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CafeSaxophone Forum
I have a Selmer tenor, which I bought from the original owner in 1959. I always thought it was just a normal New Large Bore, but yesterday, was reading the Vintage Sax web site about these, and suddenly realized my instrument is a little different from the New Large Bore models. It has all the features of the slightly later Radio Improved, but not the bell stampings. The bell stampings on my horn are the same as all the New Large Bores pictured in the website. My serial number is 10390X, and is the only Selmer I have heard of with a suffix letter in the serial number.
Does anyone here have any recollection of ever seeing a Selmer with a letter suffix in the serial number? If so, what were the salient features of the instrument?
INcidentally, it is a great instrument. It plays beautifully, with a good scale, and excellent response throughout the entire range.
Does anyone here have any recollection of ever seeing a Selmer with a letter suffix in the serial number? If so, what were the salient features of the instrument?
INcidentally, it is a great instrument. It plays beautifully, with a good scale, and excellent response throughout the entire range.
22 Replies
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10104 views
R & B, Blues, Soul Recommended Blues Listening
My teacher has suggested trying to improvise over a blues progression.
For various reasons I've barely touched my saxes since, I'm after some listening recommendations to give me a little bit of inspiration.
So what should I be listening to?
For various reasons I've barely touched my saxes since, I'm after some listening recommendations to give me a little bit of inspiration.
So what should I be listening to?
37 Replies
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710 views
Beginner Saxes Arbiter pro sound... Taiwan.
just got myself a Arbiter pro sound sax, it stamped Taiwan and s/n 481296, someone said it was from about 1988 as it not stamped London... plays really well and I really like it a lot just wanting to know more about it as information seems very scarce...
43 Replies
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5553 views
I can't even suss out what the benefit might be.
It's outside the box - will give them that. 😀
Not a P. Mauriat hater - one of my backup altos is their Black Pearl and it's a really great looking horn but not really sure what they are going for here.
R&C beats them for efficiency. They are claiming Two Voices from only one bell lol...
It's outside the box - will give them that. 😀
Not a P. Mauriat hater - one of my backup altos is their Black Pearl and it's a really great looking horn but not really sure what they are going for here.
R&C beats them for efficiency. They are claiming Two Voices from only one bell lol...
15 Replies
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312 views
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I apologise in advance but rest assured the Café is not going to turn into Facebook.
As a competition maybe the photo with the most likes or funnies gets a prize. I can offer a Cebulla or B.Air neck strap, as a prize. Might think of a few more. Or else a book or DVD. Or something else.
As a competition maybe the photo with the most likes or funnies gets a prize. I can offer a Cebulla or B.Air neck strap, as a prize. Might think of a few more. Or else a book or DVD. Or something else.
346 Replies
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23389 views
Clarinet Stupid question about clarinets
Having recently fallen in love with the bass clarinet but being very naive about all things clarinet related can I ask a question to any clarineteers out there. How do I tell if a Clarinet is a German system model? I’m trying to get a case for my 1960s Kolhert and the question- is it German system or not- keeps on coming up. Any assistance on this one?
14 Replies
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2103 views
Saxophones Selmer no longer supreme!
Okay so I was saddened when I saw this video today and a little shocked but not all that surprised.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PYOU5SgysM
One of my favourite players Eric Alexander has moved to a Chinese brand saxophone. Can I blame him? No as I have done the same and most of my playing buddies have cashed out of the high end French and Japanese horns. They cannot justify the investment on return and these are gigging musicians who say it just doesn't matter!
I just booked a friend and a killer alto player for a gig this past weekend. He now sells insurance, he gave up gigging a few years ago but jumped at the offer of $400.00 for an hour wedding gig. Insurance sales are not paying the bills. He has sold off all his expensive Yamahas and now has Eastern music horns.
How many young players are on Chinese or Taiwan horns these days?
The times they are a changing - sell your VI's because the up and comers won' be lusting after them. 😎
Introducing our newest BetterSax artist, Eric Alexander!
One of my favourite players Eric Alexander has moved to a Chinese brand saxophone. Can I blame him? No as I have done the same and most of my playing buddies have cashed out of the high end French and Japanese horns. They cannot justify the investment on return and these are gigging musicians who say it just doesn't matter!
I just booked a friend and a killer alto player for a gig this past weekend. He now sells insurance, he gave up gigging a few years ago but jumped at the offer of $400.00 for an hour wedding gig. Insurance sales are not paying the bills. He has sold off all his expensive Yamahas and now has Eastern music horns.
