Saxophones How many saxes does one really need?

[Grumps]

Geeze-Louise... why the heck are we using electric guitarists for comparison? I mean... don't folks here recognize that they are our natural enemies?

 

[jazzdoh]

Well it doesn’t work that way. Once you do it with a few, you realize the majority of those tunes have the same repeating patterns of changes in large chunks.

Well they don't all have the same patterns, but i don't need to do it, i am very capable of transposing into the keys that matter, been playing for 50 years and gigging for over 40 years never needed to know tunes in all 12 keys so far.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Geeze-Louise... why the heck are we using electric guitarists for comparison? I mean... don't folks here recognize that they are our natural enemies?

Nope, I play electric guitar and have more guitars than saxophones. Well I did before my son took one of them with him last time he was here.

 

[Grumps]

Nope, I play electric guitar and have more guitars than saxophones.

Rhythm guitarists excepted. We like them... if we can still find one.

 

[Zasterz]

Rhythm guitarists excepted.

Pretty sure Pete is a shredder in true Edward Van Halen fashion.

 

[Tonehole]

I am likely buying another soprano tonight. Just contacted a seller who is unloading a bunch of his daughters instruments and bedroom clutter. I hope to be the proud owner of a Selmer SS600 for $500.00 CDN by the end of day! The horn looks lightly used, he bought it 8 years ago so she is likely in university and out of the house.
That will be 6 soprano's I own. I recently bought a YSS 475 to use as a rough gig sax.
Will post on the horn if it works out and will compare it to my YSS475.

 

[Dr G]

No idea what you’re talking about. Who said anything about buying stuff?

How else does one acquire instruments? That is the context of the thread.

 

[turf3]

How else does one acquire instruments? That is the context of the thread.

Well, you can steal them, make them from scratch, or be given them....

 

[Zasterz]

How else does one acquire instruments? That is the context of the thread.

That was the original topic but isn’t related to the offshoot discussion about whether guitar players typically play more than one guitar. And if so, if that’s an indication that they’re unskilled. That was what I was responding to.

It seems like a sticking point for you but conversations can and do meander, fairly organically, without strictly adhering to the original point and at times not even necessarily referring back to it.

 

[Zasterz]

Well, you can steal them, make them from scratch, or be given them....

Or even more obviously, you could have bought them decades ago and never sold them. I’d say that still qualifies as “Don’t gotta go buy anything.”

 

[turf3]

The whole diversion into the subject of guitars came from someone saying that unlike saxophonists, guitarists typically only use one instrument. This is rather far from my own personal experience with guitarists, over a full range of guitarists' expertise, and I said so.

Once again, the existence of a small number of counterexamples (Dr G played all his guitar gigs on the same instrument for years) does not negate a statement about a general tendency. If I had said "all electric guitarists have lots of guitars" then a single counterexample would refute that statement. But what I said was (paraphrased) "most electric guitarists have lots of guitars". One, two, or ten counterexamples will not negate that. Do a survey of electric guitarists that shows, for example, that 85% of electric guitarists have only one guitar, and that might be considered a refutation.

 

[Dr G]

It would almost be interesting to learn when that change happened. When did guitar players start bringing so many guitars to a gig (if they do)? And in what genres is it most prevalent? There remain a great number of jazz and blues players that will stick to one instrument for a gig. Rock SHOWS tend to have racks of guitars that are swapped out frequently. Acoustic players? Classical musicians? Are we talking concerts or clubs?

 

[LostCircuits]

That was the original topic but isn’t related to the offshoot discussion about whether guitar players typically play more than one guitar. And if so, if that’s an indication that they’re unskilled. That was what I was responding to.

If you are still referring to my post, may I bring it back to your attention, please?

The skill of many players is inversely correlated to the number of instruments they carry to a gig.

I was referring to Instruments and while guitars are instruments (sometimes of torture) not all instruments are guitars.

 

[cappers]

The guy who sold me the '32 is a guitarist. He had nine guitars. Four electric, two electric-acoustic, two acoustic and a very old Flamenco. I don't know how many at a time he took on gigs.

Sample of one, might be an outlier.

 

[Zasterz]

It would almost be interesting to learn when that change happened. When did guitar players start bringing so many guitars to a gig (if they do)? And in what genres is it most prevalent? There remain a great number of jazz and blues players that will stick to one instrument for a gig. Rock SHOWS tend to have racks of guitars that are swapped out frequently. Acoustic players? Classical musicians? Are we talking concerts or clubs?

In my experience it’s just like you say- jazz and blues players way more likely to favor the one guitar approach and rock/folk/pop/etc using multiples. I’ve seen bands of the latter variety doing this for at least the last 20-30 years at even smaller establishments like 50-100 capacity.

Also btw sometimes there’s an undeniable need for it: electric and acoustic don’t substitute for each other, for example. Ditto if you want a 12-string or nylon.

 

[Zasterz]

If you are still referring to my post, may I bring it back to your attention, please?



I was referring to Instruments and while guitars are instruments (sometimes of torture) not all instruments are guitars.

You’re directly responding to a post about multiple guitars so how could anyone tell you we’re actually talking about other instruments?

But anyway, whatever instruments you’re talking about, I disagree that there’s any kind of correlation inverse or regular. I don’t frequent many venues where people are unskilled, but within the skilled pool, both kinds of players are amply represented, as far as I can tell. Some people are just into the sonic differences in various gear and some aren’t. Some personalities favor simplicity and some other fantastic musicians bring what seems like a whole recording studio worth of gear up on stage. I don’t see the point in generalizing about what either approach says about a particular artist.

 

[LostCircuits]

You’re directly responding to a post about multiple guitars so how could anyone tell you we’re actually talking about other instruments?

Please read my posts and don't assume.

But it's alright...

View: https://youtu.be/CKZLBjwCVOE?si=K_ZiIlxee-mG6JTD

 

[Targa]

I wonder how many saxes Roland Kirk takes to a gig.

 

[LostCircuits]

I wonder how many saxes Roland Kirk takes to a gig.

More than he could keep an eye on for sure

 

[Zasterz]

Please read my posts and don't assume.

I didn’t assume anything.

Here’s your post:

A guy is talking about guitars, you quote him and refer to “players.” It’s not some huge failure of reading on my part to interpret that as you’re talking about the same thing you’re responding to.

Regardless, you’re leaving out that I already said I disagree with your “correlation” even with the clarification added.

The thing you keep focusing on isn’t the issue. It doesn’t change anything either way whether you’re making this statement about guitarists or all instrumentalists.