Saxophones Straight Soprano Good, Curved Soprano Bad

[Targa]

Personally I'm not bothered. My saxes ain't for looking at.

Curved sop feels more like a saxophone to me. ...... Looks very nice on the end of a stand of Bari, tenor, alto and sop with a clarinet on a peg at the other end.
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Not the first man to have his mind changed by a curvy soprano.

 

[Colin the Bear]

BipolarBear

 

[kevgermany]

One thing to watch on the cheap ones with interchangeable necks is neck fit. Two of mine have had wobbly, poor fittings necks which leaked and made playing difficult. One had a straight neck which wobbled, didn't leak, played ok, but it's companion curved neck was close to unplayable until I took it to the tech for fitting.

 

[MandyH]

Straight for me - with a curved neck. I think the curved sop looks like a toy. Feels like one too. I've had straight and curved sops. 2 of each. Didn't notice any difference in blow-ability, once set up properly. One thing I did notice is that some leaks seem to make them a lot more resistive/harder to blow. I'd love a better straight sop, but can't justify the money. The current Jericho is more than Ok.

Me too....my Yanigasawa 992 has both necks, but I prefer the curved one. Sticking the sop out in front somehow feels wrong (even though I also play clarinet!)

 

[Colin the Bear]

And then we come to the saxello. Bit curved, bit straight, bit rare. Bit nice?

 

[nigeld]

And then we come to the saxello. Bit curved, bit straight, bit rare. Bit nice?

. . . bit expensive!

But it is pretty.

 

[Colin the Bear]

Sound nice too.

 

[Nick Wyver]

I've got 3 sops. A one-piece straight Yanag S6 that I've had for 35 years, a Yanag S991 (with 2 necks - I usually play the curved) and a Bauhaus Walstein CSS-PD curved. For amplified gigs I use the BW, for acoustic ones I use the S991. From a playing point of view there's not a great deal in it. Playing acoustically, a lot more of the bell sounds reach your ears with the curved sop, so it sounds significantly brighter. At a distance there's much less difference.

 

[Jules]

I've got 3 sops. A one-piece straight Yanag S6 that I've had for 35 years, a Yanag S991 (with 2 necks - I usually play the curved) and a Bauhaus Walstein CSS-PD curved. For amplified gigs I use the BW, for acoustic ones I use the S991. From a playing point of view there's not a great deal in it. Playing acoustically, a lot more of the bell sounds reach your ears with the curved sop, so it sounds significantly brighter. At a distance there's much less difference.

Absolutely with you on this. Curved sopranos are vastly easier to play amplified (or, to be more accurate, easier to mic up) but -from out front, pretty much indistinguishable from straight ones sound wise...

 

[Rosemary Joy]

Once upon a time . . .

About 4 months ago I bought my first soprano saxophone. It was pure GAS - I had bari, tenor and alto, and I wanted the full set. I tried holding a straight and a curved soprano, and the curved felt more comfortable, so that’s what I decided to get. I had heard people say the sound is a bit more direct with a straight, but I didn’t think this would matter much for a beginner - comfort seemed more important.

I bought an Elkhart 300 (Taiwanese) curved soprano sax on eBay and I have had a love/hate relationship with it ever since. I find it hard work to blow, and I have difficulty with the bell notes (motor-boating). I have kept going, but it hasn’t been enough fun, and I would have given up on sop if it wasn’t for my teacher’s encouragement. Initially there were some leaks, which didn’t help, but these have been fixed. And I have a good mouthpiece, so that’s not the problem.

The soprano is probably always going to be an occasional instrument for me - my favourite sax is tenor, and the one I mostly play at the moment is baritone, so unless I can get to the stage where I can pick up the soprano and fairly soon make an OK noise by my standards, it’s not worth bothering. (I am fully aware that this expectation may be unreasonable, but I didn’t get where I am today be being reasonable!) And I think I can make an OK noise on a good day (my teacher tells me I can), but it feels like hard work blowing the thing.

Then a short while ago I was in Dawkes shop, trying out baritone mouthpieces, and I thought I would find out what it feels like to play a different soprano, so I asked to try some. (I thank the staff in Dawkes for their helpfulness and patience.) So first I played a straight and then a curved Yanagisawa 991. The straight Yani was wonderful - easy to blow and with a lovely clear tone - perfect. It was how I had hoped a soprano sax would feel and sound. I want one! But the curved Yani felt stuffy and harder to blow in comparison - in fact it felt just like my curved Elkhart.

