Saxophones Gear4music Straight Soprano

Colin the Bear

Well-Known Member
Café Supporter
17,259
Burnley bb9 9dn
Level
50yr self taught gigger
G4M have another one on their site if anyone else fancies one.
LOL !! ..

Thank Colin the Bear for the Bari Esprit - He donated it originally ..

Get yourself a Selmer S80 in a wider tip than you would use on tenor or alto. The Bari is not so good for sop.
 
Yup ...... I had to go through mine and do the regulation, fix a few bits such as seat a couple of pads properly, lubricate it etc , I was lucky in that there was nothing structurally wrong with it . Colin had to fix his too . even unopened ones will need regulating as the adjustment screws are just loose and have no thread lock on .
 
By seat a few pads I mean correct very minor leaks on two lowest pads by the method used in the Sax Manual (very light bending of the key cup) , it`s not hard but the horn plays so much easier down there after ..

I`d be wary about buying that £160 one unless you`re handy with such stuff
 
In my experience these ex showroom/display models are returns. Minor faults, set up issues etc. I've had a sop and a tenor that needed attention. The tenor had a loose pad and the sop needed the keywork altering. The full price alto played out of the box and still does 2 years down the line.
 
Wider tip ? I'd never have thought of that ! Sop I know absolutely nothing about...I tried a daft looking curvy one some 30 yrs ago, that's about it ..

"Daft Looking." How very dare you.

I went for the curvy sop so as to not aggravate the right thumb problem that presented playing an old heavy clarinet and I find the arm position more comfortable. It never ceases to amaze me how much interest a curvy sop generates. It might be the look of a 6'2" 20 stone bloke playing it.

After some surprise and continuing success with a metalite M11 on clarinet, I won a Selmer S80F on Ebay. I've tried the usual suspects, Yam 4c, Bari Esprit, Rico graftonite B5, Rico Metalite M7, Delacore 6, and found the S80 an easy blow with a much better all round sound.
 
Works great on the Yams too - even Jeanette uses one !


Yep love mine on sop but preferred a Vandoren on alto.
I tried loads for sop and this one wasn't too difficult to blow and had a the occasional sweet sound that I wish I could get out of it every time 🙂

Jx
 
Sounds fantastic on the 475 for Baroque and other classical , you could just shed a tear with the sweetness it plays Ave Maria in the upper octave
 
Sops (well ones which don`t sound like castrated Oboes anyway) lend them selves nicely to Baroque ......

I can definately recommend the Selmer S80 mouthpieces for this , mine`s a G, I think Colin's is an F , just avoid the soprano horns , especially the mkVI
 
Oboes are truly great, however probably a cheapo soprano is a bit more accessible for the likes of me 'umble self ...this new one's a great lark, just been playing all the Xmas carols I can think of , ...
gave myself a nasty shock when I thought,'' **** the G is horribly out of tune,''... then realised I had the bell pushed against my leg,,,doh ( what happens when you play lounging on a sofa )
 
me 'umble self ...this new one's a great lark, just been playing all the Xmas carols I can think of , ...
gave myself a nasty shock when I thought,'' **** the G is horribly out of tune,''... then realised I had the bell pushed against my leg,,,doh ( what happens when you play lounging on a sofa )

I`ve been doing the same - no more carolling with Tenor for me ! . Last year I used a Corton was which was Ideal as it`s A:- light for a Tenor , B:- disposable (compared to the Pro Yamaha) C:- still sounded great BUT the 1920s-USA style pinkie table drove me nuts and even a Light Corton can give neck ache after all that walking and playing so it`s Sop this year - no need to re-key them for Alto (which is what I was planning)
 
Hmm...
I don't especially dislike KG's sound - merely what he does with it.
I'd have thought that, if you were after a "sweet" sound, he'd be one to emulate.
How do you castrate an oboe?
 

Similar threads... or are they? Maybe not but they could be worth reading anyway 😀

Members' Blogs

Trending content

Forum statistics

Topics
29,594
Messages
513,150
Members
8,740
Latest member
Sillywizard
Back
Top Bottom