Klarinet Archive - Posting 000231.txt from 1998/09

From: "Sheryl L. Katz" <slkatz@-----.com>
Subj: Re: Re: [kl] C-straight soprano sax
Date: Mon, 7 Sep 1998 16:37:13 -0400

>In a message dated 9/7/98 2:04:07 PM, Ed wrote:
>
><<As a
>practical musical instrument, it [a C soprano sax] has essentially no
value,
>primarily
>because there is no music written for it.>>

C Field replied:
>
>A friend plays C soprano sax with organ accompaniment at church directly
from
>hymnals. Of course, the hymnal doesn't specify "C soprano sax."
>
>Cindy
>
>-------------------------------------------------------------------------
C Melody Saxes are in fact Tenor Saxes in the Key of C (rather than Bb).
There are also C Soprano saxes out there from the same era.

I'd hardly say that either of these have no value, musical or monetary. On
the contrary, through music dealers restored C Melody Saxes sell in the
$550-800 range and you can still find a good one restored from a private
party for $250-350 if you are lucky. But they are actually increasing in
value.

A straight C soprano sax is a little rarer than a C Melody (but neither is
particularly rare). Older soprano saxes are known for having poor
intonation, and it sounds like the sax is going to need restoration - which
costs $400-650 unless you do it yourself. I've seen restored Conn C
sopranos go for as much as $800 on Ebay, but I wouldn't pay more than $250
for any sax in non restored condition. I guess I'd say somewhere between
$150-250 is a fair price.

C instruments are good for improvising, folk music or playing vocal charts.
They are gaining in popularity because of the large numbers of people
participating in playing church music. I find C instruments to be fun for
folk music, playing vocal charts, and playing parts written for flute or
oboe without needing to transpose. I have also grown to like the sound of
the C melody sax on its own - somewhere in between an alto and a tenor. If
I liked soprano sax (and I don't) I'd think a C soprano would be something
nice to have. (The problem with soprano sax is that the smaller the
mouthpiece the less expressive the sounds of the sax - soprano sax IMHO
suffers from all of the bad characteristics of a sax with few of the good
ones - if I want to play a soprano part I'd rather play the clarinet).

Oh, and LA Sax sells both tenor and alto straight saxes. I've seen both,
they're pretty nice actually.

Sherry Katz

-------------------------------------------------------------------------