Klarinet Archive - Posting 000397.txt from 2005/06

From: Bill Hausmann <bhausmann1@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] OT (sax) question
Date: Tue, 21 Jun 2005 23:38:06 -0400

At 10:15 AM 6/21/2005 -0500, Gary Smith wrote:
>... I appreciate Bill
>letting me know that my Indiana was not considered QUITE at the bottom
>of the heap, as I've heard the Indiana called a "student line" and
>just had to assume for all these years that student horns must just
>not be what they used to be.*
>*not that I imagine Bill would argue with that one, either.

Nope. No argument, at least as regards US-made saxes. The Yamahas are
still OK, but avoid Selmer's Elkhart products. Their Taiwanese import
AS-600 is not bad, though. And Jupiters (also Taiwan imports) are
excellent. And Cannonballs (Taiwan again -- notice a trend here?).

>I think the whole idea of "student horns" vs. "pro horns," while based
>on the reality that obviously some horns are better than others, is
>about 80% marketing gimmick. Plenty of pros and serious amateurs use
>so-called "student horns" for certain situations, and with the right
>setup and a little PRACTICE you can play them in tune. If you can't,
>they're not a "student horn," they're a BAD horn that no student
>should have to suffer with. I have the Noblet 40 I started out with,
>and while I would hate to use it on recitals, it does just fine when I
>get stuck doing an outdoor concert with a band or orchestra.

Mostly "student" equates to "cheap." They lack features that higher-priced
horns have, like high F-sharp keys (although they have largely filtered
down to student level) and there are materials differences (wood vs.
plastic in clarinets, or quality of wood and/or finishing, different alloys
on saxes, one-piece vs. two-piece bells on brasses, etc.). On some models
like the Martin Indiana, Buescher Aristocrat, and King Zephyr saxes, when
the new models came out to supersede them, the old models were kept in the
line but simply downgraded to intermediate or student status. Those can be
some of the better deals, although often later examples are cheapened too
far (The formerly pro-level Buescher Aristocrat saxes of the 1930's and
40's became solid intermediates in the 50's but descended further to become
the Bundys/Buescher 200s of the 1960's and 70's).

>I'm aware that my Martin has shortcomings compared with the top-line
>horns, either past or present, but it plays well enough that my
>teacher (who owns a recent vintage Selmer S80) played it and really,
>REALLY liked it (and I've gotten pretty good at telling when people
>are just being polite).

They really do sound great!

Bill Hausmann

If you have to mic a saxophone, the rest of the band is TOO LOUD!

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