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Saxophones Bauhaus Walstein Silver Pplated Alto

Martin

Well-Known Member
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210
Locality
Grenada, West Indies
I’ve seen plenty of correspondence about the BW bronze horns, but I’m currently very tempted to go all the way and splash out on their top of the range silver plated alto. Has anyone played one? Any comments? I’ve seen Mr PT playing ‘Old Time Blues Take 1’ on you tube and I love the tone, however, I suspect Pete could get a fantastic sound out of anything.

All comments welcome.

Cheers, Martin
 
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I’ve seen plenty of correspondence about the BW bronze horns, but I’m currently very tempted to go all the way and splash out on their top of the range silver plated alto. Has anyone played one? Any comments? I’ve seen Mr PT playing ‘Old Time Blues Take 1’ on you tube and I love the tone, however, I suspect Pete could get a fantastic sound out of anything.


Rogerb here has a very similar one. Not silver, but it's the same or very similar model I believe.
 
Yes, mine is very similar...I bought it on Pete's recommendation.
(Pictures have been posted previously)
They are really well put-together as Stephen H has said ...have you seen his review of the silver-plated one? He also set mine up and was complimentary about the workmanship, as was Alastair Hanson, a competitor of BW and a friend of mine!
AH went over it in minute detail, looking for something to criticise...the only thing was that the LH pinky cluster had a tiny amount of 'play'.

What can I tell you? If Pete likes it, it's likely to be good!
It has a warm tone, but can honk in the right hands, I think (not mine!).
My teacher sounds really good on it, and I love it :)
Pete could probably tell you whether the silver one was different to play.

It bears comparison with 'name' horns 2x to 3x the price, IMO.
Mine is copper, not silver-plated, but otherwise nearly identical, I think.
(I am not sure if the Silver one has rolled tone-holes? I think maybe not)
Pics again:
http://tinyurl.com/dbsbgj
http://tinyurl.com/dlflry
http://tinyurl.com/clbrvs
http://tinyurl.com/b4f72r
http://tinyurl.com/bnkttz
 
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Yes, I had just referred to Alastair....I showed it to him, not to wind him up, but because I thought he'd like a close look at 'the competition'....and he took it in that spirit...cos he's a nice fella!
 
They are really well put-together as Stephen H has said ...have you seen his review of the silver-plated one?

No I haven't seen that review, but I'm going to look it up now. I saw a reveiw of the bronze model and it was very complimentary.

Unfortunately, I've just discovered Woodwind and Brass don't have them in stock at the moment.

Martin
 
It's here:
http://www.shwoodwind.co.uk/Reviews/Saxes/Alto/bauhaus_alto.htm
The summary is interesting:
"....I tried this horn up against the ubiquitous Yamaha 62, and it withstood the comparison with honours - and that's a horn more than capable of seeing off horns well into the £2000 bracket.
Without knowing the price of this horn beforehand I'd have placed it around that mark - which effectively means it squares up to the likes of the Yanagisawa 992, the Yamaha Customs and, dare I say it, the Selmer SA80 III.
Rather more crucially it goes head-to-head with all the other 'super Taiwanese' horns, such as Mauriat etc....and for substantially less cash."
 
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Thanks for the link, Roger...extremely interesting reading.
I read through a few of his other reviews, and I've got to admit that because the Bauhaus is not currently available, I'm tempted to buy a Yamaha YAS62. You see I've got a time limit...a friend is coming out to Grenada in a few weeks and could carry a sax in for me (thus avoiding 50% import tax)...the reviewer seems to love his YAS62.
So my next question for anyone who cares to answer...opinions on the Yamaha YAS62?

Martin
 
I don't think you'll hear many bad words said about the YAS-62....IMO, it's quite a lot brighter than the BW, and quite a bit more expensive, but it will keep its value better, should you choose to re-sell it, and of course Yamaha parts are widely available.

I don't intend to part with my unique Taiwanese beauty :)

Good luck with your buying.
 
I did a lot of reading before buying a sax. Never saw anything bad about the Yamaha 62s. Only good. Including one guy who'd bought on of the very early models from new. Seems there are a few variants - blue label being the oldest. There are some differences on the model II, best read up on it and check what you're getting.
 
Is rolled tone holes standard on the Bauhaus?

Best, Jim
P.S. Horns do not get much prettier than that....
 
I did a lot of reading before buying a sax. Never saw anything bad about the Yamaha 62s. Only good. Including one guy who'd bought on of the very early models from new. Seems there are a few variants - blue label being the oldest. There are some differences on the model II, best read up on it and check what you're getting.

Thanks for the tip. Yes, it seems that the 62 II is not as well liked as the original 62. I'm checking to see if I can find a good second hand original YAS 62.

Cheers,
Martin
 
Is rolled tone holes standard on the Bauhaus?

Best, Jim
P.S. Horns do not get much prettier than that....

Thanks, Jim, it is a beauty...plays nicely, too, in the right hands!!

No, mine is the only BW I know-of with RTHs .... as I said it is a 'prototype' and I think they tried various things...the copper finish, M.O.P key-touches, 'roo pads & ceramic resonators, and the RTHs, many of which are on the SP model.
I am told it had a coupla small faults when it arrived, and got 'put in a cupboard', until Pete discovered it and Stephen fixed it :)
I think Pete would confirm it plays much like the silver-plate model.
I was told it is copper-plated brass, although it's hard to see why they'd do that!
 
Hi,
I went to woodwind & brass and tried the BWs and liked the phosphur bronze very much & liked the silver plated even more - a smooth silky sound with all the keys in the right place. Very nice horns for the price.

Emma
 
I think Stephen Howard was correct in saying the G# key is a tad short. I particularly like the octave key on mine...it has a little roller on the edge which makes its operation very slick.....the SP doesn't have that, IIRC.
Stephen also described the sound in rather the same terms...I think he said 'creamy'...(but well able to step-up a gear or two when necessary!)

(And I got mine at a 'pre-increase' price :D )
 
Thanks, Jim, it is a beauty...plays nicely, too, in the right hands!!

No, mine is the only BW I know-of with RTHs .... as I said it is a 'prototype' and I think they tried various things...the copper finish, M.O.P key-touches, 'roo pads & ceramic resonators, and the RTHs, many of which are on the SP model.
I am told it had a coupla small faults when it arrived, and got 'put in a cupboard', until Pete discovered it and Stephen fixed it :)
I think Pete would confirm it plays much like the silver-plate model.
I was told it is copper-plated brass, although it's hard to see why they'd do that!

It is a work of art for sure.

I have the low A ordered for months. Looking forward to it's arrival. I have an older Bundy that appears to be high copper content in the brass and I like it. Set up correctly the bundy are not so bad. I overhauled a '23 conn alto with RTHs and I have to tell you..... it is an awesome feature. I did the work almost 15 years ago and it has had no pads replaced yet.....used reso with the metal ring in the outer edge.
 
I think Pete would confirm it plays much like the silver-plate model.
I was told it is copper-plated brass, although it's hard to see why they'd do that!

I can certainly confirm it plays like the silver one.

I couldn't tell whether it was copper plate. I thought the keys was gold plate but it turns out it is just a nice gold lacquer.
 
I wasn't expecting a metallurgical report, Pete ;) ....it's just you are probably the only (English-speaking!) person who has played both :)
 
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