I'm starting to think they do this on purpose. So, I was cruisin' eBay and downloading pics.

Only about 250 of these were made in Paris. The sole tenor in the lineup was a limited edition Reference 54, also in honey gold lacquer and black pearls, with no high F#. Only about 150 of these were manufactured. The final model in the Bird series was the Dragonbird, debuting in 2011.

I came across a very nice looking Reference 54 Kookaburra, one of the limited edition horns made as a tribute to Charlie 'Bird' Parker. You can plainly see the serial number: 596982. Let me check the Wait a sec. 596982 = 2001. I'm pretty sure that the Kookaburra came out in '06. I re-checked the website (which is mainly Flash, so I can't link to it). OK, let's check the for serials.

Only goes up to 1992, s/n 490000. Wait a second.

The serial number chart on for 1992 says 486000. In other words, the French and US serial number charts don't match. It's just one year and 4000 horns, but still. Heck, that's what, 6 to 10 years or more of SML sax production? Here's the second thing.

This Kookaburra, limited edition, painstakingly crafted, hand-made showpiece of Selmer that they only made a couple hundred of (total), has the wrong serial number stamped. It probably should be 696982. Scroll down on a bit to see the justification for the 696xxx number. If you don't think this is a big deal, let's just change the horn mentioned: Some Guy: I've got a Selmer Mark VI Eb alto I inherited from my father, s/n 233976. I don't know anything about saxophones, but these are selling for $1.8 million on eBay. Music Shop: Dude. That's not a Mark VI serial number.

SG: I don't believe you. MS: Here's the serial number chart. Read it and weep. You just have one of 'em. Tell ya what. I'll give you $150 for it. In 50 years, you might be substituting 'Kookaburra Reference 54' in that conversation.

New to the site and have a question. I'm a intermediate sax player and i'm looking to buy a used selmer reference 54 horn. Does anyone have any information on serial numbers and how to check them?

Belajar membaca anak. The horn i'm interested in purchasing is not located in the USA and has a serial number of 11220135. It is a 2009 model.

Is there a way to check this out to make sure it is ligitimately a Selmer horn and not a replicated version? Any help would be appreciated. If you have any reason not to trust the seller, don't buy the horn. With a reputable seller, even with an overseas purchase you should have no doubt that a sax advertised as a Ref. 54 really is a Ref.