Saxophones Cannonball Gerald Albright Alto

[Saxdiva]

I went to sax.co.uk in Crowborough today.

I decided I wanted to sell my Yani A992 in favour of something with a little more edge - as a contrast to the MKVI which I love to play ballads and smooth jazz on.

I thought the likely contenders were Selmer series III, YAS82Z both in silver.

Anyway, after explaining what I was looking for and getting some advice from Jules & Scott, I tried the series III in silver and the dragon bird special. Both lovely, but not really doing it with either of my mouthpieces.

I then tried a Keilwerth Shadow. Wow. Lovely horn. Fantastic tone and large key touches making it great to play. That was going to take some beating and a great contrast to the VI.

Then I tried the Cannonball. What another great sax. It was between the two, close but the Cannonball had the edge.

After going back and forward and being pretty sure the Cannonball was the one, I got Scott to play both for me so I could hear it.

So now I have a Cannonball. I can confirm what Stephen Howard says in his review. Brilliantly put together, very beautiful (sorry, a bit girlie) and with a great sound played softly and amazing projection when pushed a little.

So, off to sax.co.uk in London tomorrow so they can sell my A992 for me. I can't afford both!

 

[kevgermany]

Interesting. Good to hear this after the negatives previously about their marketing! Hope you enjoy it!

 

[Little My]

Enjoy your new Cannonball! I loved reading about when you bought your MkvI and I loved this post too, such a great mix of measured decision-making and sheer enthusiasm Have fun!

 

[dooce]

Congrats. Gorgeous instrument, always fancied one to complement my old CB Raven tenor.

 

[jazzdoh]

Congrats on your new horn,tried one of these about 5 years ago at the music live show,was impressed,interesting how come sax.co.uk had a Cannonball,was it new or secondhand?

 

[Saxdiva]

Congrats on your new horn,tried one of these about 5 years ago at the music live show,was impressed,interesting how come sax.co.uk had a Cannonball,was it new or secondhand?

It's new. Crowborough only have new but there may be some used ones in the London store. As has been discussed on here before (at great length as I recall) Cannonball do not allow retailers to mention their saxes online so you won't see them on the website. You have to actually visit the shop to know they're there.

The most amazing thing in Crowborough at the moment is a contrabass saxophone. It's so huge it's on a wind-up stand so you can adjust the mouthpiece to your height and the pads are the size of saucers! I blew a low Bb on it (after a couple of attempts) and my husband said he felt the soundwaves! A snip at just short of £21k if anyone is thinking of adding to their collection......

 

[Ads]

Cannonball do not allow retailers to mention their saxes online so you won't see them on the website. You have to actually visit the shop to know they're there.

I`m amazed they are still holding on to this policy which is so far beyond ludicrous its unreal - it`s one thing not allowing mail order sales of their horns (for very good reasons, their rep relies on well setup horns) but not allowing a shop to list them online to show they`ve got them (and how they look, Prices etc) is mindblowingly silly IMO ..

 

[Saxdiva]

Enjoy your new Cannonball! I loved reading about when you bought your MkvI and I loved this post too, such a great mix of measured decision-making and sheer enthusiasm Have fun!

Thank you! I do get a bit excited around saxophones. I do try to be sensible and always try before buying, but then I'm lucky to have a great choice virtually on the doorstep. As my playing (slowly) improves it's much easier to make the right judgement call on what I want and what works for me in action and general feel.

With weather problems and longer hours at work my lessons have been suffering. To catch up I have one tomorrow night and another on Tuesday afternoon as I have a day off. I'm lucky I don't have to decide which horn to take as I can take one one day and the other on the next.

I'm popping in to see the renowned repairer and restorer of vintage horns, Rupert Noble, on Tuesday morning. It's lucky I still have the Yani A992 and not money as I didn't have time to go to London today. Rupert has a shop load of vintage horns and mouthpieces and money in that situation would be very dangerous....

 

[Saxdiva]

I`m amazed they are still holding on to this policy which is so far beyond ludicrous its unreal - it`s one thing not allowing mail order sales of their horns (for very good reasons, their rep relies on well setup horns) but not allowing a shop to list them online to show they`ve got them (and how they look, Prices etc) is mindblowingly silly IMO ..

Yes, you are at one with the Prof on that. I rather like the approach. They aren't chasing sales and want to stay a reasonable size. I can totally see your point though. You can ring the shops and ask of course.

 

[Ads]

The issue is that you`ve got to "Guess" who maybe a Cannonball dealer and who isn`t if they`re not even allowed even to mention they sell them (and Sax.co don`t mention them at all) . that`s the silly part, they should at the very least be able to put up "We stock the cannonball range of Saxes, please visit the shop for a Demo" on the front page ..

