Straight(ish) soprano

[Bobby G]

I've realised, now that I've been playing it for a while, what I don't like about my straight soprano. My right thumb doesn't rest comfortably, and also my left thumb is snagged slightly by the sling - I know I don't really need a sling, but this helps alleviate the right thumb discomfort somewhat.

What I am wondering is if it is possible to put a very slight bend in the crook without affecting the intonation - probably only about 10deg. Unfortunately the crook is not removeable.

Cheers, Bob

 

[Saxlicker]

OOOF! 😱
That sounds really tough and unpractical to me, though probably not impossible.
Sure, someone would be prepared to try it but I've never heard of it being done before and as it wasn't built that way initially I guess the results regarding intonation and everything else, including cosmetics must be hit and miss regarding level of success.
Very tricky....

Incidently I felt exactly the same way with my YSS675 which had the curved neck (thats unusual because I think they are normally supplied with straight).
It also had an adjustable thumb hook but I never found a comfortable position. The strap helped but at the same time restricted freedom I wanted from such a light instrument.
I suppose if soprano figures high in your 'must play' list then you'd get used to it.

That wasn't to be for me...so my answer was to trade it for a yanagisawaSC901.

 

[Pete Thomas]

I would try that only if you thought it was a disposable soprano. I would imgaine maybe 10 - 20% chance of success as opposed to 80-90% landfill soprano.

 

[Bobby G]

So taking the octave mech off, putting the thin end in a vice and giving the thick end a bit of a yank not good, eh?

Oh well, I'll just have to live with it. I suppose it's worth it as it does sound rather nice. Even though it was very cheap (under a ton) I don't want to ruin it.

Tinker-curbingly yours, Bob

 

[Pete Thomas]

Bob Green wrote:
So taking the octave mech off, putting the thin end in a vice and giving the thick end a bit of a yank not good, eh?

No.

At the very least use a plumber's pipe bending tool.

But you could try it on a cheap Gear4music sop first. Actually no point they come with two necks anyway.

 

[Saxlicker]

Bob Green wrote:
So taking the octave mech off, putting the thin end in a vice and giving the thick end a bit of a yank not good, eh?

LOL :laugh:
Maybe you should do a Dizzy Gillespie and sit on it! 😛

If a serious attempt were made, I suppose the neck would be either heated and persuaded to fit over some kind of cleverly designed fixture inside.
Or packing the neck with ICE to stop it crushing.

 

[Bobby G]

Ok, looking at it from another angle - the ring where the sling is attached, would it be possible to fix another ring of a similar size to that ring? In effect this would make the point at which the sling is 'joined' to the sax that little bit further from the body of the sax, which would stop the l.h. thumb snag problem

Lateral-thinkingly yours, Bob

 

[oliver_bentley]

well if you were to bend it, the best way to do it is to fill it with sand. This would stop the nect creasing in just one place, but give a smooth bend. Especially if you could find a plumbers pipe bender to match as Pete said.

There is then the slight problem of a sax full of sand that would get everywhere and is probably not advisable at all! mmm sandy action.

You could put sand or similar in a bag or something inside, but its sure to leak, and probably not fit tight enough to be effective. If you could get it in and find an apropriate bending mechanism that wouldn't damage your sax it may work :S but thats probably no easy thing.

Could give it to my old man - few years back he was somewhat partial to bending things over his knee n giving em some welly. Thing is your sax prob wont take too kindly to a blet buckle. :erm:

 

[spike]

Edit out late night ramblings.

 

[Bobby G]

Saxlicker wrote:

Maybe you should do a Dizzy Gillespie and sit on it! 😛

So *that's* how he ended up with a sticky-up trumpet. There was me thinking it was ergonomically designed and precision engineered for best clarity and projection of tone. Etc. Well, y'learn.

 

[Bobby G]

Thanks Spike, I look forward to finding out more on the deutsche ringpull.

Thanks to everyone else for various suggestions - I don't think I'll try any of them, I was mainly interested to see if bending a straight sop neck was feasible. On balance, I'd say not!

Cheers, Bob

p.s. best phrase of this thread; "landfill soprano". I liked that! Good name for a band or CD, I think

 

[spike]

my memory functioning again, the guys name is Wolf Codera and you'll find his product (adjustasomething) at: www.Codera.de with pics illustrating the advantages I struggled to describe yesterday. May or may not be of use to you, nor anyone else for that matter, having a sax adjusted so that it's permanently in yer face, spells like dental bills to me. However, int'resting idea.

 

[Bobby G]

Interesting, yes, but a bit of a 'sledgehammer to crack a walnut' approach for my problem.

I've alleviated the l.h. thumb snag by changing my sling and playing at a slightly different angle, so I think things could be ok now.

Cheers, Bob