How many young players are on Chinese or Taiwan horns these days?
The times they are a changing - sell your VI's because the up and comers won' be lusting after them. 😎
72 Replies
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1468 views
Saxophones C Melody Saxophones
I've been interested in C Melody saxes, for a while.
Apparently, they were quite common in the 1920s-30s, and the general concensus seems to be that the designs got better as time went on. Earlier models were often made in High Pitch (a tuning system that predates using A=440Hz), and should be avoided, unless you want to accompany a Highland bagpipe player.
From what little research I've done, it seems Conn made some of the better sounding ones, and their later models were improvements over the earlier ones. The ones with a "straight" neck, similar to an alto, are supposed to be good. Personally, I don't really like the S shaped neck on a tenor.
Anyway, here's one I've asked about recently. I've posted a couple of these pictures in Ads's review discussion thread of the Sakkusu C Melody sax, but here's all I have.
This is a 1924/1925 Conn C Melody, currently for sale at the Trevor Jones shop in Bristol. It's in low pitch, has had a partial repad, and is ready to play.
Bristol is a bit far for me to visit so I asked if they could send me photos, particularly of the hand positions, because the ergonomics are a bit different on these old saxes, and C melody saxes in particular.
Ermm... there seems to be a 2 file upload limit. Hopefully, that's per post
The thumb rest is apparently soldered on, so can't be adjusted easily, but the position looks good for reaching the right side trill keys (Bb/C/high E). This seems to be an issue on the Sakkusu / Thoman C Melody (see https://cafesaxophone.com/threads/sakkusu-c-melody-saxophone-review.13705/Ads's Sakkusu C Melody review[/URL])
The "L" stamped below the serial number indicates it's built for "Low" pitch - i.e. designed for modern A=440Hz tuning. I've read different accounts of what was meant by High Pitch (and maybe there was more than one definition), but the consensus seems to be it was at least A=450Hz, or A=453Hz - kind of between semitones, in modern tuning, and too far out to compensate for by positioning the mouthpiece differently etc.
It's important to check for that when buying any brass or woodwind instrument from that period. I think military bands kept it going for a while longer, in Britain. Scottish bagpipe and Irish/Scottish Bb flute players tend to still use it, as I understand it. It's certainly the normal tuning for 5 or 6 key Bb flutes.
Apparently, they were quite common in the 1920s-30s, and the general concensus seems to be that the designs got better as time went on. Earlier models were often made in High Pitch (a tuning system that predates using A=440Hz), and should be avoided, unless you want to accompany a Highland bagpipe player.
From what little research I've done, it seems Conn made some of the better sounding ones, and their later models were improvements over the earlier ones. The ones with a "straight" neck, similar to an alto, are supposed to be good. Personally, I don't really like the S shaped neck on a tenor.
Anyway, here's one I've asked about recently. I've posted a couple of these pictures in Ads's review discussion thread of the Sakkusu C Melody sax, but here's all I have.
This is a 1924/1925 Conn C Melody, currently for sale at the Trevor Jones shop in Bristol. It's in low pitch, has had a partial repad, and is ready to play.
Bristol is a bit far for me to visit so I asked if they could send me photos, particularly of the hand positions, because the ergonomics are a bit different on these old saxes, and C melody saxes in particular.
Ermm... there seems to be a 2 file upload limit. Hopefully, that's per post
The thumb rest is apparently soldered on, so can't be adjusted easily, but the position looks good for reaching the right side trill keys (Bb/C/high E). This seems to be an issue on the Sakkusu / Thoman C Melody (see https://cafesaxophone.com/threads/sakkusu-c-melody-saxophone-review.13705/Ads's Sakkusu C Melody review[/URL])
The "L" stamped below the serial number indicates it's built for "Low" pitch - i.e. designed for modern A=440Hz tuning. I've read different accounts of what was meant by High Pitch (and maybe there was more than one definition), but the consensus seems to be it was at least A=450Hz, or A=453Hz - kind of between semitones, in modern tuning, and too far out to compensate for by positioning the mouthpiece differently etc.
It's important to check for that when buying any brass or woodwind instrument from that period. I think military bands kept it going for a while longer, in Britain. Scottish bagpipe and Irish/Scottish Bb flute players tend to still use it, as I understand it. It's certainly the normal tuning for 5 or 6 key Bb flutes.
