Saxophones Vibrato 'nude' sax

[C_Claudemonster]

As we're talking about the new saxes that sax.co.uk has to offer I have just noticed they have also introduced a 'nude' or clear polycarbonate alto sax in the vibrato range for £599. The prices of the other vibrato saxes have also shot up by about £100?! What is going on?!! lol, I'd quite like one of the clear saxes but ain't gonna pay £599 for it, that's a bit ridiculous. They're also saying that there are only 100 being made and each is stamped with a number on to say which yours is out of the 100. Give it 6 months and I'm sure Taiwan can churn out another batch.
Having moaned about the saxes and prices I have to say sax.co stock some fantastic saxes and their customer service is second to none. They can't do enough for you and I've been back a few times this year - so they cater for all likes/dislikes! 🙂

 

[MMM]

Yes, it's all to do with the price of plastic shooting up, soon we'll see in the high streets signs with "We buy you unwanted plastic" or "Best price for your plastic here!"

Things are really getting out of hand, also reading the mixed reviews these receive. IMO, there was a point to plastic saxes when metal was expensive (ie after WWII), but I just don't see the point of them now (other than their weight and novelty value).

 

[jonf]

Yes, I pretty much agree with the above. I'm a repeated and self-indulgent purchaser of saxes, and had they been, say £250 I'm pretty sure I'd have had one. But not at their current price - think about how it would compare to something like a Jericho and it comes into sharp focus.

The one point I can see is the weight. If you have a serious issue with hands, particularly thumbs, it may well be the only sax you could play. They really are dramatically light.

 

[milandro]

The one point I can see is the weight. If you have a serious issue with hands, particularly thumbs, it may well be the only sax you could play. They really are dramatically light.

Yes, 1 Kg. Nice. How many people do actually really NEED this feature?


Incidentally, Vibrato saxes are made in Thailand not Taiwan. Some folks know that I have been thinking of becoming a distributor for these things, before they came on the market.Then I was one of the first few buyers of the first batch and returned it and consequently abandoned any such (in my view foolish) project to sell those things.

The last “ development” clearly (PUN! 🙂 ) shows the novelty content of this product (well it shows mainly condensed breath!).

Have they made 100 pieces to sell around the world?

They probably will.

Some folks would simply buy them because they are quirky, a conversation piece for the collector or an eye catcher if someone will be so brave as to actually gig with this sax (it would make a great playback accessory is some TV program by the way!).

As to a sensible reason why buying a Vibratosax, clear plastic or otherwise, my position about them has been made public many times before.......don’t (unless you are doing this for collecting purposes).

They are too expensive to be cheap, to small to actually be offering some real and generally felt as needed solace because of their light weight.

Not a student horn (because a kid would probably destroy some of the delicate bits and pieces as in the neck octave key for example) , not a pro horn (no need to tell you why) , in a nutshell not a useful horn anyway really.

Any product, has to have a reason why and I still cannot figure which is vibratosax’s

 

[What]

I have not had a chance to play one of these, and would give one a go if I saw one in a shop, but I just can't see it. There is this feeling I get off of them from the pics, that maybe they are just not quite done yet. Now in a few years, we might be talking differently, but for the time being I have to pass.

If they were to offer a test period on one where it would be swapped about and we could give feedback on the good and the bad, I would be glad to help. If they really want to make something of quality this would be a great way to improve on their instruments.

 

[milandro]

I have figured one product’s plus that they are not using and that is the fact that this is the first horn for vegans in the world.

 

[RMorgan]

Hey folks,

I had never really understood why these Vibrato saxophones are so expensive!

Really, the strong point of making a saxophone out of injection molded plastic is because it´s much cheaper and faster to produce than brass or other metallic alloys.

Everything in the production line is automatic and there´s almost zero manual labor involved compared to the regular saxophone production methods.

I´m not sure their products will be successful with that price tag. Probably they´ll just vanish in the next couple of years.

Cheers,

Raf.

 

[jazzdoh]

I tried one in London but was not impressed.
I know it would be difficult but these would have made more sense as tenor or baritone,but I'm sure it was manufacturing the bigger saxes that was the problem.

Brian

 

[saxplorer]

I think there would be issues with stiffness of this material on bigger saxes ... does make you think, though, what new materials in the future might be around, and what saxes made of those materials might be like.

http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2008/jul/17/graphene-has-record-breaking-strength

A graphene sax anyone? (and a whole new debate on the influence of material on tone!)

