Saxophones De-Mythifying the Purple Logo

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I was thinking it was time to de-mythify the Yamaha Purple Logo in one thread.. there`s talk about them being setup alongside Pro players instead of in the workshop (but a trip to SH would equalize that) and even about having better quality action .. Steve Howard mentions the purple logo as a means of cheaper labelling . this seems more logical to me .

1:- If any of the better action business is true does it onlu relate to the 61 and 62 models
2:- there are 21, 23 and 32 Purple logos horns too , does "Purpleness" apply to those ? if so How
3:- if you got SH to setup a 62 Purp and a 62 Mk1 would they handle the same , sound the same ?
4:- is all this down to Specific horns ? (comparing a cherrypicked MK3 to a Purple with same neck, would the Mk3 win)

Etc etc .. I know the subject has come up loads of times but usually along with the grips of Purple fever or Purple Hatred from the posters involved . It`d be good to de-mythify the purple logo once and for all as either truth or bunkum , Pro horns only or the 32s and students as well .

 

[majordennis]

I've owned 2 Purple logo's, a 21 and a 32, great to play, solid build and nice ergos, just not what I wanted.

 

[griff136]

Yamaha put purple - actually violet (if you check on their corporate website pages)logos on all their brass instruments and their woodwind instruments made from brass.
I think that in the context of say a Yamaha 62 purple logo, the reason for mentioning the purple logo denotes a period of time when these instruments were made as opposed to how they were made.
when the later models of instruments particularly in sax terms the YAS 275 and the 62 series, quite a few "modifications" and tweaks were made - some for the better and in some cases some no so - hence why there are purple logo 62's, non purple 62's and non purple 62 mkII's.
my two pence worth.

 

[Ads]

Sounds logical Griff, and sticking with 62s here - there are non purple logo Mk1s made around the same time , also the changes Yamaha made to the MK2 may have benefitted as many as they didn`t (the less harsh delivery of the Mk2 suited some better ? ) . so if we`re talking Mk1 to MK2 (ignoring the logo for a minute) , there were differences and depending on a player's wants and needs the Mk2 could actually be the better bet, the change was down to the players opinion, some people don`t like change .......

The biggie here for this thread is whether the Mk1 Purps differ in any way to the Mk1 Stamped logos ? ..

Dennis, I`d say that all 21s and 32s have nice ergos and are great to play regardless of logo, the non Purp Tenors I`ve encountered have anyway (the 21 was a 23 though).

 

[Greg Strange]

I think the non-purple logo 62 (i.e. stamped) series Mark 1 horns were introduced about the same time as the Custom 875 series horns circa 1989/1990.

I agree with Griff the purple (I always thought it was crimson?) logo indicates a certain period of time and I think in the mid 1980s Yamaha was probably producing the best pro saxophones on the planet with the 62 series horns and it was more likely due to their attention to detail than the logo or colour of it. I think with the Mark II and Mark III 62 series these have become their 'standard pro series' where as the 875 and 82z are Yamaha's high end pro horns.

Happy playing every one whether you have a purple logo or non-purple logo Mark I, Mark II or Mark III 62 series horn.

Greg S.

 

[Andante cantabile]

Does anyone actually know why Yamaha abandoned the purple logo (as griff says, actually violet, and fairly in your face, too)?

My own guess is that is purely a matter of aesthetics. Frankly, a purple logo on a high-class instrument looks cheap. It certainly stands out like a sore thumb among Selmers, Keilwerths and just about every other brand. I guess it had nothing to do with any other characteristics of the instrument.

 

[kevgermany]

me too, looks cheap. But it's become a form of snobbery now.

 

[Ads]

Agreed, it looks cheap and IS cheap as it`s just paint under the laquer instead of a stamp in the brass or engraving . this is why I started this thread, the purple logo fever is getting out of hand .