693 Replies
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76155 views
Miscellaneous Is AI taking over!
I just made this with AI today (inspired by my daughters recent wedding) and was totally mind blown... The song itself, band, singer and sax solos were just too good... There's no future for humans in music if this is just the early stages!
Walk her to forever
Walk her to forever
653 Replies
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28547 views
Saxophones Pork Tales: Saxophone Repair DIY Adventures.
Tales from a pig that likes to stick his nose into everything.
Paint that S. How difficult could it be ?
1) Search the net.
2) Find the color.
3) Order color.
4) Study task on University of YouTube, aka; For destruction by DYI presented by pro tech.
Do the cleaning & prep.
Paint and cleanup / detail the edges with hard cotton swabs. Sounds easy……
Yeah tha guy Matt makes it look easy.
Anyone remember your first experience cooking bacon crispy while still in the frying pan !
Paint that S. How difficult could it be ?
1) Search the net.
2) Find the color.
3) Order color.
4) Study task on University of YouTube, aka; For destruction by DYI presented by pro tech.
Do the cleaning & prep.
Paint and cleanup / detail the edges with hard cotton swabs. Sounds easy……
Yeah tha guy Matt makes it look easy.
Anyone remember your first experience cooking bacon crispy while still in the frying pan !
1130 Replies
·
64422 views
Cafe Moderator
Café Supporter
Miscellaneous Daily Check In
Good morning,
We thought it might be good to have a thread where you can just come and say hi, tell us what you are doing today, have a moan, share an idea that you wouldn't necessarily start a thread for ( we can always create a new thread from posts here if it became a substantial discussion).
It doesn't have to be sax related🙂
Basically an easy way to connect on a daily basis.
So to kick us off, I am writing this whilst prepping a casserole for the slo cooker as I am playing sax today with café sax and need a quick easy tea when I get home.
I am still suffering with a cough which will impact my playing today and I am worried as we are playing our first care home gig next Sunday!!
Have a lovely Sunday
Jx
We thought it might be good to have a thread where you can just come and say hi, tell us what you are doing today, have a moan, share an idea that you wouldn't necessarily start a thread for ( we can always create a new thread from posts here if it became a substantial discussion).
It doesn't have to be sax related🙂
Basically an easy way to connect on a daily basis.
So to kick us off, I am writing this whilst prepping a casserole for the slo cooker as I am playing sax today with café sax and need a quick easy tea when I get home.
I am still suffering with a cough which will impact my playing today and I am worried as we are playing our first care home gig next Sunday!!
Have a lovely Sunday
Jx
2878 Replies
·
89617 views
Misc recording Recording at Church House ATX: Progger Album 5
Happy Thursday, Cafe Saxophone! Rather than spam other threads, I thought it might be nice to start a new one for this topic since my jazz-funk-rock band just went into a great studio for the first time since before the pandemic to record our fifth album. We're all music full-timers, and between us we've worked with a variety of pretty big names (Bruno Mars, Jon Batiste, Black Pumas, Janelle Monáe, Kool and the Gang, and... yes... even Kanye). But the music I love to play and write is directly descended from the likes of Weather Report, Headhunters, Mahavishnu Orchestra, and things like that, and it's probably pretty apparent in Progger's music.
We just wrapped a few days ago and I'll attach some fun photos here of people and gear, only a little bit of which is saxophone-centric, but I'll be editing tons of audio and video in the coming months that I'll post to this thread periodically. If you're curious what we sound like (and haven't encountered any of my Progger-spam elsewhere yet), here's where our existing music can be heard.
We recorded at a fantastic studio in east Austin called Church House which, in fact, used to be a church. So the high ceilings and spacious central room made for some great drum sounds and a wonderful vibe overall. The studio has some really lusty gear, too, including a Neve "Melbourne" console, Telefunken V72 and V76 pairs, a real Fairchild, plenty of vintage Neumann, AKG, and RCA mics, and much more. Saxophone-wise, I recorded into three mics: a vintage U67 for main capture, a Coles 4038 for more distance, and my Evno clip-on for effects pedals. (My keyboards, a Yamaha YC73 and Roland FA06, went direct.) I'm playing on a Yamaha 82z tenor with a Marantz Florida double-ring, .108", and Rigotti 4M reeds.
I'm happy to answer questions to the best of my ability, so please feel free to ask if you're curious about anything!
