Klarinet Archive - Posting 000239.txt from 1998/05

From: "JW <VZ2@-----.COM>
Subj: [kl] Saxes, Saxes, Saxes, & Herb Couf...
Date: Wed, 6 May 1998 12:14:10 -0400

1) Interesting that Herb Couf/Keilworth topic would come up here, as
I ran into Mr. Couf about 3-4 yrs. ago at TMEA(Texas Music
Educator's Assoc., a truly HUGE annual convention in San Antonio)-
He was hanging out at the Buffet booth, & I got into an interesting
discussion w/him...turns out the Keilworth is basically the same
horn as a Couf; he changed from handling all the logistics of his
own branded horn(made in Germany, as I recall) to folding it into
the B&H world, but he claimed the horns were essentially the same.
I tried a Couf tenor in the late 70's. found it to be a fine horn,
with a darker sound than the Selmers...

BTW, found out from Mr. Couf that he played clarinet in the Detroit
Symphony(in the 1950's, I believe, also, I think he said he played
principal spot)...didn't get into details of this, just thought
it was interesting(in retrospect, would like to have found out if
he had much to do w/Larry Teal, of U of M Saxophone fame, who
supposedly, at one time or another, played sax, flute & clarinet
in the Detroit group)...all in all, Mr. Couf was a very nice man,
quite pleasant to chat with...

2) on brands of Saxes to purchase, here's my UNSOLICITED advice, worth
every penny it's costing ya, kiddo:

* Non-Selmers - skip them, unless you find something you like so
much more than anything else that you gotta have it...
Every horn out there(Selmers included) have plenty of good & bad
features, you can drive yourself nuts trying to find the one with
the _______ est sound(fill in the blank with whatever floats your
boat)

* Selmers - i've owned, at one time or another, every model of
Selmer from the Model 26(early-mid 1920's) to the current S80-II,
and here's my opinions(which, of course, many other people would
disagree with):

- Cigar Cutter/Super/Radio Improved - neat horns, some actually
play pretty well(tenors better than altos), but mechanism is
old stuff, so don't go here unless you specifically want one
of these babies.

- Balanced Action(22,xxx - 36,xxxish serial no.) - more modern
mechanism(good!), dark tone(you hear a lot of these on old
big band albums), but tuning is REALLY spotty, so i'd watch
it on these...

- Super Action(not today's S80 stuff, but a continuation of
the Balanced Action, serial approx 36,xxx-54,xxx). If you
want an older Selmer, in my opinion, these are the ones to get,
particularly the tenors...altos are nice, but still outa tune,
especially above the staff.

- Mark VI - never could stand these - honky, sometimes stuffy.
There are actually at least three different model runs of Mark VI;
1950's, which are the best, 1960's, which i dislike the most,
and 1970's, which are so-so. It's worth understanding that
when it comes to Selmers, the model in vogue tends to be about
30-40 years old, 2-3 models removed(when I started messing
with this stuff in early 1970's, the Cigar cutter was THE horn;
you couldn't give away a Mark VI). I remember buying a used Mark
VI alto for $162.50(don't ask about the price, iz another story)
around 1980 or so, before these babies really took off.

- Mark VII/S80-I/S80-II : I think these are the best horns Selmer's
yet made - very consistent sound, better tuning, decent
mechanism...I just bought a gold plated S80-II alto last year,
and it's the best damn sax I've yet played(not because of the
plating, but the design)...

If you want a good compromise of decent, cheap horn, take a
look at maybe getting a Mark VII & adding an S80-II neck; this
would give you a very good setup at a cheaper price(since Mark
VII's are out of favor). Email me privately if you decide to
go w/any of these & want more details on this stuff...
========================================================================
> Date: Tue, 05 May 1998 20:06:26
> To: klarinet@-----.org
> From: Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.Net>
> Subject: Re: [kl] Hey - All youse Sax Professors out dere...
>
> Shouryu,
>
> You asked about various brands of saxophones. I'm not a sax professor, but
> I do profess the sax - alto, tenor and baritone. I'm not going to knock any
> of the other brands, large or small, because for one thing I haven't played
> more than half of them.
>
> But by far the finest baritone that I ever played was a Keilworth, although
> it had Herby Couf's name on it. Perfect intonation, even on the top and
> bottom notes, and it blew as easy as a clarinet all the way down to Bb.
> I've also spent some time with a Couf-Keilworth alto that, even though it
> had seen its best days, had a tone so pure and clean it could make you cry.
> If I'm ever wealthy, I'm going to have a rack of Keilworths, alto, tenor
> and bari.
>
> No, no soprano. I don't care if Bechet and Coltrane did play one, I think
> they're nasty, squally things that don't do anything a clarinet can't do
> better.
>
> Lee Hickling <hickling@-----.net>

---------------------------------------------------------------------
For additional commands, e-mail: klarinet-help@-----.org
For other problems, e-mail: klarinet-owner@-----.org