In 1985 Henkin sold his companies to the Swedish investment firm Skåne Gripen, who placed them under the new parent company 'United Musical Instruments' (UMI). King emerged from the 1979 bankruptcy of Seeburg under the ownership of Seeburg's creditors.

During that same period, the Zephyr was sold as a student-line instrument. Through the mid-1950s into the 60s, the imperative of cutting costs grew and features were dropped to simplify manufacture. However, new competition from Selmer (Paris), aided by the exchange rate between the French Franc and the US Dollar in the postwar era, put price pressure on the American manufacturers and H.

The visually and aurally striking horn was one of the most desired ever. White's achievements as a saxophone manufacturer. With improved left hand cluster mechanisms introduced around 1949, the Super 20 represented the zenith of H. The Zephyr Special was rebranded the Super 20 in 1945, with a changed lever mechanism for the neck octave key. Several famous musicians were featured playing King instruments, including Tommy Dorsey, Charlie Parker, and Harry James. The King line's run of success continued after World War II, with highly desired lines of woodwind and brass instruments. Sterling silver necks and bells became available. In 1937 the Zephyr gained a double-socket neck that eliminated the large collar on the body tube at the neck joint and the Zephyr Special was introduced as a deluxe version with a changed bore, improved keytouches for the left hand table, and mother of pearl inlay on all keytouches. White's position as a leading manufacturer of saxophones was firmly established. With improvements to saxophone design embodied by the King Zephyr in 1935, H. The King Saxello was a soprano saxophone with a downward curve near the mouthpiece and a bell curved 90 degrees from the body, for optimal playing position and acoustic qualities.

Brazing was also a relatively high cost process. King saxophones had brazed-on tonehole chimneys, which have significant advantages over both the soldered-on and drawn types used by other manufacturers. Conn, and Martin during the interwar years. White became a major player in the saxophone market dominated by Buescher, C.G.

King tempo 600 trumpet serial numbers