Saxophones Sakkusu C Melody Identification

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Hi Folks ...... Back on the Sakkusu trail, this time for a C melody .... I spotted one on the website of a popular pawn shop , spoke to the guy about packing and bought it . there was a receipt of kind with it showing the original price - Great . my only concern was after I noticed in the pics that it had a Tenor style neck whereas the current ones have an alto style neck with a microtuner on . Sax.co have gone home (close at 5) ..

I was wondering if the older ones may have used a tenor style neck much like Vintage C melodies do ? ........ I hope so because otherwise A tenor sax mislabelled as a C-Melody will arrive on Monday .

Thanks

 

[jonf]

So far as I am aware, all the sax.co.uk ones were straight neck. Prior to that, they sold the Aquilasax brand which did have a curved tenor style neck. It may well be a sax.co.uk C Mel, but with an Aquilasax neck. Aquiasax sell the necks quite cheaply, and they are popular as they allow the use of a long shank tenor piece on the C Mel - you have to shove it a long way on to tune. I use one on my vintage Conn c mel, with a modern Brilhart Level Air 10 mouthpiece. It rocks.

 

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Thanks Jon, I`ll have to see when it comes , it`s hard to tell the size from the pic, it`s definitely more of tenor proportions regarding bell key positions than an alto (it "looks" like a tenor, not an alto) but then C melodies tend to ..

what I never understood was that it`s often said that using an alto Mpc on a C melody is OK - weird as C is closer to Bb in pitch than it is to Eb so you`d think that everything would be closer to tenor than alto

Also maybe the Aquilasax factory made the first "Sakkusu`s" ? or Sax.co had them made to similar spec in the Elkhart factory though I`m probably winging it hoping that this is of Tick-Logo (Elky Deluxe) alto quality and not a Chineser

 

[jazzdoh]

what I never understood was that it`s often said that using an alto Mpc on a C melody is OK - weird as C is closer to Bb in pitch than it is to Eb so you`d think that everything would be closer to tenor than alto

Congrats on your in horn,i think it tends to be what type of a sound you want to produce on your C Mel,i have played alto and tenor mpc's on mine,but haven't yet found a good C Melody mpc,although i haven't looked that much for one either.

 

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Thanks for the Congrats - I`m hoping it IS a C Melody and not a Tenor wrongly advertised (If its an Elkhart built Tick logo Sak Tenor I`ll sell it on here and give someone a chance to own a superb Taiwanese horn at a really low price, if its a Chinese Sak tenor I`ll send it back)

Kind of sound ? - in tune in C would be a good start - I`ve got decent pieces in both so it`ll be interesting - there isn`t much choice in dedicated C pieces so I`d guess few actually have them - even Sax.co sell the horn new without a piece at all .

 

[jazzdoh]

Thanks for the Congrats - I`m hoping it IS a C Melody and not a Tenor wrongly advertised (If its an Elkhart built Tick logo Sak Tenor I`ll sell it on here and give someone a chance to own a superb Taiwanese horn at a really low price, if its a Chinese Sak tenor I`ll send it back)

Kind of sound ? - in tune in C would be a good start - I`ve got decent pieces in both so it`ll be interesting - there isn`t much choice in dedicated C pieces so I`d guess few actually have them - even Sax.co sell the horn new without a piece at all .

Sax.co.uk used to sell Aquilasax mpc's but not sure what they sound like,i think probably Morgan do the best but its pricey.

 

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yeah, like the Sopranino , one of the "out there" horns which although been in the series from near the beginning (well, 20s at least) never caught on and yet still in production .......... it`ll be ideal on a number of occasions I come up against

 

[jonf]

I've got a proper C Mel mouthpeice from Aquilasax, but I don't tend to use it. Nothing wrong with it, it's just a bit dull for my tastes. Tenor pieces work really well as long as you can shove them on far enough. The other thing I have done is make c mel proportioned mouthpieces by slicing 1cm from the end of a tenor piece. That then allows them to work with a straight/microtuner type neck. I've done this with both a Chinese Sharkbite and a Rico Metalite. Both worked really well.

 

[milandro]

Aquilasax commissioned C melody saxophones and mouthpieces in China and for a while were the only ones reselling them. At a certain point, probably, their exclusivity agreement with the Chinese supplier expired and both saxophones and mouthpieces were made available to other resellers.

Sakkusu is the own brand from Sax.co.uk

 

[Jules]

A bit of clarification .We’ve never had Elkhart c-Melody saxes in, only the newer production Chinese ones- which are all tenor style neck with microtuners… a C-Melody Sakkusu with a tenor style neck would certainly be something that’s come via us.

 

[jonf]

Sorry, Jules, old bean, not with you. Tenor style neck with microtuners? I thought yours were all straight neck with microtuners, as in the piccy on your web site:

http://www.sax.co.uk/sakkusu-c-melody-saxophone-dark-gold-lacquer.ir

 

[Jules]

I am an idiot.... multitasking with kids ... alto with micro tuner..... alto with micro tuner .........alto with micro tuned

Sorry, Jules, old bean, not with you. Tenor style neck with microtuners? I thought yours were all straight neck with microtuners, as in the piccy on your web site:

http://www.sax.co.uk/sakkusu-c-melody-saxophone-dark-gold-lacquer.ir

 

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Thanks Jules - the pic I`ve got (tiny) is in a square type case, look similar to the Elkhart case my Alto is in , the neck could be an optical illusion but it`s looking to me like this horn maybe a tick logo Elkhart made TENOR and not a C melody at all .. I hope I`m wrong

 

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For the record, it turned out to be a Chinese made tenor and not a C-Melody at all ..

 

[jonf]

Boo

Keep your eyes peeled, another will turn up some time.

 

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This is the second time a horn advertised as a Sakkusu C melody turned out to be a Sakkusu something else - the first was an alto which at least had the right shaped neck and case .. one day a real one will turn up, I`m not going down the vintage route because most if not all will have the old USA style left pinkie table with the massive Bb and not the modern linked type one

 

[jonf]

Keep your eyes peeled an you might just come across an Aquilasax, you never know.

I also wouldn't judge all vintage Americana as the same. My Conn C mel has a much better left pinkie table than my Buescher True Tone alto and sop. Unless you have a very short left little finger you might find it OK, and the build quality of these old Conns is great. I do agree that the ergonomics of the very old (1930s and earlier) Buescher and Martins leaves a lot to be desired.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Are these any good? I've had some stuff off this seller and it's all been ok.

Are these Taishan?

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Professional-Musical-Shop?_dmd=2&_nkw=c+melody+saxophone

 

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I`ve not seen those before Colin and they`re quite a bit cheaper than the Chinese Sakkusu ones. maybe could be the same horn ? - how many makers are making C-Melodies ? .........

Jon, I understand that USA ergos vary but unless there`s a C-Melody with a Selmer/Yam/Yani style table (Tilting or otherwise) they`re out, I tried that with the excellent AmeriConn 14M and the Corton Tenor and the whole massive Bb / poke your finger down the middle to get the B business doesn`t work for me on a swapping between horns basis

 

[jonf]

Jon, I understand that USA ergos vary but unless there`s a C-Melody with a Selmer/Yam/Yani style table (Tilting or otherwise)

Nope, certainly none that are up the the standard of modern sax tables, in my experience. Looks like you're limited to a Sakkusu, Aquilasax or another similar modern Chinese one then. You do see them from time to time on the used market, but not very often. In fact, Aquilasax don't even seem to have any new ones in stock at the moment, so it looks as though the only current new distributor is sax.co.uk, unless you order direct from China from a company like the one in the link Colin posted.