Klarinet Archive - Posting 000243.txt from 1994/02

From: Cary Karp <nrm-karp@-----.SE>
Subj: Re: Clarinet and soprano saxophone? (no problem - go for it!)
Date: Fri, 18 Feb 1994 08:07:17 -0500

On Thu, 17 Feb 1994, Michael B. Favreau wrote:

> I don't know who out there is aware of the status of the Selmer
> Super Action 80 soprano but, here in the United States it is brand spanking
> new. If you could order one (which is difficult in itself) you would have to
> wait months to get it as the waiting list is already longer than Selmer
> anticipated and if anybody has actually gotten to try one (that didn't belong
> to a Selmer clinician as some of them now have one) than I'd be interested to
> hear how they play.

The SA80 Series II soprano has been available in Europe for a couple of
years. The Series III -- the one with the high G and the detachable necks
-- is brand new and very difficult to obtain here, as well. I'm at
present the only person in Sweden who owns one, having traded in my
Series II the moment I had the chance. The dealer asked to borrow my
unique possession back for the model's "public debut" this coming Monday,
but was apparently able to prevail upon the factory to send up another one.

I'm pretty new to the saxophone, so I'm not sure that my description of
the Series III's characteristics is worth all that much. One way or the
other, I was never able to make either myself or anyone around me
particularly happy when I played a soprano until I started using the new
horn. With reasonably little practice I've been able to turn the tables,
and can even get the thing to work just fine all the way up to the G,
never previously having been able to go above E on the Series II or
anything else. I'm not sure that I'm handling it exclusively as a
clarinetist would, but rather that my years spent in the oboe camp are
now paying off on a single reed instrument.