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I acquired a baritone at the end of last year.
Initially, I tried my Jazzlab sax holder with it. However, the weight of the bari tends to pull to the right, especially when seated and playing and ultimately it did not feel secure.
I ordered a standard (possibly BG, possibly not!) harness from sax.co.uk. When I tried it, there was just too much weight and it wasn't comfortable. I rang them up and had a long chat and we came up with the 'sax stick', which is a bit like a monopod for holding a bari. The main issue is you need separate ones for playing standing or sitting. I went for the standing one.
On the plus side, it does the job, but it is awkward to use. I wear the sax holder with it just in case I accidentally let go of the sax as it would crash to the ground... Also, there is no getting away from it being awkward to put down when you stop playing.
I had a chat with our resident bari player @MandyH who recommended the 'Freeneck' harness from Thomann in Germany. I procrastinated as it's €129 or nowadays around £118. After the challenges of playing bari at summer school last week, I bit the bullet and ordered it from Thomann on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday morning.
This is version 8.1K which is aimed at bari saxes and bass clarinets - careful to order the correct one as they do ones for bassoons etc as well.
Mine I think is different in how it works to Mandy's. It consists of a waist strap (like a rucksack). Two adjustable rods are attached to the waist strap at the back. On earlier versions, the rods went into a pocket, this is now different. The rods are in sections and you can remove sections to adjust the length to suit your back length. The bottom rods are threaded and adjustable. It's a minor faff to set-up and some diagrams or a web site link with a video wouldn't hurt, but all you have is a text description.
The rods are behind you and come up to just above your shoulders. There is a webbing strap which links everything together and there is a 'wide' bar (similar to Cebulla straps) holding the adjustable carabiner type hook.
When you attach the bari, the rods come forward a little and down, but should not touch your shoulders or neck. All the weight is transferred down the rods at the back and into the belt which is sitting your hips.
I've just tried it and although it probably needs some more minor adjustments, it seems to work well. There is zero weight on neck and shoulders. It is secure, you can let go of the bari and not worry that the bari is going to come away. I have not tried it, but if you needed to wear a jacket for a concert, it wouldn't get in the way.
Initially, I tried my Jazzlab sax holder with it. However, the weight of the bari tends to pull to the right, especially when seated and playing and ultimately it did not feel secure.
I ordered a standard (possibly BG, possibly not!) harness from sax.co.uk. When I tried it, there was just too much weight and it wasn't comfortable. I rang them up and had a long chat and we came up with the 'sax stick', which is a bit like a monopod for holding a bari. The main issue is you need separate ones for playing standing or sitting. I went for the standing one.
On the plus side, it does the job, but it is awkward to use. I wear the sax holder with it just in case I accidentally let go of the sax as it would crash to the ground... Also, there is no getting away from it being awkward to put down when you stop playing.
I had a chat with our resident bari player @MandyH who recommended the 'Freeneck' harness from Thomann in Germany. I procrastinated as it's €129 or nowadays around £118. After the challenges of playing bari at summer school last week, I bit the bullet and ordered it from Thomann on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday morning.
This is version 8.1K which is aimed at bari saxes and bass clarinets - careful to order the correct one as they do ones for bassoons etc as well.
Mine I think is different in how it works to Mandy's. It consists of a waist strap (like a rucksack). Two adjustable rods are attached to the waist strap at the back. On earlier versions, the rods went into a pocket, this is now different. The rods are in sections and you can remove sections to adjust the length to suit your back length. The bottom rods are threaded and adjustable. It's a minor faff to set-up and some diagrams or a web site link with a video wouldn't hurt, but all you have is a text description.
The rods are behind you and come up to just above your shoulders. There is a webbing strap which links everything together and there is a 'wide' bar (similar to Cebulla straps) holding the adjustable carabiner type hook.
When you attach the bari, the rods come forward a little and down, but should not touch your shoulders or neck. All the weight is transferred down the rods at the back and into the belt which is sitting your hips.
I've just tried it and although it probably needs some more minor adjustments, it seems to work well. There is zero weight on neck and shoulders. It is secure, you can let go of the bari and not worry that the bari is going to come away. I have not tried it, but if you needed to wear a jacket for a concert, it wouldn't get in the way.
