Accessories Soprano accessories - shopping list

[greenstripe]

Dipping my toe in the water of soprano saxophone and looking at accessories etc.

I've bought a second hand straight one piece soprano from eBay - unfortunately it has been chronically over oiled, and as a result of this all of the corks are falling off. I've left it with Paul Carrington for a full strip & clean plus setup, he also showed me that it has a slight bend in the body. Hopefully it won't be too expensive to sort as there's not much point in spending a lot on it - I got it for £175. Brand new the sax is currently £400 - it's a Gear 4 Music own brand Rosedale: https://www.gear4music.com/Woodwind-Brass-Strings/Rosedale-Intermediate-Soprano-Saxophone-By-Gear4music/8N0

So baring in mind that this particular saxophone may be a non-starter, I'm shopping for accessories that would work for this or another soprano - I will probably stay with a straight body - but not necessarily one piece (straight neck).

Included mouthpiece and ligature were laughably bad - forgot to photograph these (currently in the case at Mr Carrington's) - tip rail on mouthpiece has the tip rail clearly sloping to one side and the ligature is equally wonky.

Ordered the following bits so far:

Mouthpiece: Yamaha 4C
Reed: Légère American Cut 2.0
Ligature: Rovner RV1RVS
Cleaning swab: BG A33C - I bought this one as it has a string at each end and can pulled back out easily

Still to buy:

Looking at stands - trying to decide between the K&M 15290 or the Hercules DB531BB - does anyone have experience of these or other suggestions? Will be for home use only at this point.

Anything else I may have missed?

 

[Numerouscolours]

I don't own a Soprano however, Hercules is my recommendation, (and what I use for Alto & Tenor, both at home and one in the gig bag). If you are lucky enough to not have to put it back in the box each day (and assuming you have other horns), you can get ones that will hold Sop, Alto & Tenor.

I would also consider a sling/strap, I know a few people who don't use them but it might be good idea

 

[Pete Thomas]

I know a few people who don't use them

There's a good reason for that because there is no good way to play a straight soprano with a strap because it forces you to either have the mouthpiece pointing downwards out of your mouth (not good) or you have to point your whole head downwards which is not good for your neck, and breathing I imagine, and certainly not good for any kind of stage performance. I always think that if a soprano is too heavy to play with a correct embouchure and posture, best to go with something else.

 

[DavidUK]

Pete, out of interest do you prefer the straight or curved neck when playing a sop with that choice?

 

[SaxBoss]

This is a matter of opinion, but, only if you are a complete newby to sax playing, my basic go to in the mouthpiece department is the Yamaha 5c or 6c. Is there a special reason you chose the 4c?

 

[Numerouscolours]

Pete - Thanks for the info, as I say I don't play sop, but like DavidUK question, what's the difference between a straight and curved Soprano (apart from the obvious ). Is there much in the sound produced?

 

[Colin the Bear]

If you have a stand for another saxophone, it may have a hole to accommodate a straight soprano peg.
My Samson baritone stand accommodates an alto stand and a clarinet or soprano peg.

As has been discussed, at length in this forum, a curved soprano sounds much the same as a straight one. The curved is more accomodating to wearing a sling.

 

[DavidUK]

Pete - Thanks for the info, as I say I don't play sop, but like DavidUK question, what's the difference between a straight and curved Soprano (apart from the obvious ). Is there much in the sound produced?

I was asking Pete about straight or curved necks on a straight sop, not about straight or curved bodied sops. Just to clarify.

 

[greenstripe]

I do indeed have alto and tenor saxophones - I use a JazzLab Saxholder Pro sling with those -but it doesn't work for the soprano while playing as the string angle is too low meaning that it makes contact with the right hand thumb and doesn't really provide any useful support.

There is a product specifically for straight soprano saxophones called ErgoSax not sure I need this right now though

This is a matter of opinion, but, only if you are a complete newby to sax playing, my basic go to in the mouthpiece department is the Yamaha 5c or 6c. Is there a special reason you chose the 4c?

For me it's embouchure training, personally, having a big mouthpiece opening makes it easy to use slightly too much pressure and throw out the intonation, best to get used to playing on something smaller and then go bigger once settled. The mouthpiece I get on best with on alto saxophone is a Theo Wanne Water which they describe as a 3 (0.061" or 1.5494mm) I have others (bigger tip) but this is the one I go back to and to my mind sound best on. Happy to play between a 4 and a 7 on tenor - the 4 can feel a little limiting so I have the Yamaha 4C, 7C and and ESM Jazz which is a 6

Both of the stands I'm looking at can be fitted on a to the peg holder of another stand if required. I'm not going to be doing gigs anytime soon due to personal situation and musical ability (or lack of!)

