Saxophones The Bauhaus Walstein Sax Owners Thread

[TonyMoroney]

Whilst we're on the subject of first gen Walsteins (pre-Italian leather pads etc) I've decided to buy one of the Curved Soprano's once they upgrade them to 2nd Gen (one of the stores that carries them told me that they're unlikely to upgraded before June).

I really like the compact size of them once they're all packed up, and as others have mentioned it's like having a mobile Tenor. Additionally, I can wait 6 months happilly, because I'm hoping my playing will have advanced to a sufficient standard to get more out of it than I would right now.

Does anyone else have on of the Walstein curved sops? Has anyone played it next to a straight sop? What are the major diffs other than size and shape (i.e. playability, stability, etc?)

Cheers

T.

 

[jonf]

Hi Tony

My Walstein is a curved one, and I like it very much. Although I haven't played it against a Walstein straight one, I do have a different straight sop as well. It's a decent vintage one, a Buescher True Tone. I find I prefer the curvy one. It feels to me more comfortable to play. Although some people complain curved sops feel a bit cramped, I find it fine despite having really big hands. It sits very naturally on the sling so I don't get the sore right thumb I get with playing the straight one without a sling.

A lot of people talk about curved sops giving a different sound to straight ones. To be honest, I doubt this, but I think the player hears a different sound, as it comes out much closer to the player's body. I reckon that helps with the intonation, which apart from a very flat top c# is better on the Walstein than the Buescher

Jon

 

[TomMapfumo]

I also have a curved one, which is great. Apparently Pete can't play it very well, so has to stick to straight ones 😛

Kind regards
Tom 8)

 

[TonyMoroney]

It was the intonation I was thinking of particularly, depending on which posts you read, some swear that the curved has better intonation others swear by the straight being a more stable horn. Although logic would dictate to me that the overall stability of the horn is as much to with the design, how well it was assembled and how well it's been setup as much as anything else. I'm particularly curious as to whether Pete or any of the Sax techs that frequent this forum have any opinion as to whether shape affects overall intonation/stability, etc?

If there's two thirds of sod all between straight or curved, then that'll seal the deal for me, as the compactness means I can take it away with me on my biz trips.

It's a shame the Rampone Curved Sop. hard case is half the price of the horn :laugh:

Am I right in assuming that there is only a single importer of Walstein?

Cheers

T.

 

[TomMapfumo]

1. ProTec do a really nice Curved Soprano case, which I use.
2. The 2 suppliers of BW's are www.woodwindandbrass.co.uk and www.studiosaxophones.co.uk (not sure whether wwb is the main importer or not?).

Kind regards
Tom 8)

 

[Pete Thomas]

I prefer the straight soprano because they feel better to me. I tend to think intonation on (any) curved sop is not so good but I could just be imagining that because I don't much like them.

 

[dooce]

Just as a point of interest, Simon (pjonah) and I compared our new sopranos yesterday - his is a basic Gear4Music, mine a Walstein. They are totally identical in almost every respect, even down to the etching on the bell. They clearly originated from the same factory/manufacturing process. The differences are that the body of the Walstein is of course phosphor bronze, and the G4M is laquered brass, mine has a serial number etched on it, and has a better case.

Simon reckoned the action on mine was a tad lighter, but I honestly could not detect any difference. Good on Simon for bagging a bargain!

 

[Pete Thomas]

dooce wrote:
Just as a point of interest, Simon (pjonah) and I compared our new sopranos yesterday - his is a basic Gear4Music, mine a Walstein. They are totally identical in almost every respect, even down to the etching on the bell. They clearly originated from the same factory/manufacturing process.

Not at all. There are quite a few apparently identical instruments from different factories/manufacturers. See Stephen Howard's comments on another thread.


I'm not saying that G4M saxophones are bad or not a bargain, it's just that I would assume they are the same as a Walstein because they look the same.

 

[dooce]

I can only interpret what we saw. Simon and I did not compare the instruments superficially - we examined the details very, very closely and were both convinced that they were, to all intents and purposes, identical.

I am not a disgruntled Walstein owner and really couldn't give a stuff who sells what versions of what seems to be the same instrument - I still rate the instrument and so far as I know it represents good value.

But what Simon writes is absolutely correct and I would challenge anyone to find any material difference between the 2 instruments.

 

[ByteOfTheCherry]

I was wondering about the Gear4 bass Sax compared to the sax.co, i looked closely at the pictures spotted a few differences but the gear4 one is markedly cheaper, really hoping somone gets to reveiw one of these...

 

[Pete Thomas]

dooce wrote:
I can only interpret what we saw. Simon and I did not compare the instruments superficially - we examined the details very, very closely and were both convinced that they were, to all intents and purposes, identical.

As you inspect closer, you find that two "identical" Walsteins can be quite different (but I guess that is normal for hand made instruments).

