Klarinet Archive - Posting 000902.txt from 1998/09

From: Mitch Bassman <mbassman@-----.com>
Subj: [kl] Jupiter saxes [was RE: [kl] The Best Clarinets]
Date: Thu, 24 Sep 1998 11:40:17 -0400

Wow! Some consistently strong opinions about the poor quality of Jupiter
(brand) saxophones:

At 06:03 PM 9/23/98 -0700, Kevin Fay wrote (regarding a Jupiter clarinet):
>Apparently, Jupiter doesn't really exist--it's a brand that is stamped on
>instruments made by a variety of companies. If the same people make that
>clarinet as make the flute, it could very well be a good horn. If it's made
>by the people who make the saxophones, on the other hand, I suppose it would
>be a good axe handle or something . . .

At 09:33 PM 9/23/1998 -0400, Bill Hausmann wrote:
>I don't know exactly where Jupiter instruments come from really, whether
>one company or more. But we ORDER them from one company, and the ones we
>get are stamped Taiwan. <snip> We don't carry the clarinets
>and saxophones, but with Selmer, Yamaha and L.A. Sax we don't see the need,
>and haven't heard really good reports anyway.

At 06:45 PM 9/23/1998 -0700, Kevin Fay (LCA) wrote:
>My wife (a middle school band director) has actually seen the keys fall off
>a Jupiter saxophone while it was being played (not abused, just
>played--during a rehearsal). Calling them shoddy is an insult to shoddy
>workmanship.

Let's see if I can offer a counterexample. (There's almost always a
counterexample for anything that is clearly qualitative.)

This past spring I borrowed a Jupiter soprano sax (model JPS 547) from a
colleague to play in a show: _Crazy for You_, Reed One Book, piccolo,
flute, clarinet, soprano sax, alto sax. At the time (the middle of May) I
had some discussions on the sax list about the borrowed instrument. And, by
the way, someone on the sax list confirmed that Jupiter saxes are made in
Taiwan.

I had never played a soprano before, so I spent some practice time before
playing it in public. Compared to my Selmer Mark VI alto, it was a real
dog. It needed adjustment (wouldn't play a decent sound below a second line
G), so I took it to my regular woodwind repairman. He did his usual magic
(actually only about ten minutes adjusting key and pad height), and it
became effortless to play all the way down to low B-flat and all the way up
to its high F#. And it played in tune! And it had a decent sound for a
student model instrument, and I never had any problems with it in the pit.
The keys didn't fall off (check the tightness of the screws), and the
intonation was fine. (Remember: much of playing in tune is listening.)

Admittedly, it still didn't have the feel of a better soprano sax. I had a
chance later that month to blow on a different person's pro model Yamaha
soprano. Compared to the Yamaha, the Jupiter felt like a toy. But a nice
toy. I actually offered the owner US$500 for it. The offer was not accepted.

Mitch Bassman
Burke, Virginia, USA

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