Saxophones What have I gone and done now (v2)

[jonf]

I don’t think I would do an immersion bath. IIRC these are assembled with a silicone lubricant. Mixing with water is a bad thing.
The pictures I posted were from a new unit right out of the factory carton. If you purchased this “new”. It should have arrived in a factory sealed white carton and packed as I posted. The As1III is the current model in clear. White is most likely an older NOS unit.

It was purchased as used, and it looks like it's been used quite a lot. It was still in the original white carton.

Snapshot attached

 

[Targa]

I don’t suppose you have a Star Wars stormtrooper costume to wear with it?

 

[Grumps]

I don’t suppose you have a Star Wars stormtrooper costume to wear with it?

I share office space with an attorney who has exactly that. Crafted himself, I'm sure you'll catch him in local bars this upcoming May the 4th (be with you). He crafted it himself and cut a hole for a straw in the helmet and further modified it with a speaker system altering his voice. And no, he doesn't have to pay for drinks when wearing it.

 

[PigSquealer]

It was purchased as used, and it looks like it's been used quite a lot. It was still in the original white carton.

Snapshot attached

View attachment 34485

Looks nice. No dents or missing lacquer. Is there a vin number? I have someone I can ask about care & service.

 

[jonf]

Yesterday evening I did a three-way comparative test of the Vibrato, Grafton and Vito Yamaha. Quite instructive. I played all three with my usual Yanagisawa mouthpiece and RJS reed.

I started with the Vibrato, or at least I tried to. A couple of problems with sticky pads, which actually seemed to be worse than with traditional leather pads. G#, unsurprisingly, and also low Eb. Once sorted, I played a couple of tunes. It sounded OK, felt mediocre under the fingers. On to the Grafton, it sounded a little brighter, and felt much, much better to play. Although by modern standards the Grafton has fairly mediocre ergonomics, it was still streets ahead of the Vibrato. Then the Vito, which is basically a YAS23. It's battered and scruffy, but it plays great. It was a big improvement on the Grafton, and light years ahead of the Vibrato.

The thing that interested me about the play test comparison was that the big difference between the saxes wasn't down to the sound, it was how they felt to play. The Vibrato was, by a long way, the least pleasant to play, with its squishy action, bendy keys and poor feel under the fingertips. The Grafton also has a moderately imprecise feel, but was much better than the Vibrato. The Vito was a delight to play in comparison. Even though it was made as a student sax, and was the cheapest of the three to buy, it played very well, with comfortable touch pieces under the fingers and a nice precise action. It was closer to my Yanagisawa than it was to the Grafton.

So, the Vibrato does just about make it as a saxophone, so it's more than a toy. I was able to play a tune on it and sound OK. However, in my subjective opinion, it didn't look anything like as cool as the Grafton, and it was nowhere near as good to play as the Vito. The only use case I can think of in which I'd select the Vibrato over either of the other two would be playing outdoors in the rain.

 

[PigSquealer]

The Vibrato was, by a long way, the least pleasant to play, with its squishy action, bendy keys and poor feel under the fingertips.

Common feedback from just about anyone. Myself included. I will see if any information on the version updates & years is available.
The one I sampled was current as of April,2025. The action was still squishy. Would you say squishy to the point of not feeling when a key is closed ?
For stage presence people just see a white sax. The clear transparent look they notice.