"Where's it made?" If I hear this one more time, I may vomit. What possible difference does it make? The horn either plays well or it doesn't. I would respectfully sumbit that if you can't tell if a horn plays well and if the construction is robust enough to satisfy your needs, you have no business buying a saxophone. You can always find someone to help you with the necessary expertise if you lack the personal competence to make a buying decision.
The reality of saxophone manufacturing in Asia (and elsewhere in the world, for that matter) is far different from what most consumers have been led to believe. I've had the pleasure, honor, and maybe somewhat unique experience of dealing with most of the major "players" in the saxophone making game for many years. A great many of them have been visitors in my home. I spend most of every business day dealing with them.
The company I work with, Orpheus Music, is what is known in the trade as a "contract manufacturer". This means that everything we have made, we have made to our exact specifications. We don't buy anything "off the shelf" and then put our name on it. We take everything we have made to our specification (and all our saxophones are my original and unique designs) and then do final assembly and regulation at our facility in Texas. We go through a lengthy protoyping process, and I have a "posse" of professional players that I use to give me independent verification and validation of my designs. Almost nobody else in the industry does it this way.
Today, most saxophones are manufactured in Taiwan, China, Indonesia, and Viet Nam. Selmer still makes their "Paris" horns in France (although not in Paris!), Keilwerth makes a few (but not many) of their horns in Germany (often using components from other nations), and there are a couple of other small makers in eastern Europe and Italy. There are no saxophones manufactured in the United States. Yamaha still makes a few saxophones in Japan, but most production has been moved to China and Indonesia.
The vast majority of the horns manufactured in Asia are copies of the Selmer Super Action 80 Series II, which is not a bad place to start. A dirty little secret of the business is that the majority of factories (but not all) are basically "assembelers" of components that they purchase from multiple sources. I know of one specific industrial park in Taiwan where you can start at one end of a row of metal buildings and buy, from individual companies, bells, bodies, keys, and necks. It's essentially a shopping mall for saxophone components! You may have noticed that the keywork on many Asian horns appears to be identical. Can you say "they use the same supplier"?
Recently, I met with a large Chinese manufacturer, and the president of the company, in the privacy of my hotel room, offered me exact copies of the Selmer Super 80 II; Selmer Super 80 III; Yanigasawa 901; and Yamaha 875. Trust me, these were exact copies, and all were readily available for quantity purchase with any name I wished engraved on them. They were all very well built, and the parts were absolutely interchangable with the originals. Of course, you can order the horns with various cosmetic variations and in pretty much any finish you want. There's a huge amount of this sort of thing going on, and if the vendors know and trust you, they are extremely "up front" about what they are offering.
At this point in the discussion, it's worth pointing out that most of the features on saxophones are not protected by patents. Sure, there are a few patents out there, but those of us on the design end now understand that reality is that (1) filing patents is very, very expensive; (2) you can bet the farm on the fact that your patent rights will be violated, probably sooner than later; (3) if you think filing a patent is expensive, you need to consider how much it will cost to defend them in Asia, and what your chances are of prevailing.....
The reality is that very often, horns sold by "brands you know" are often very much the same. Last year, there was a lawsuit over whether the horns by Walmart (First Act) were different from the horns sold by Selmer USA. Expert witnesses were sent to the factories in China, and sure enough, the court found they were the same, and gave First Act a $16 million dollar judegment. This surprised nobody who is familiar with how things really work.
A couple of the major European companies (Keilwerth and Buffet) have their horns built in Asia. Same thing for Conn-Selmer. Is this a bad thing? Not at all. First, Asia is about the only place you can actually get the horns manufactured. There really aren't any other options available. Second, the Asians have the experience, the skill, and the equipment. Third, the price is right. Cost of living varies widely all over the globe, and the cost of skilled labor is significantly less in Asia. These are not "sweatshop" jobs: the workers in the saxophone shops are highly skilled and are very well paid. It is most unfair to judge the standards of various local economies by our standards. The cost of materials used is essentially the same: a kilo of brass costs about the same in Shanghai as it does in Elkhart. It's a global economy, stupid. Get over it.