If Yamaha can`t make Pro saxes as good as the Purple era horns then they may as well give up, Yam aren`t known for doing things down to a price at the high end, in fact the Mk3 developments in particular have cost them money (the MK2 and MK1 seem to be much the same from the tenon down) and it got to a state of insanity when someone said that the older student horns were better than any of the current Pro models (Yamaha must be really dumb if they can`t make a Pro horn better than an 80s student one !) , I`ve played 23s and they`re really good but the 61/62 regardless of vintage or logo colour is in a different league for handling and open-ness - maybe these people just don`t like the modern sound (they`d hate a Yani) ..

There`s enough silliness about selmers without Yamahas getting out of control too, it`d be great if Steve Howard or someone else not donning rose tinted specs could compare all the 62s - Purple, Mk1,2,III once and for all . also compare purp and non-purp 32s and student models .

 

[thesaxman71]

personally we all know i love my purple logo saxes, BUT not cos of the logo, it is because of the ergonomics, playability, sound, tone and overall being 1 great beast of a sax to play and i did a comparison for my own curiosity some months ago with a custom z, newer 62 and a new silver 62 and it still blew them all away overall, even the shop tec was saying he could not understand why yamaha did not stick with this design and that it stood above the newer versions, yes he tried it too. and for the record i don't actually like the logo itself, it looks like someone messed around with a crayon and is cheap looking and i just like the actual sax itself under the logo and delaq'd mine and bye bye to the logo, just bare brass, tho the neck badge is still there only cos i couldn't be bothered to micro delaq it by hand, too fidly.

 

[Ads]

and i did a comparison for my own curiosity some months ago with a custom z, newer 62 and a new silver 62 and it still blew them all away overall, .

Define "Blew them all away" please Ian . I`m sure Yamaha won`t have degraded the action on later models so is it that You prefer the brighter sound of the older version to the newer and the Z horns ?. Also I`m sure Yamaha are very aware of the current Purple logo craze and will have looked into it deeply to see if they did go off-course.

I think there maybe more difference between individual horns than between revisions soundwise given the same neck fitted, Daveysaxboy chose a single silver 62 Mk2 over 875 customs, Mk1s, Purps, other Mk2s etc .. I have it and it`s definately less brash, fuller and more complex in tone than the (still excellent) Mk1 I played a while back.

 

[gladsaxisme]

All I can thay isth yeth yeth yeth the thixsty two thax isth thuperb.....John the parrot fath

 

[daveysaxboy]

The old sax myth again is its vintage so its better I think. I adore Yamaha apart from the 275/475 range. All else are just freaky great. If you think a transfer logo on the bell makes it better well your sorted. I never go with the vintage myth. I always try a bunch of horns and just pick the best. I was a MKVI guy for a good while. Had 5 tenors and 1 alto. Not owned 1 for about 12 years now. I have had a MKVII tenor and a purple 62 alto and 2 yam 61 tenors in the last 12 years as vintage goes but all the rest were modern horns. So in a nut shell I dig my modern horns now. And well since I got my Sheppard tenor theres no changing. ANY horn you find and it clicks with you is the right horn, vintage,purple crimson or modern. Plus the important bit of any horn is the big lump of flesh blowing in to it....lol

 

[daveysaxboy]

Define "Blew them all away" please Ian . I`m sure Yamaha won`t have degraded the action on later models so is it that You prefer the brighter sound of the older version to the newer and the Z horns ?. Also I`m sure Yamaha are very aware of the current Purple logo craze and will have looked into it deeply to see if they did go off-course.

I think there maybe more difference between individual horns than between revisions soundwise given the same neck fitted, Daveysaxboy chose a single silver 62 Mk2 over 875 customs, Mk1s, Purps, other Mk2s etc .. I have it and it`s definately less brash, fuller and more complex in tone than the (still excellent) Mk1 I played a while back.

Yea I did plus I tested 2 Ref 36's which I do like, a Ref 54 which every time I try to like I just done. Feel so dead.And 2 Selmer serie III's which I still think are selmers best modern tenor. I owned a great silver serie III in the past. Apart from the dead ref 54 all the rest blew great. Well they would and should. As for blown away that's Ian's findings and he blew them but for me of all the horns on that day all were sweet but the silver 62 just sang more. Not by much but enough. It did not blow anything away but just sat and felt right. I wont lie and miss that silver 62. Enjoy it Ads. She's very pretty and can sing.

