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Hanson Saxes ?

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toffeecoo

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Hi ALL,

Nice site, I think it could shape up to be a rival to SOTW !.
Background :
Beginner, like many people, always liked the sound of the sax, but never did anything about it untill just before xmas and hired a Trevor James alto from a local shop in Glasgow - having no experience, I thought it was a good Sax. I now have my own - a Yani 901 - it's brilliant(but still think the TJ is a good sax to start off with).
I have an axcellent teacher : Mark Mcgee http://www.dekemcgee.com/, he can really honk and wail, anyway, to my question - I will be buying a tenor within the next month(Clarence Clemons, watch out!), and I was looking at the Hanson ST5, second hand Keilwerth, or Yam YTS25 etc - anyone have any experience of these saxes. Pete, I know you were at the Hanson factory a wee while ago , did you have a go at an ST5 - I know you bought an ST8, but unfortunately my funds wouldn't run to that.
Any info or input gratefully appreciated.
 
Hi Toffeeco and welcome

Yes, the ST8 has a great sound, but it needed a few tweaks after I got it home - I haven't had a chance to speak to hanson about i yet, however it's blowing really well now - it has a sort of resonance that makes me want to keep playing it. (it could be that this was one that tyhey hadn't yet had a chance to do a factory set up - I believe they check them all over before sending them out)

I didn't try the ST-5 tenor but i tried quite a few ST 5 altos and I think they are very good not that much different to the ST-8 really.

The Hanson is hard to compare with a Yamaha. Yamahas have a very focussed direct and consistent sound. Extremely well built. The Hanson has more of a fatter vintage sound which I like. (By vintage I don't mean you can't play modern on it - I play modern on my Conn and Buescher and thousands of players play modern on a MKVI of course) it's a very fine and subjective difference.
 
Being a repairer I have come accross a lot of new name saxes and some of them have been truly awful. I have a close freind who has a hanson tenor and I had a look over it and a good play for an hour or so and I was pleasantly surprised.
Good build quality, nice tone and most of all a great price.
 
I looked at the SA5 (budget wont streach to the 8) They look to be the bees knees and your comments seem positive Pete. Im looking to upgrade my TJ Revolution and Hanson talk a good story. The aftercare looks to be second to none. Unfortunately, as Im emigrating in July I wouldnt be able to take advantage of it. Still pondering. Should I or shouldnt I. Pete It may all rest on your yes or no!
 
At 1:51:36 PM 15/03/06, taff60 wrote:
I looked at the SA5 (budget wont streach to the 8) They look to be the bees knees and your comments seem positive Pete. Im looking to upgrade my TJ Revolution and Hanson talk a good story. The aftercare looks to be second to none. Unfortunately, as Im emigrating in July I wouldnt be able to take advantage of it. Still pondering. Should I or shouldnt I. Pete It may all rest on your yes or no!
Read more…

I think you have to decide for yourself, whether a horn suits you is so subjective. But I can thoroughly recommend ringing up Hanson, have a chat with them and ideally ask for an appointment to visit the factory near Huddersfield.

BTW I've noticed if you write 8 followed by a closed bracket you get a smiley instead of "8 )" (I put a space between the 8 and the bracket) or else use a square bracket 8]
 
I borrowed a Hanson baritone for a while, and I found it to be a great horn, I might still buy it. This was a gold plated SB 8.

While I had it baritone expert Roger Lewis of the Dirty Dozen brass band was staying with me (he endorses Selmer and Jupiter). His opinion was that it compared very well with a Selmer Series II. I liked it as it was totally different to my trusty old Martin bari, butif I did buy it I'm not sure if I'd sell the Martin. I probably would in the end though.

Really you need to try one.
 
If you phoned or emailed a query to any of the so-called Big Four you wouldn't expect a reply, and very comprehensive one, from the CEO/proprietor, would you?

One of the things which makes Hanson 'special' to me.
Others are the amazing VFM, the sheer quality and 'ruggedness' of the horns, and not least, they sound good (occasionally when I'm blowing!).
 