 

[Pjonah]

For what its worth I can only concur with what Dooce has said, apart from the base metal, they are totally identical, even down to the decorations, every foot, rib, barel, arm etc. The only difference we noted was a slight variation to the position of the high F# and G cups, but on closer inspection that was more an alignment of the cup arm. Oh the other addition being the Serial #.

The case is better on the Walstein and they ditched the white gloves, what is it with the white gloves?

Playing them one after the other, they feel the same and sound the same, albeit we didn't have an extended play test and to be honest both Dooce and I are total noobies to the Soprano, so maybe we're not the best to comment on tonality between the two. We could not detect any difference in the weight of these two instruments (we didn't have any scales to test that though).

I read Stephen Howard's recent comments with great interest, but I would gladly invite anybody to look at these two side by side and tell me they were manufactured at different factories, not withstanding base metal issues, there is quite a casm when it comes to price.

I would also add the phosphor Bronze or Rose Brass body looks stunningly better than the laquered brass finish of the G4M. But beware all that glistens....etc.

Not wishing to upset the BW owners club, the BW is a very impressive instrument and as a package represents amazing value for money. The G4M is the somewhat poorer cousin, but does I think represent even better value for money on balance. Just my opinion though.

Simon

 

[Pjonah]

ByteOfTheCherry wrote:
I was wondering about the Gear4 bass Sax compared to the sax.co, i looked closely at the pictures spotted a few differences but the gear4 one is markedly cheaper, really hoping somone gets to reveiw one of these...

I own two G4M instruments and both are excellent, but I should qualify that a little.

The one main critisism I have of G4M is the instruments, in the case of the Soprano was totally unplayable out of the box. It took a good hour and a half to set it up. The alto was similarly unplayable for pretty much the same reasons.

After removal of all the corks used to wedge lock the mechanism the pads were so sticky it was unbelievable. Also the springs were set too stiff for my liking so needed backing off.

These issues have all been sorted, which if you read Stephen Howards advice, its worth spending money to get the instruments professionally set up. You will have a half decent horn by then.

As for the Bass's I personally could never justify the cost of ownership, you would have to be either very serious about wanting a bass or just have a lot of disposable income, I have neither so apart from having a quick blast on one, I don't foresee a day when I will be wheeling one of those bad boys around, impressive though it may be!

 

[daveysaxboy]

Was there much between them in the sound department.

 

[Smiffy]

close up of the G4M

380 voom in

http://tinyurl.com/99drjr

 

[Pjonah]

david keighley wrote:
Was there much between them in the sound department.

Both Dooce and I are experience players with at least 60 years playing between us, but we are both new to Sopranos. We couldn't detect any noticable difference when switching between the two, but thats not to say someone like Pete wouldn't notice a difference.

There was recently a post on here about the other G4M Soprano (Rosedale-Intermediate), which was pitted against the mighty Yanagisawa Sop and it faired remarkably well.

In the right hands its obvious these instruments are capable of turning in astounding results for the cost.


And if I'm honest I don't like being a poor cousin!

 

[Smiffy]

Had a look at the G4M Tenor, the engraving is the same as on the Walstein

 

[stephen_howard]

With regard to the engraving, it's quite probable that a template is used - and that template is used by a number of factories.
It's pretty clear that most of the Chinese horn are being built to some common standards, and that a great many parts are interchangeable.
What ultimately defines each brand is who makes the body, and how they go about it.
I know exactly where the G4M horns are being built, as I do the Walsteins and a number of other brands.

The simple test is to give the horns a blow. The body material will be insignificant - what will make the difference is how accurately and well made the body tube is, and therein lies the all-important difference.
The new Wasltein bari looks remarkably similar to my G4M, but knocks it into a cocked hat in terms of tuning, tone and evenness. Even if you believe that body material makes a difference there's no way it would have such a significant effect ( unless you figure that phosphor bronze is more in tune than brass ).


Regards,

 

[dooce]

The one main critisism I have of G4M is the instruments, in the case of the Soprano was totally unplayable out of the box. It took a good hour and a half to set it up. The alto was similarly unplayable for pretty much the same reasons.

And my Walstein came straight out of the box and was capable of playing recognisable Christmas carols to my enthralled >.< workmates. Apart from my bodging with the octave mechanism (see earlier posts), it has required no attention whatsoever. And it looks gorgeous.

Stephen has a point - I guess somewhere there's a factory banging out bodies, somewhere else there's a factory banging out mechanisms, and in various places there are other factories sticking them together, in more or less caring and sympathetic ways.

After all, for years they made VW Beetles in Brazil and Hillman Hunters in Iraq from bits exported from the originating countries, and no-one would ever know the difference!

 

[Pjonah]

It's a curious world we live in folks!

They'll be making Jaguars in India next.... 😡