 

[Ivan]

If nothing else this thread will identify the colour blind amongst us

 

[daveysaxboy]

Its a cracker

 

[Saxlicker]

The essence of all this was summed up in post 3 by Griff.
The silk screen 'purple' label denotes the period when yamaha saxes were made in a particular way to a particular spec.

Ref post 5,
I also believe there was a short period at the end of that period where 'a face lift' was applied before moving onto the MKII version.

I don't believe the silk screen it self was ever a very popular cosmetic with sax players so it is used just to identify that period.
Surely no one thinks that its presence has an effect :shocked:

Now regarding the MKII version.
I make no claims this is a worse performer, equal performer or better performer than the MKI in general.
But I do have it straight from a Yamaha Tech accompanying George Shelby at a workshop, that the changes were made to keep the 62 both affordable and saw improvement opportunity as well.

To me that means they made cut backs in areas and may also have decided for example to ....i don't know, shall we say ..... change the bore dimension in the neck in the belief it would help intonation.

Bottom line is, the MKII was never treated as the top of the range instrument where as the MKI was top of the range.
If it had remained the Top offering It would be more expensive than it is.

Just for info, I do know that mother of pearl was dropped from the key touches and the neck example I mention was also an actual change. There were a few more but I have forgotten what they were. Sadly they were cuts not improvements.

 

[gladsaxisme]

Well that's put that to bed then GOODNIGHT PURPLE LOGO, GOODNIGHT JOHN, GOODNIGHT MAW

 

[ProfJames]

Just for info, I do know that mother of pearl was dropped from the key touches and the neck example I mention was also an actual change. There were a few more but I have forgotten what they were. Sadly they were cuts not improvements.

Never heard that mods were implemented to cut costs! Not sure I agree with that statement.

 

[Saxlicker]

Just for info, I do know that mother of pearl was dropped from the key touches and the neck example I mention was also an actual change. There were a few more but I have forgotten what they were. Sadly they were cuts not improvements.

Never heard that mods were implemented to cut costs! Not sure I agree with that statement.

And thats your prerogative or course.

But in the world I live in, every manufacturer is looking for ways to reduce costs and I'd still suggest the example I used of Mother of pearl being replaced by plastic represents exactly that.

I'm not trying to knock the MKII 62, just offering experience and 1st hand knowledge rather than myths.

 

[Merryfisher]

Re: De-Mythifying RAW

I was thinking it was time to de-mythify the Yamaha Purple Logo in one thread.. there`s talk about them being setup alongside Pro players instead of in the workshop (but a trip to SH would equalize that) and even about having better quality action .. Steve Howard mentions the purple logo as a means of cheaper labelling . this seems more logical to me .

1:- If any of the better action business is true does it onlu relate to the 61 and 62 models
2:- there are 21, 23 and 32 Purple logos horns too , does "Purpleness" apply to those ? if so How
3:- if you got SH to setup a 62 Purp and a 62 Mk1 would they handle the same , sound the same ?
4:- is all this down to Specific horns ? (comparing a cherrypicked MK3 to a Purple with same neck, would the Mk3 win)

Etc etc .. I know the subject has come up loads of times but usually along with the grips of Purple fever or Purple Hatred from the posters involved . It`d be good to de-mythify the purple logo once and for all as either truth or bunkum , Pro horns only or the 32s and students as well .

fortunate to own both a purple '61 and '62 and have for some years, and to my very amateur ear and ability, they are difficult to beat. have tried later yam's and whilst they sound great, they have never quite stacked up against these two oldies. had a go on a new '82z last week, it felt good but it just did'nt blow as sweet and freely as either the 61 or 62 - too much resistance and a touch narrow in tone. the only horn other that does it for me is the RAW, will the RAW sound as good or be in good shape in 40 yrs time as the '61 does = i guess only time will tell