Saxophones I'd hate newcomers to miss seeing my new BW

[Rogerb]

http://tinyurl.com/dbsbgj
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http://tinyurl.com/bnkttz

Beauty or Bling? The choice is yours

Should maybe just add that this is a prototype, so isn't on the website....if you wanted one, I guess they'd make it, but there'd be a wait....especially as the currency rates are yoyo-ing, and importers are, I believe, waiting for them to settle a bit before reviewing pricing.

This may be a time to snap-up existing stocks(of most things)....do you think that prices will go down? I s'pose that if we get into DEflation, it's possible.....

 

[Pete Thomas]

I've seen this one in the flesh, I particularly like the way the roled tone hole lip is brass against the copper of the the tonehole chimney.


BTW, You can display the images here by pasting the URL into the fiield that opens when you click on the image icon:

And no need to tiny the URLs any more

 

[Sloth]

I heard it just takes small change to make these ;}

Wouldn't the copper tarnish?

 

[thomsax]

Lot's of intersting details. Does it play well? I think the outfit is too bombastic! But they're in good company. Mauriat, Cannonball ... are suffering from the same disease.

Thomas

 

[Rogerb]

Beauty is, of course, in the eye of the beholder....I found the abalone key-touches a bit 'in your face' at first, but now I like 'em
(And 'bombast' is a human characteristic which doesn't really apply to inanimate objects )
I can understand if some think it's flamboyant....so who wants to be a shrinking violet?

It's definitely nicer to look at, for me, than a tatty old horn with half the lac missing and covered with red spots & verdigris. (And it smells better!)
But for some that gives a sax 'authenticity'
That's as much BS as saying that you've gotta have semi-precious stones built into it ))

But the acid test is really "How does it play?".... isn't it?
Well, in my hands, significantly, but not hugely better than anything else I've tried..... as I've said previously, I get a distinct sense of warmth and focus.

Pete has played it and is much better-qualified to describe the sound he felt it produces.

My teacher, a long-time MkVI owner, has given it his seal of approval(it sounded gorgeous when he played it), and another sax-maker to whom I showed it pronounced it "well-made".
(And losaavedra liked it, too!)

It has a lacquer finish, so there shouldn't be too much polishing required.

 

[Col9]

Wow Rodger, that's really really nice. Love the dark key touches. The adjustable stops on the palm keys is a nice detail. Looks to be very well finished. What a buy.

Col.

 

[Rogerb]

Well, maybe because it was a prototype they tried a little harder, but it is hard to find any details which haven't been attended-to.
It looked like one to grab before it got away
Stephen Howard had it in pieces and pronounced himself impressed, I'm told...and we know how fussy he can be about quality of detailed design and finish.
(I guess I'll have to ask him to replace the point screws some time when it's being serviced...I gather from his review of the silver one that they don't quite come up to his high standards.....I doubt that mine are different)!!

 

[Col9]

Well, maybe because it was a prototype they tried a little harder, but it is hard to find any details which haven't been attended-to.

I wish they had tried that hard on my prototype ;}

Col.

 

[Rogerb]

Why, what did you get and what was wrong with it?

Seems thoroughly bad business to send out duff goods as 'samples of your work'!

 

[Col9]

Why, what did you get and what was wrong with it?

Seems thoroughly bad business to send out duff goods as 'samples of your work'!

Oh, nothing really bad just a few imperfections in the finish/smaller details here and there. Certainly nothing worth worrying about hence the smiley. I think the point of my prototype was to see how/if a bari sax could be made and for what cost. WW&B did put me in the picture about it before I bought it and if I had been to see it first rather than an excited over the phone "just send it" I would still have bought it.

Col.

 

[thomsax]

Rogerb,

I didn't mean to say anything negative about you ..... Sorry!!

I still think manufactors/distrubutors put in too much efforts when it come to "saxophone outfit" From what I read there is no need for this when it comes to Bauhaus-Walstein (BTW.why are the saxes stamped with that name?). The saxes are good. Maybe it's a sax for the professionals? As I already said, it have interesting details.

For me playablity is #1. I care less about how a saxophone looks and smells! If it plays and sounds good, it's just fine for me. And that's is just what's it's all about? Let me take an example:

A know a Rocksax player that plays a West-Germany stencil. A sax from early or mid 80's. It was black in those days. Now the laquer is gone. A tatty horn? The neck collapsed for some years ago. It was to weak for him. The "pearls" are also gone. They are replaced with "metal-pearls" (in this case coins from all over the world). The player and the sax sounds great. The audience loves him. I'm pretty sure other "pros" would have a nice time with his saxes. So if the distributor had ordered a clean sax and put the money to better neck, metal-"pearls" ... it has spared the owner .... .

Good luck with your new sax.

Thomas

 

[Rogerb]

No offence whatsoever taken, Thomas..... I agree that the sound is #1, but the 'aesthetics' are also quite important, to me

(And I'd bet a Euro to a cent that player would sound just as great on my sax as on his..... so much of it is in the mind )

 

[Rogerb]

You asked about the name, Thomas....well I can't recall the exact details, but they were originally called "Walstein", a combination of the names of the two originators of the company.
Then I believe there was some dispute about the legality of the name/trademark so they changed it to "Bauhaus Walstein".

That's the short version!

 

[koumou]

Hello Roger,

I see you've given up on Hanson. They never bothered to answer my e-mails. Congratulations on your new sax. Very nice looking as well. If it plays as well as it looks, you've got yourself a nice instrument.

Enjoy it.

 

[Rogerb]

No, I haven't 'given up on Hanson'....I still regard them as friends who produce very fine instruments and have always treated me very well.
Alastair Hanson has an encyclopaedic knowledge of wind instrument making and has, I'd guess, recently spent more time going around SE Asian musical instrument makers than most others in the business.

I bought that particular BW sax because I liked it(sonically and aesthetically), it had been highly-recommended to me by Pete Thomas (who had played it a day or so previously), it was prepared by Stephen Howard, and I was dealt-with in a very friendly and professional manner by Martin at WWBW.
It seemed like an opportunity to be seized with both hands!

I think it says much about Hanson and BW that I felt able to show Alastair my new purchase for his scrutiny, and that he gave me what I am sure was an honest appraisal, and that, as with Stephen Howard, he found very little to criticise and quite a lot to approve.