 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: danny
Date: 2003-01-03 20:32
hey. does anyone know what an elkhart soprano sax is like? i play clarinet but really want to get a sax.
thanks for any help
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Author: ron b
Date: 2003-01-03 20:57
Hey. Need a little more info:)
Elkhart... what? Brand, year(ser.#), mpc, curved, straight, new, used...
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Author: Fred
Date: 2003-01-03 21:18
A little caution is due here. Many older saxes were labeled Elkhart. They were OK, but not great, players. There is now a resurgence of Elkhart saxes - many being marketed in the UK. I don't know where they are made. Many of the Chinese import sopranos are dreadfully bad - intonation is impossible to deal with. The new Elkharts may - or may not - fall into that category. So look before you leap. A bad soprano is worse than no soprano at all.
FWIW, some sopranos that currently have a good reputation are Selmers, Yamahas, and Yanagisawas. Especially the Yanagisawas - and their entry level S-901 isn't out of reach.
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Author: Mark Pinner
Date: 2003-01-04 00:36
To the best of my knowledge Elkhardt brand saxes are student model Buescher's prior to WWII. I have seen a few around, mainly tenors, and they are not bad. They are roughly on par with Pan American.
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Author: Terry Horlick
Date: 2003-01-04 16:28
I am assuming you want to have a nice modern sound when you play your soprano sax. First, you will never get that sound from an old used horn. To get a modern reedy sound will require a fairly recent horn... say 20 years old or so. Your best bet is a Yanagasawa, Selmer or maybe Yamaha. New horns are quite pricey. Often cheap import horns are quite bad, however as in clarinets they can be quite good.
I play a "Belmonte" which is a Taiwan made Selmer copy (it seems the Taiwan horns are all Selmer copies) which plays in tune and has a marveous tone. I handle it very carefully as the metal is not of the guage of a top line horn and things bend easily. Many repair techs will not work on a Taiwaneese import horn because they will not always stay stable enough to hold the repair...leaks in a sax are critical.
I got my Bb soprano for well under $400. and have not been sorry. It plays in tune better than any I have tried, it has a tone similar to the nicest Yanagasawa I have ever played. I have now gotten about three years of heavy use out of it so I feel it owes me nothing. I am still keeping a lookout for a good Selmer or Yani, but am playing in the meantime.
My recommendation is <ol><LI>Start on alto sax... it is easier to play and play well. There are parts to play in big bands and concert band where there is almost nothing for the soprano. The embochure is easier to master. There are lots of good student horns available, and tons of top quality used intermediate-pro horns available.<LI>If you have your heart set on soprano get a sax playing friend... preferably one who plays soprano... to go with you and play the horn. If the pads are bad do not assume that a re-pad will leave you a good playing horn. If it plays well for him but is a shiny import really think about wether or not you want to do your own repairs... bending keys, floating pads, adjusting corks. If it is a really nice and worthwile horn look at your friend... if he is pulling out his wallet, then that is the horn you want to get.</ol>
I have purchased two vintage" sopranos since obtaining the Belmonte, overhauled them both myself. On both I even sent them out to a sax repair tech for tweaking later and got them in top notch shape. They had passable tone for a vintage horn. One was a swap meet find, the other e-bay... in other words I couldn't play test them. I have now sold them to folks who are very happy with them, I wasn't.
One of the things which turns young folks off to playing clarinet is to have an out of adjustiment student horn which plays badly and out of tune, don't expect to progress with any sax which matches that description. Also I have never seen a sax delivered with a useable mouthpiece... expect to spend $50-$400 to get a useable mouthpiece.
IMHO Terry
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Author: William
Date: 2003-01-04 17:46
Just to add to the great advice from Terry and others, Elkhart is more noted for its brass line of instruments than its woodwinds. If you can find an old Martin sax, it would be a better choice. I had a curved soprano Martin sax that had only two palm keys--and it played better than the newer Yamaha that I traded it off for. I now play a Selmer S80, but I still miss the sound of that old curved Martin.
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Author: Gordon (NZ)
Date: 2003-01-05 03:48
If you buy an old sax it can quite easily cost more to bring it to a reliable, well-playing state, than it will be worth after the process. For a suproano the intonation is quite likely to be wild and unstable. Treat a 50 year old sax as if it were a 50 years old car. It is of little value unless it is a top model, lovingly maintained.
Yanagisawa soprano is an superbly made instrument that plays really well. However the very early ones are to be avoided!
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