Hi Ken.....I'm replying to your query about finish and end play in this thread. It seems more appropriate than the thread on sopranos!

I went to check the thread on end play after reading your posting and then immediately checked the new tenor. I couldn't detect any end play in any of the rods, apart from a small amount on the connecting rod between the low c pad and the key. I haven't checked yet to see if this can be fixed by adjusting the screws.

One interesting thing I did notice is that the cup that holds the low f-pad, and low f key has a a short rod attached to it, with an adjuster, that looks as though it should press down the pad immediately above. Looking at the mechanism this seems to be completely redundant. There is already a linkage between these two pads. Does your tenor have such an arrangement also?

As for finish, I'm still undecided. I am tempted by the polished brass, no lacquer option. This will be similar to my 1927 alto which long ago lost much of its laquer. It does need looking after though in terms of cleaning etc. Then I saw the pictures of your tenor and thought it looked very beautiful. To help me make up my mind I'm going to drive to Marsden and see what the various finishes look and sound like. I'm also hoping to resolve just some of the minor issues I have with the left hand table keys.

Looking at your photographs, though it is difficult to be certain, I get the impression that the low Bb key is alligned much closer to the C# and B keys than on my instrument.
 
Hi Ken, if I'm understanding you rightly the purpose of that arm is:

1). to hold the G pad closed when playing a C#, B or Bb - try fingering a G# (left hand pinky) and hold it open - then press one of the three right hand keys F, E, or D you'll see the "arm" will close down that G pad. It's essential that the adjusting screw on the arm is spot on - if it's too tight the F won't close completely and if too slack the G will open slightly when you play the lower notes on the LH pinky stack.

2). to close the left hand Bb (bis) key - hold the sax with all keys open - press any of the right hand keys again - you'll notice that the "arm" will activate another horizontal "arm" above the F# key which will in turn open and close the left hand Bb (bis) key - there is also another adjusting screw for this mechanism on the same "arm" so you really need to know how to keep these two in sync.

Griff will certainly give us a better explanation from a sax tech point of view, and hopefully reveal us a few secret tips
 
ooops - sorry Ken - disregard my post - that would appear to be a Hanson special feature, some yamahas and jupi's have adjustable screws on the mechanism "around the back" for the F - F# keys - the arm on your photo is a feature I've never seen up til now. I don't know - but I presume the Hanson has a normal mechanism around the back for the F and F# keys, then this would presumably be an extra safety or support should the cork become worn, which it inevibaly does for that F# key, which is possibly why they decided to put one on. Would be interesting to know their reasoning.

My previous post refers to the next "arm" up, which I mistakenly thought was being refered to.

any thoughts on this Griff ?

Ken - can you post a pic of the mechanism on the opposite side of the sax to this, twould be very interesting if they've put adjusters on there as well.
 
Hi Ken and Spike,

I think we might need Griff in on this one. The G# and Bb bis key are indeed held down by the extending arm on the cup that lies immediately above the F cup and key. I'm not sure what this one is called, but it lies between the cup with the F pearl on it and the G# pad. I guess it might be called the F# pad. On most modern saxes this rod has two adjustments on it: one to ensure the G# pad is held closed and the other to ensure the Bb pad is closed.

Now the rod I'm talking about lies on the F cup and appears to serve absolutely no purpose what-so-ever. Pressing the F key activates both the F and F# cups. Indeed as you say Ken the adjuster is set such that it doesn't even touch the F cup. Strange indeed.

Griff can you shine any light on this?
 
I can't actually see the arm very well, Does it have an adjusting screw like the linkage arm on the key cup above it ?


It looks to be an additional mechanism for keeping the F# pad closed when fingering F which is what the cork, adjusting screws (if fitted) should do.

I know that on some newer Yanagisawa saxes there is a "Sway Free F auxilliary system" which is an arm that comes from the key hinge and comes over the F# pad and has a screw for regulation.

you can see it and the decription for what it does here :

under sway free F auxilliary system

http://www.yanagisawasax.co.jp/en/technology/
 

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

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