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My first saxophone was a Lark alto with very worn lacquer, which was bought for me in summer 1990 for £80. The story is that people in China used to make these in exchange for a bowl of rice. I played this until May 1991, when I earned a new alto. This was a Trevor James "The Horn" costing around £830. This has served me well, and I still play it on gigs. It came with a Vandoren A35 mouthpiece, which I still use.
In March 2002 I bought my first tenor saxophone - a Keilwerth SX90R Limited 75. I settled on this one after spending an afternoon in Dawkes music shop trying their professional tenors. The Keilwerth had so much more sound than the others I tried, so I bought it, along with an Otto Link Tone Edge #6 mouthpiece. I got a JodyJazz ESP .100 for it six months later, which I thought gave me more of everything.
In August 2004 I came across a King Super 20 tenor on eBay, which I bought for a bargain $1515 (around £850) including shipping. I had to spend another £160 on a major service, and also treated it to a new case, but still broke even after selling the Keilwerth a year later. The King was an all brass early Eastlake model, built in 1968 just after the company was bought by Seeberg Corporation. The intonation of Super 20s was improved by this time, and the quality versus the earlier horns didn't change until the mid 70s, when the body tubes were imported from Japan. (Japanese body tubes are characterised by their drawn tone holes, as opposed to the silver soldered tone holes of the American tubes.)
I found the sound of the King much more mellow than the Keilwerth, yet able to deliver power and volume when asked. I think the Keilwerth is more a rock horn, while the King is better suited to jazz. I played mine with a Vandoren V16 T95 mouthpiece, which I bought in October 2004 after deciding the horn was a keeper. After extended practice sessions, I found the keywork slightly uncomfortable, although it didn't cause problems from a playing point of view. Being vintage, I needed to oil it every couple of months.
In October 2006, just over two years after buying the King, I traded it for a Selmer Mark VI. Although I had no complaints about the tone of the Super 20, I was finding the keywork a bit too uncomfortable. I decided to upgrade to a Mark VI sooner rather than later, since they weren't getting cheaper, and I wanted to play it during my continuing studies.
I kept an eye out for bargains on eBay, but wasn't willing to pay too much without having played the saxophone. Mark VIs are much more expensive than Super 20s, and I wanted to get the purchase right first time. After several months searching with no success, I went to The Woodwind Exchange in Bradford, where I tried seven original condition (not relacquered) Mark VIs, including two with desireable serial numbers (74xxx and 104xxx). From this selection, I bought a 1974 silver plated model, numbered 228xxx. I am still experimenting with mouthpieces for this. I switched from the Vandoren T95 to an Otto Link 7*, and now use a Selmer Soloist C*. I find this has improved the intonation, as well as giving it a more rounded sound. Since Soloist mouthpieces were originally supplied with the saxophone, it makes sense that they work well with it.