 

[spike]

Just ordered a couple of Jiggs Whigham pBones in yellow and green, if I swop the slides out I'll have two duotone bones. I can do a decent 12 bar bavarian blues solo on a green plastic watering can, so it'll probly be a blast at this year's round of company party gigs. Do the Kardashians have pink plastic bell bottoms in their clothes collection? I've got some yeller gardner wellies and a frilly pink top to round out the outfit. Now I just need a Barbie Handbag for my mouthpieces and reeds.

 

[kevgermany]

Just ordered a couple of Jiggs Whigham pBones in yellow and green, if I swop the slides out I'll have two duotone bones. I can do a decent 12 bar bavarian blues solo on a green plastic watering can, so it'll probly be a blast at this year's round of company party gigs. Do the Kardashians have pink plastic bell bottoms in their clothes collection? I've got some yeller gardner wellies and a frilly pink top to round out the outfit. Now I just need a Barbie Handbag for my mouthpieces and reeds.

🙂))

This must be worth a photo or three....

 

[old git]

Hey folks,

I had never really understood why these Vibrato saxophones are so expensive!

Really, the strong point of making a saxophone out of injection molded plastic is because it´s much cheaper and faster to produce than brass or other metallic alloys.

Everything in the production line is automatic and there´s almost zero manual labor involved compared to the regular saxophone production methods.

I´m not sure their products will be successful with that price tag. Probably they´ll just vanish in the next couple of years.

Cheers,

Raf.

Just wondering how much the set up tooling costs, pretty big, eh?

 

[milandro]

the problem is not only the tooling, Although mouldings are very expensive indeed, But also a functional one. The longer you make a saxophone made like this, the more it flexes, because even polycarbonate doesn’t have the necessary rigidity (the body is already made in glued sections to try to attempt to achieve extra rigidity ) and it needs some rigidity both in the body and in the mechanics to be functional and not bend under his own weight and momentum.......... that will be extremely difficult to achieve.

The Vibratosax uses already at least some aluminium rods to overcome at least part of that problem in the mechanics but this would prove too inefficient a solution for a tenor or a baritone or , dare I say, a bass, where the advantages of a lightweight would have been the most felt and the most useful.

 

[jazzdoh]

the problem is not only the tooling, Although mouldings are very expensive indeed, But also a functional one. The longer you make a saxophone made like this, the more it flexes, because even polycarbonate doesn’t have the necessary rigidity (the body is already made in glued sections to try to attempt to achieve extra rigidity ) and it needs some rigidity both in the body and in the mechanics to be functional and not bend under his own weight and momentum.......... that will be extremely difficult to achieve.

The Vibratosax uses already at least some aluminium rods to overcome at least part of that problem in the mechanics but this would prove too inefficient a solution for a tenor or a baritone or , dare I say, a bass, where the advantages of a lightweight would have been the most felt and the most useful.

A real shame because a lightweight baritone would just be the job for me right now.

Brian

 

[milandro]

well, ever since they started talking about this horn the obvious question was when are you going to do a baritone or a bass which will really be useful especially in marching bands. Naturally, given the high price for these saxophones even if Chinese made ( A Chinese Baritone is around 1250€ minimum and a Bass around 3000€ minimum) the Vibratosax would have had a chance based on price and weight even if it would have matched a brass horn.

As it is , it costs twice as much a Chinese cheap alto. It doesn’t play any better and yes it is light(er) but altos are not that heavy anyway.

As I’ve said, the only real selling point is novelty and the fact that it contains no animal parts which is indeed a plus for the very small population of vegan saxophonists.

Other than that once the novelty would have ended its course (and they have just revived it with this transparent version) there will not be much left to keep this horn in the public’s interest.

 

[Pyrografix]

Sax.co.uk have just posted THIS on their Facebook page.........well, it made me laugh!

Beware anyone of a delicate disposition - some scenes of nudity!

 

[milandro]

nice, good sound......... and great video

 

[Jules]

'S amazing what happens on my day off!!

 

[Greg Strange]

I didn't know Frankie Goes To Hollywood had a sax section...

damn that Trevor "Horn" 🙂))

Greg S.

 

[old git]

'S amazing what happens on my day off!!

You are too modest, Jules.

Love the moustache and glad to see the varicose veins have cleared up.