The difference between straight and curved surprised me - I had assumed that there would be very little in it. Even the tone on the curved Yani seemed stuffy compared with the straight one. (I know that things might sound different to a listener 10 feet away, but frankly I don’t care - I care about what it sounds like to me.) Obviously it’s possible that I was comparing a very good straight Yani with a less well set up curved one, but it got me speculating about whether straight saxes are easier to play than curved. I think the difference I noticed is what people call “resistance” - the curved sax was more resistant than the straight one. And I realised that I really, really don’t like a resistant sax.

I can’t justify the cost of a Yani for very occasional use, so while I was in Dawkes, I also tried a curved Elkhart Deluxe, which I liked more than the curved Yani, and a straight Jupiter 500 series, which I didn’t like at all - it seemed thin and weedy compared to the Elkhart.

In my search for the perfect soprano that doesn’t cost much, I decided to get a second-hand Elkhart Deluxe straight soprano. I ended up buying a “tick logo” Sakkusu in the Cafe Yard Sale. (There is a long Cafe thread about these being more-or-less the same as the Elkharts.) It’s not a Yani, but it is definitely easier to play than my curved Elkhart 300, and I think it has a clearer tone. I can play bottom C and Bb without difficulty and it doesn’t feel as if I am blowing into a paper bag. Intonation is not as precise as the 300 - it’s wayward at the top if I’m not careful, but it’s controllable.

I find that a fully straight soprano feels a bit uncomfortable, but the curved neck makes it OK for me, and the keywork on a straight sop somehow feels a bit more spacious that a curvy one. (It’s not - I checked them side by side.)

Caveat: I’m a newish and not very good saxophone player, and I have only been playing soprano for 4 months. It is very probable that an accomplished player will have a different view of the merits of curved and straight sopranos. But for me, at the moment, it seems that straight is easier and more satisfying to play than curved.

So, based on a statistically-insignificant sample of 4 saxes, I have become a convert to the straight soprano and I feel it is my duty to preach to the unenlightened curvy-worshipping masses. If you are like me - just getting a soprano for a bit of fun, then my advice, for what it’s worth, is to get a straight one, possibly with a curved neck. You know it makes sense!

How interesting I found your post. I am currently learning on a curved soprano but also want to try a straight for comparison. I have very small hands. Do you think this would affect ability to play the straight one. I do not have loads of money. Would it be worth buying a cheap one do you think (say under £200) just to see how I get on?

 

[nigeld]

How interesting I found your post. I am currently learning on a curved soprano but also want to try a straight for comparison. I have very small hands. Do you think this would affect ability to play the straight one. I do not have loads of money. Would it be worth buying a cheap one do you think (say under £200) just to see how I get on?

My posting was tongue in cheek, but personally I have not found a curvy soprano that I liked playing - and that includes trying a couple of Yanagisawas. However, I am a beginner, and other players don't find much difference between straight and curvy, so I may be odd.

I compared the key layout on a curved and a straight soprano and it was the same. But these were both Elkharts, and a different manufacturer might have different spacing. Holding the straight one out in front does get tiring, so the curvy is more comfortable to hold.

You need to try both sorts to find out which you yourself prefer.

I have been trying out sopranos recently, and for what it's worth, my current view is that one should either pay less than £300 or more than £1800. (The exceptions to this rule would be a used Yamaha 475 or a vintage soprano.) It is possible to get a good used Chinese or Taiwanese soprano for under £300, and the next step up from that would be a Yamaha or a Yanagisawa or a Sequoia. Personally, I like the Elkhart Deluxe and Sakkusu "Tick-Logo" models - made in Taiwan. But intonation on cheap sopranos can vary a lot from instrument to instrument, even ones that are supposedly identical, so you need to try them.

 

[Jazzaferri]

I hope @Sopranoplanet will comment here.

If I recall his words correctly a curvy sounds a little more saxophone like and straights are a little more direct. Joe plays a straight I believe because altissimo is easier???clearer???? cant remember.

Oh, and I play a straight Keilwerth SX90II. Had a straight SMLthat came to a sad end.

 

[Sopranoplanet]

Be careful what you wish for ! 🙂

I think it's all what you like or don't like. I don't have a preference for curvies myself but I loved a Borgani Jubilee curvy I played and would consider having one as good as that, no question. I've never played a Yani curvy that I liked but I never played their curvy version of their 902 and I suspect that I might have a different opinion of it, as every 902 I've played I really liked a lot.