We just wrapped a few days ago and I'll attach some fun photos here of people and gear, only a little bit of which is saxophone-centric, but I'll be editing tons of audio and video in the coming months that I'll post to this thread periodically. If you're curious what we sound like (and haven't encountered any of my Progger-spam elsewhere yet), here's where our existing music can be heard.
We recorded at a fantastic studio in east Austin called Church House which, in fact, used to be a church. So the high ceilings and spacious central room made for some great drum sounds and a wonderful vibe overall. The studio has some really lusty gear, too, including a Neve "Melbourne" console, Telefunken V72 and V76 pairs, a real Fairchild, plenty of vintage Neumann, AKG, and RCA mics, and much more. Saxophone-wise, I recorded into three mics: a vintage U67 for main capture, a Coles 4038 for more distance, and my Evno clip-on for effects pedals. (My keyboards, a Yamaha YC73 and Roland FA06, went direct.) I'm playing on a Yamaha 82z tenor with a Marantz Florida double-ring, .108", and Rigotti 4M reeds.
I'm happy to answer questions to the best of my ability, so please feel free to ask if you're curious about anything!
22 Replies
·
2061 views
Miscellaneous Motorbikes
Señor Pig,
Would like to know more about this bike/side car.
More pics?
Thanks.
Might make a side car for the kids and grandkids, for the '79 XT500, if they buy a ranch/farm in the Rockies.
Off road only.
Would like to know more about this bike/side car.
More pics?
Thanks.
Might make a side car for the kids and grandkids, for the '79 XT500, if they buy a ranch/farm in the Rockies.
Off road only.
56 Replies
·
1693 views
Miscellaneous Lichfield - local recomandations?
Hello all.
I will be traveling to Lichfield next week on a 3 day work trip.
So I was wondering whether anyone local to the area, or otherwise acquainted with it, could provide recommendations about places to eat or cozy pubs to visit?
Obviously, I could go to TripAdvisor or similar sites, but I would much prefer to hear from someone with more local connections rather than take advice from all the other tourists. 😁
Thank you for any input you can provide.
I will be traveling to Lichfield next week on a 3 day work trip.
So I was wondering whether anyone local to the area, or otherwise acquainted with it, could provide recommendations about places to eat or cozy pubs to visit?
Obviously, I could go to TripAdvisor or similar sites, but I would much prefer to hear from someone with more local connections rather than take advice from all the other tourists. 😁
Thank you for any input you can provide.
0 Replies
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48 views
Saxophones Another Beaugnier
Apologies for a lengthy absence from the Cafe, new home (with neighbours) and other commitments has restricted my playing/practising/generally making a noise somewhat.
I have been happily playing on my Martin, again many thanks to @griff136 and my local tech.
I have expressed my admiration of the Beaugnier marque on several occasions and when a Noblet came up on Ebay I couldn't resist it but several characteristics are different to research I have done into the Beaugnier models, no bent nail bell brace, angled left hand pinky keys, right hand bell keys, different C/Eb key design and different keyguards. I found the same tenor model sold by Stohrer Music some time ago identified as a Beaugnier and a similar alto tested by jazzmanted on Youtube.
It's in superb condition, plays nicely and came with a 1950's Vandoren Perfecta which works really well with the horn. Anyone else come across these.
I have been happily playing on my Martin, again many thanks to @griff136 and my local tech.
I have expressed my admiration of the Beaugnier marque on several occasions and when a Noblet came up on Ebay I couldn't resist it but several characteristics are different to research I have done into the Beaugnier models, no bent nail bell brace, angled left hand pinky keys, right hand bell keys, different C/Eb key design and different keyguards. I found the same tenor model sold by Stohrer Music some time ago identified as a Beaugnier and a similar alto tested by jazzmanted on Youtube.
It's in superb condition, plays nicely and came with a 1950's Vandoren Perfecta which works really well with the horn. Anyone else come across these.
110 Replies
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9864 views
Mouthpiece/Lig FS Mouthpieces for sale
Hello, I have two excellent mouthpieces for sale in perfect condition.
Tenor PPT - 8* - £150
Soprano Pillinger - PJ 7 (LAR) - £125
Happy to take questions
Pictures below
Tenor PPT - 8* - £150
Soprano Pillinger - PJ 7 (LAR) - £125
Happy to take questions
Pictures below
1 Replies
·
139 views
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Saxophones Pork Tales: Saxophone Repair DIY Adventures.- Started by PigSquealer
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Saxophones C Melody Saxophones- Started by Andy Hornblower
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