I think it goes without saying that there is often a variation in build quality. This is where you (or your duly appointed proxy saxophone tester) have to make the call. But don't kid yourself. Some of the horns with strange sounding names that are unfamiliar to you play very well and will last a lifetime.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Some maintenance ideas.....Sticky pads
Unless you are really lonely, and the only companionship you can find is your saxophone repairman, you probably ought to think more about maintaining your horn. Leave repairs to someone who knows what they're doing: you'll probably only make the damage worse if you attempt to fix it yourself. However, there's a number of things that almost nobody does that can make your horn last longer and play better. As you have probably figured out by now, I've developed a few products that will help you out in your quest for good horn health....
STICKY PADS
Don't you hate it when you're blowin' your brains out on a solo, eyeing the cute girl at the front table with bad intent, and your G# pad sticks? This embarassment is easily avoided. All it takes is a little preventive maintenance. First and foremost, clean the top of the tone hole. Think about it: the G# (and the low C# and low Eb) pad stays closed most of the time. It accumulates moisture as you play, and this moisture reacts with the brass body of the horn. This forms that yucky green stuff on the top of the tone hole chimney, which is mildly adhesive. Voila! A sticking pad! You gotta clean the top of the chimney well, so put that fresh twenty dollar bill back in your wallet and get some 1500 grit emery paper at your favorite local hardware emporium. Cut the emery paper into a strip about an inch wide and four inches long. Place the strip with the abraisive side (the dark side) on the tone hole and close the key cup with a fairly firm pressure using your other hand. Pull the strip out and examine it. See that gunk? That's the problem! Now, repeat until you've cleaned the entire perimeter of the tone hole. While you're at it, you might as well do the same thing to every tone hole on your horn. You will be amazed at how cleaning all the tone holes quiets down the action. Now, clean the pad. Contrary to what you've read on the internet (if you're listening to those knuckleheads at SOTW then you are obviously too stupid to play the saxophone and I strongly suggest you consider taking up the accordian), don't use lighter fluid, Windex, WD40, Old English Oil, or anything whatsoever that will break down the leather, dry it out, or leave an oily film. Use saddle soap. Let the pad dry completely. Then, apply some Mojo's Never Stick Pad Powder to the entire pad surface using a small brush or a Q-Tip. Try to rub the Mojo's into the pores of the leather. Now, place your face close to the pad you just treated and inhale. Smells good, doesn't it? A familiar scent? Yep, it smells like hippie girls. All of my maintenance products are scented to smell like hippie girls. Why? I'll tell you why: my research has shown that the regular use of Mojo's actually attracts hippie girls. Hippie girls are well known friends of saxophonists, and having plenty of them around will make you play consistantly better. You can buy Mojo's at my online store located at www.nationofmusic.com
STICKY PADS
Don't you hate it when you're blowin' your brains out on a solo, eyeing the cute girl at the front table with bad intent, and your G# pad sticks? This embarassment is easily avoided. All it takes is a little preventive maintenance. First and foremost, clean the top of the tone hole. Think about it: the G# (and the low C# and low Eb) pad stays closed most of the time. It accumulates moisture as you play, and this moisture reacts with the brass body of the horn. This forms that yucky green stuff on the top of the tone hole chimney, which is mildly adhesive. Voila! A sticking pad! You gotta clean the top of the chimney well, so put that fresh twenty dollar bill back in your wallet and get some 1500 grit emery paper at your favorite local hardware emporium. Cut the emery paper into a strip about an inch wide and four inches long. Place the strip with the abraisive side (the dark side) on the tone hole and close the key cup with a fairly firm pressure using your other hand. Pull the strip out and examine it. See that gunk? That's the problem! Now, repeat until you've cleaned the entire perimeter of the tone hole. While you're at it, you might as well do the same thing to every tone hole on your horn. You will be amazed at how cleaning all the tone holes quiets down the action. Now, clean the pad. Contrary to what you've read on the internet (if you're listening to those knuckleheads at SOTW then you are obviously too stupid to play the saxophone and I strongly suggest you consider taking up the accordian), don't use lighter fluid, Windex, WD40, Old English Oil, or anything whatsoever that will break down the leather, dry it out, or leave an oily film. Use saddle soap. Let the pad dry completely. Then, apply some Mojo's Never Stick Pad Powder to the entire pad surface using a small brush or a Q-Tip. Try to rub the Mojo's into the pores of the leather. Now, place your face close to the pad you just treated and inhale. Smells good, doesn't it? A familiar scent? Yep, it smells like hippie girls. All of my maintenance products are scented to smell like hippie girls. Why? I'll tell you why: my research has shown that the regular use of Mojo's actually attracts hippie girls. Hippie girls are well known friends of saxophonists, and having plenty of them around will make you play consistantly better. You can buy Mojo's at my online store located at www.nationofmusic.com
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
'bout 'dem new mouthpieces....
