Edit - A big thank you to Spike for spotting the original eBay advert in Germany and for spending a long time chatting to the seller in German to check him out for me before I dared to bid. That was really generous of you Spike, so cheers and my bank manager would like a word with you !
The bass sax spent Christmas at Heathrow and was finally delivered just after lunch today. I couldn't lift it at all as the package was over 29kg and I have just done my back in before Christmas playing football !
Amazingly the horn is in superb condition - it could pass for new and is even better than the photos show on eBay. No damage at all in transit and very few signs of being played. The seller had packaged it up very well, with polystyrene all around the momster case and protection inside as well.
He very generously put in a Zinner mouthpiece, some Rico #3 reeds and a weird strap affair. This is something like a wide belt, with two hooks at each end. I've no idea how to attach it correctly, but the horn has a second ring near the top that could be a second attachment point. But when I tried it over my shoulder and connecting to the two rings, the horn slung much too low down to be playable. Any ideas anyone ?
The only tiny fault is that the spring on the bis key isn't working. I thought that maybe it had slipped out of position, but that doesn't seem to be it, and the spring certainly has a bit of strength in it. The key moves OK without horrendous friction, so it looks like it's a case for the Steve Howard magic touch.
The Zinner mouthpiece looks huge and is a real mouthfull. It has a big built-up baffle inside, probably for a modern sound.
It's a big stretch around the instrument, especially for the left hand to reach the octave key and miss the palm keys. Action seems very light for something this big.
I can get some noises in the mid-range, but it feels like the reeds are too soft. I normally play something like a #4 on bari, so maybe I'll have to get some bigger planks of wood for this. Probably quite a few quid each !
I don't know whether the numbering systems are different for the different sizes of sax, but I seem to need progressively harder reeds for the bigger horns (2.5 for soprano, 3 for alto & tenor and 4 for bari).
Been listening to an Adrian Rollini CD and the bass can be a really agile horn in the right hands. I've also got some bass sax tracks in a more modern vein by James Carter.
I'll let you all know when the beast is going to Steve Howard's and when it is in full honking order.
All the beast
Rhys
ps Steve says to tell Pete that the Red Lion is crap - it's the Thomas Lord or nothing! They've got comfy chairs, and a proper fire!
(bottom of page)
