you know what the differences in fabrication

were between the 606 and the 3B bell?

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Klimchak
Posts: 398
Joined: Mar 24, 2018

by Klimchak »

The 606 has a longer bell stem to accommodate the overal bell section length due to the narrower tuning slide dimension. It sets the tuning slide further back to help in balance I believe. I am not positive, but the bell throats look very similar, so perhaps the same mandril used. It is a two-piece bell similar to the 3B.
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pompatus
Posts: 434
Joined: Mar 23, 2018

by pompatus »

[quote="Basie1955"](I may be looking for a 606 bell for a 3B slide)

Thanks,

B-[/quote]

I’ve got a 606 bell I’d sell fairly cheap, if you don’t come across anything else. I’ll try to take a few photos when I’m in the office tomorrow. Feel free to remind me at the email address listed in my profile, if you think you might be interested.
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Kingfan
Posts: 1371
Joined: Apr 11, 2018

by Kingfan »

The Conn-Selmer website shows they made #999,999 in the King line in 1985 or 1986 then started over with 100,000, going up to 159,464 at the end of 1986. I can't find any info newer than that. I contacted the seller last night who said he went by the serial number lists showing it to be from the 50s but said he thought it was much newer. He hasn't changed the listing yet, though...