A lot of the intonation issues on curvies is due to the bends and the wrong mouthpiece set-up (meaning mostly chamber size and shape, and facing length) bring out the worst of it. A correctly balanced mouthpiece can solve almost all of the intonation peculiarities of most curvies, vintage or modern, except for some of the really cheap horns of the last 5 years or so.

But, play what feels and sounds right for you. Garbarek plays/played an Itailian curvy made for the military a long time ago and he has one of the great sounds and impeccable intonation.

 

[aldevis]

I've never played a Yani curvy that I liked but I never played their curvy version of their 902 and I suspect that I might have a different opinion of it, as every 902 I've played I really liked a lot.

I played a Yanny (old model) for quite a while, before getting my current soprano.
A student of mine just acquired a curved Yanni, a 992 (bronze body).
I must say that the difference with the basic lacquered model was pretty astonishing, soundwise. I tried two 992 against one basic.

A lot of the intonation issues on curvies is due to the bends and the wrong mouthpiece set-up (meaning mostly chamber size and shape, and facing length) bring out the worst of it. A correctly balanced mouthpiece can solve almost all of the intonation peculiarities of most curvies, vintage or modern, except for some of the really cheap horns of the last 5 years or so.

I worked on curved necks with Sequoia, trying several chamber size mouthpieces, and the tuning issue is not easy. Compared with a straight neck it is "different". Of course practise can make it play in tune, but it is not straight forward. The possible solution in the neck design also causes a thinner high register, exactly where the maker is so proud of his creation. Hopefully one day we'll have Joe's direct opinion.

If I am not wrong @billbluesnjazz plays a Sopranoplanet on a Sequoia curved neck, but I am not sure.

 

[Andrew Sanders]

@Colin the Bear plays a curved one too if I recall correctly🙂

Jx

No. That's his tie-pin.

 

[billbluesnjazz]

@aldevis I tend to mix and match at the moment. By that I mean that for a really warm dark sound I like the curved neck on the Sequoia, and use either a Sopranoplanet Open Sky 2 or Missing Link. I find the OS 2 louder and more open and the Missing Link softer and a bit less brash if that is the right term oh and I have recently also acquired Ed Pillinger's SL, which is a fantastic piece, giving a wonderful range of tone, to my ears at least.

My curvy is an old Yani 991 SC, with the old layout of bell tone holes on the LHS and neat arrangement of LH pinky keys. I have tried many more modern curved Yanis, new bronze 992 several examples, 991 new and old, and have yet to find any that play as well as my old one. Differences? Response, projection, tone, volume and so on. This is not just my opinion, but that of professionals and technicians who have played my Yani.

I still find the Yani a marvellous horn, with fantastic slick action and a completely different sound to the Sequoia. I would be happy playing either. I use the same three pieces on the Yani, sometimes swapping for a PJ or J from Ed Pillinger.

I like a soprano to sound like a saxophone, not a strangled oboe, so that probably influences my choices somewhat! 😉

 

[jazzdoh]

My curvy is an old Yani 991 SC, with the old layout of bell tone holes on the LHS and neat arrangement of LH pinky keys. I have tried many more modern curved Yanis, new bronze 992 several examples, 991 new and old, and have yet to find any that play as well as my old one. Differences? Response, projection, tone, volume and so on. This is not just my opinion, but that of professionals and technicians who have played my Yani.

Yes i have found this too,i have a Yani curved from this era left side bell tone holes and have not found any sopranos better.

 

[jazzdoh]

Not sure why my post above is brown, must have tagged on to Aldevis from Bill's post

 

[kevgermany]

Not sure why my post above is brown, must have tagged on to Aldevis from Bill's post

Fixed, the tags were messed up

 

[Colin the Bear]

It's all about practicality, comfort and playabilty for me. A straight sop feels cumbersome to me. There doesn't seem to be a way of letting it hang on a sling so I feel like I'm trying to hold it and play it at the same time. Scared of dropping it too. The curved sop just hangs on the sling and lets my fingers dance. I can take a hand off to adjust the PA volume or scratch my...nose or adjust my specs. I can even let it dangle and pick up the clarinet or the mic to sing. I suppose it's more to do with doubling and multi tasking than sound.

I can hear more difference in sound between mouthpiece and reed than straight or curved. The Yanis are very nice. All of them. Drool. I wish...one day...