 

[Nick Wyver]

I also couldn’t decide between the K&M and the Hercules, so I made one myself.
I have a Yanag 991 with both necks. I use them both because I have the straight one set up to fit a Vandoren mpc and the curved to fit a PPT. They have slightly different shank dimensions. I have no particular preference and only very occasionally use a sling with the curved one.
Yamaha 4C is a perfectly fine mouthpiece to start with.

 

[Pete Thomas]

Pete, out of interest do you prefer the straight or curved neck when playing a sop with that choice?

I prefer straight soprano.

what's the difference between a straight and curved Soprano (apart from the obvious ). Is there much in the sound produced?

I don't think there's any significant difference. They may sound different to the player and anyone close up as the bell upwards. But from a distance or in a studio I don't think so.

 

[DavidUK]

I prefer straight soprano.


I don't think there's any significant difference. They may sound different to the player and anyone close up as the bell upwards. But from a distance or in a studio I don't think so.

Pete, what I was trying to ask is...

Take a straight soprano, one which has removable necks and comes with both a straight neck and one which is slightly curved. Which of these necks do you prefer to use?

@Nick Wyver - when you say you use either neck on your straight Yani, do you have a preference? Which do you pick up more often and is this due to the MP or due to the positioning of the sax in front of you when playing, i.e. lower down with the curved neck or higher up with the straight one?

 

[Pete Thomas]

Which of these necks do you prefer to use?

Probably the straight one

 

[lydian]

I have the K&M stand (actually a cheap copy of one ). Very convenient and stable.

Leger 2.0 seems awfully soft for a 4C. Also Legere isn’t great in the upper register. Stick with cane.

I also question the Rovner. I could have sworn my Yamaha included a cap and lig.

The swab is personal preference. Just realize a pad saver won’t fit if you have an in bell stand like the K&M.

I actually do use a neck strap on straight sop if I’m playing a long time, more than an hour. It’s pretty awkward but it beats having a sore thumb. The best thing you can do to save your thumb is hold the horn straight out in front of you like Kenny G.

But in the vast majority of my soprano gigs, it’s a double, so it’s have plenty of time to rest my thumb which means no strap needed. Also your thumb will get stronger over time. And since sop is usually a double, some sort of long strap for the a case is nice to have.

 

[Nick Wyver]

@Nick Wyver - when you say you use either neck on your straight Yani, do you have a preference? Which do you pick up more often and is this due to the MP or due to the positioning of the sax in front of you when playing, i.e. lower down with the curved neck or higher up with the straight one?

I don’t think I do have a preference. It’s more to do with which mouthpiece I’m using. I spent about 40 years playing one piece straight sops so I’m pretty much used to holding the thing up. When I got the 991 it was nice to have the option but something in me feels like it ought to be straight. Which one I play most entirely depends on what I’m working on at the time.

 

[greenstripe]

I also question the Rovner. I could have sworn my Yamaha included a cap and lig.

I've been playing since December 2019 and have bought 4 Yamaha mouthpieces: all new including 2 direct from Yamaha -none of them have come with caps or ligatures. Perhaps they used to, but they don't now.

 

[skeller047]

I vote for the K&M stand. I have one, and it’s great.

Swab, for a straight horn I would use a pad saver (HW brand only, as they don’t shed fibers). A pull through is asking for trouble, even with two strings. Don’t keep it in the horn if it’s wet…

Reeds, I’m with @lydian. I’ve tried Legere on both tenor and soprano, I could have made it work on tenor (but why?) but on soprano it was just awful. I still have those reeds, not sure why I didn’t toss them…

Try D’Addario Select Jazz or Vandoren Java. Buy one of those fantastic D’Addario reed holders for less than $10.

Mouthpiece, a Selmer is a great step up from the Yamaha. The Concept gets a lot of praise, but I really like the Super Session. E or F opening.

All just my opinion of course.

 

[nigeld]

I have the K&M soprano stand and I recommend it highly. It can fold up and fit in the bell for transport.

 

[greenstripe]

I'm enjoying the replies and lively discussion. Most of you are probably way better musicians than I'll ever be. I like synthetic reeds because they are consistent -I am not. It's a good way of keeping myself in check: if I sound rubbish compared to yesterday, then I know it's all me.

I can always use Légère's reed exchange program if the reed proves too soft for me.

My go to on tenor and alto is D'addario Venn but they don't make them for soprano yet and I've got on well with Légère in the past.

 

[greenstripe]

Saxophone back from Mr Carrington - £52 - he wasn't able to straighten as sax it was probably made that way and it would cause the pillars to be out of alignment. Otherwise it plays absolutely fine.

I've only had a proper play on it for about 30 mins so far

I bought the KM stand - it does exactly what it says on the tin - seems very stable, slight rattle from the metal feet when it's folded up for storage but that is splitting hairs

Swab works well - might still buy a HW 659 padsaver -it did come with a cheap nasty one but that's going in the bin along with the white gloves also included