I fully understand why they`d not want dealers like G4M box shifting them, especially as they`ve shipped from the USA and will need a full checkover and likely a setup (which Sax.co are a perfect dealer for)

 

[muzza]

Congrats on your new Saxophone. Enjoy.


I agree with Ads, shops should at least be able to say they stock Cannonballs. Coming from a city with about 20 saxophones to demo from a hand full of makers, you're going to have to travel further afield to try something specified. Here the internet is used to find the item. Unfortunately, if you want to try a Cannonball you're out of luck, as you'll never know if they are stocked in New Zealand from an internet search.

 

[Saxdiva]

I know what you mean. I think they want you to look at their website and find the distributor for your country. The distributor will give you the name of your nearest dealer. So it can be done, but the old-fashioned way.

 

[jonf]

Thank goodness I've got my Yani A6, otherwise the pull of your A992 might be too much to bear - doubtless immaculate, just down the road as well. Ooh, danger, just sold two tenors as well..........

 

[jazzdoh]

It's new. Crowborough only have new but there may be some used ones in the London store. As has been discussed on here before (at great length as I recall) Cannonball do not allow retailers to mention their saxes online so you won't see them on the website. You have to actually visit the shop to know they're there.

The most amazing thing in Crowborough at the moment is a contrabass saxophone. It's so huge it's on a wind-up stand so you can adjust the mouthpiece to your height and the pads are the size of saucers! I blew a low Bb on it (after a couple of attempts) and my husband said he felt the soundwaves! A snip at just short of £21k if anyone is thinking of adding to their collection......

I remember now,what a stupid policy,it just doesn't make sense to me,i would have thought a company would have wanted to advertise and market a product to the full especially in hard times.
thanks for reminding me,enjoy your new horn.

 

[Saxdiva]

Thank goodness I've got my Yani A6, otherwise the pull of your A992 might be too much to bear - doubtless immaculate, just down the road as well. Ooh, danger, just sold two tenors as well..........

Well, you know you can come and have a blow. Just to see what you think ......just to compare to the A6.....just for a cuppa.....

And, you'll have to have a go on the new one too. I just finished playing it and the vintage baby. Can't stop smiling.

 

[RyanCannonball]

Congrats on your new horn, Saxdiva! It's great to hear you were able to play & compare a number of horns to find the one that suits you best. I, too, love the edge I get from the Albright series horns. I'm curious - of the 2 necks, do you so far prefer the Fat Neck or the traditional neck?

 

[trimmy]

Jealous very jealous :'(

One day one day

 

[Saxdiva]

Congrats on your new horn, Saxdiva! It's great to hear you were able to play & compare a number of horns to find the one that suits you best. I, too, love the edge I get from the Albright series horns. I'm curious - of the 2 necks, do you so far prefer the Fat Neck or the traditional neck?

To be honest I like them both equally and love the difference they make. But, I find the Fat Neck and a TW Gaia mpc set up a complete contrast to the melodic MkVI with an Aizen Jazzmaster I and love going from one to the other.

I took it to a lesson tonight and my tutor was very impressed with the action and altissimo which just popped out for him. Sadly I can't do that, but I got to the third overtone for the first time which is a step in the right direction. After the lesson we just kept jamming - it's difficult to put the sax down it's so much fun and so easy. Can't believe I've been converted from my Yani A992. Great horn it is but the Albright is almost alive! Wonderful.....

 

[dooce]

Say what you like about Cannonball's marketing, but so far as I am aware they are the only manufacturer that actually engages with their customers on forums such as this!

 

[RyanCannonball]

To be honest I like them both equally and love the difference they make. But, I find the Fat Neck and a TW Gaia mpc set up a complete contrast to the melodic MkVI with an Aizen Jazzmaster I and love going from one to the other.

I took it to a lesson tonight and my tutor was very impressed with the action and altissimo which just popped out for him. Sadly I can't do that, but I got to the third overtone for the first time which is a step in the right direction. After the lesson we just kept jamming - it's difficult to put the sax down it's so much fun and so easy. Can't believe I've been converted from my Yani A992. Great horn it is but the Albright is almost alive! Wonderful.....

Great to know! I love being able to switch back and forth between necks depending on the gig (or my current mood).
Altissimo is one of the things we make sure works fluidly when we're doing the acoustical finishing work on our saxes. When the overtones / harmonics line up right, the whole horn comes alive, so we make adjustments to the bore of each horn until it speaks clearly. It sounds like you have a good start with your overtones ... keep it up & you'll be doing Albright-like altissimo in no time!