Walstein Baritone

[Col9]

Well the Walstein Bari arrived on Thursday. Its very very good looking. The parts were well packed all contained within a nice but very big case.

After unwrapping it and assembling it I found you only have to breath gently into to get the most amazing tones. the tuner says every note is spot on and all seems well. Nice feel to the keys not too soft like the Jupiter and not too hard.

Corners have been cut with construction and tolerances seem a bit big with a few poorly fitting pieces.

Took it to band on thursday night and let the conductor/teacher play it . He play tested it and played the hell out of it fast and slow low and high after he finished he proclaimed it fantastic. he was amazed at the price and said whatever you do keep it. All it needs in his opinion is a better mouthpiece and a harder reed.

Today it all went rather wrong. while trying to play "minuet" I found it cant change from a upper D to a low G the octave mech wont work properly. when the G key is pressed the top 2 octave holes open, trouble is when you release the octave key they dont shut to drop to the lower register. Its not until you take off the G key they close. there is so much play in a pivot bar its amazing, a good 1mm overall.

Trouble is I cant remember if on Thursday it worked or not. You cant for instance alternate between lower and upper G because the octave key does nothing once G key is pressed.

I have emailed suppliers and await info. I would hate to send it back as it sounds amazing, looks the part and is so easy to play.

So a good start but quickly turning horrible.

col.

 

[Pjonah]

Such bad luck, it probably needs a slight fettle, by someone in the know.

But I agree with you about not over blowing bari's they are so addictive, I couldn't imagine life without mine now.

Hope you get it sorted soon, it sounds like an incredible deal, it would be a terrible shame if it had to go back for a refund.

Simon

 

[Pete Thomas]

Hmm, sounds like something has come loose, probably something very simple like a cork or spring.

I spoke to Stephen Howard about the "prototype" Walstein baris, and I think he has played and looked at both of them so I'd be very surprised indeed if it didn't start it's journey in tip top condition.

 

[Pjonah]

I'd concur with that Pete, when I first got mine a single needle spring on the lower stack came off of one of the post, it rendered the whole instrument un-playable, re-fitting it made all the difference. It could be something as daft as that.

Put it on a stand and check for any of those little blighters not being were they should be. If your leader played it and it was okay then surely something has come adrift.

Simon

 

[Col9]

Well I've checked it over and I cant see anything obvious. I rang the suppliers up who couldn't have been more helpful, really cant fault them at all. Its getting picked up tomorrow for repair a their place. They expect it to be a quick fix which is good.

After all its only a mechanism, its just a clever collection of parts of which one or two have lost the plot a bit.

I played it yesterday afternoon for a couple of hours and it seemed a bit better you still cant swap between The 2 Gs etc just by releasing the octave key though. Still its being fixed 🙂

Col.

 

[Bobby G]

Hey Col9, I hope your bari is going to be ok - I suspect as it's brand new it's probably just a minor teething problem that needs a bit of tweakage.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I am never going to mention baritone saxophones ever again. This is because my mum phoned today wanting to know what people might like for Christmas (she spoke to Doreen, my partner); I said if she had a minimum of 800 quid to spare I'd like a baritone saxophone please. Doreen's not-unexpected reply (abridged version) was 'you don't need one, it's just an indulgence' etc. etc 🙁

 

[philthd]

i think ive given that same answer to that question every year since i was 15 - and got a very similar response


and when someone finally did get me one it was a heartbreaking ebay disaster (that in fairness was all sorted out very amenably - just sax-less)

 

[Col9]

Well its back it was just a spring tension problem that was causing the octave mech to malfunction. Took a while to diagnose apparently but it is back to being fantastic again.

I cant belive the service from woodwind and brass, they are great, they picked it up and redelivered it all in good time. I will have no fear in dealing with them when the kids get their soprano.

So all in all a great sax and a hopefully happy ending.

Col.

 

[phil_edwards]

Great news. Enjoy it.

regards, Phil

 

[Pjonah]

Kewl,

We'll have to meet up some time Col, if your over at Higham Ferrers, I'm at Chaventry, we're not a million miles away, we could have a Big-Bari-Blo-out!

Awesome

Simon