I've always wanted to be in the mouthpiece business. I freely admit that I have a BAAAAD mouthpiece habit: I own at least a hundred different ones, and I was probably deluded into believing each and every one of them was going to solve all of my playing and personal problems.
Over the years, I've taken mouthpiece refacing lessons from anyone and everyone who claimed to have any knowlege of this black art, most notably Santy Runyon and his greatest student and successor to the throne, Paul Coats. I don't know how many mouthpieces I've ruined learning how to reface. It's a very big number. I've also ruined many a perfectly good mouthpiece through altering the window size, the baffle, the chamber size, the angle of the floor etc. I've spent a huge amount of money on diamond files, every mouthpiece measuring guage known to Western (and maybe Eastern) man, granite leveling blocks, and mile after mile of fine emery paper.
I always try to learn from my mistakes, and honestly, I've made plenty of them in this area. Slowly, over a period of years, I developed some designs that seemed to work for me.
For some reason, the companies that market mouthpieces seem to have ignored a basic fact about the needs of saxophonists: On any given Saturday night, there are more players out there playing "Mustang Sally" than there are guys playing "Giant Steps". Nobody was making a piece for guys who actually make a living playing. The jazzers (admitidly not all of them, but certainly the overwhelmingly vast majority of them), who all want to sound like Coltrane, are usually appearing at the local "open mic" night or working "for the door". I wanted to make a series of mouthpieces for guys who actually make a living playing, or at least aspire to do so!
There are three models currently available. Each one is significantly different from the other. You should buy one of each. You wouldn't go out on the golf course with only one club in your bag, now would you? Think about this for a minute....Do you really want to sound the same on every gig? Here's the lineup:
STEVE GOODSON MODEL
There are two versions of this series, a metal version and a plastic version. The metal version is solid brass and silver plated. The plastic version is made from a nicely resonant synthetic material, and no, I'm not about to tell you what it is. Yes, you can only get it from me, or one of the dealers of my products.
The metal version is similar in concept to an "Otto Link on Steroids" crossbred with a Selmer metal Jazz. The chamber is rather large, and the baffle is straight. The ligature is virtually identical to the one used on the Selmer metal series (except it's reinforced at the screw holders so it doesn't break like the Selmer's invariably do) and the soprano ligature uses a single screw so you can accurately center the pressure point on the reed. It's available in a variety of facings for alto, tenor, and soprano.
The composite version is designed for student use. The students of this great land of ours are getting seriously overcharged for the mythical C star! My mouthpiece plays better, and is a third of the price! It's available for alto, tenor, and soprano as well.
SAXGOURMET SERIES
This is a serious mouthpiece for rock and roll work. It's got a "cliff" baffle, and virtually no resistance. The ligature is attached to the mouthpiece (think Lawton), and has special contact points to distribute the pressure evenly to the reed. They're gold plated, and available in a wide variety of tip openings for alto, tenor, and soprano. The facings are dead on accurate. They subtone phenomenally well, and have plenty of head room when you really need to push it.
THE HAND MADE SERIES
This is The Big Daddy Rabbit With the Fuzzy Tongue! Each and every one is hand faced by Paul Coats (I would trust nobody else) and is the finest mouthpiece available for tenor saxophone (only) at an price from anybody.
The body is very long (it tunes way down on the cork) and has a great deal of mass. The sides are fluted (sort of a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon 1930's science fiction look) and they're gold plated. The chamber is compound: a high baffle leads to a large chamber with a "bullet" opening. The tone is complex, to say the least. The beak has an extremely pronounced "duckbill". It has no resistance. None. Not a bit. The body is solid bell quality brass (made to my specifications by EMR Corporation in Phenix, Az, which is owned by my buddy and master sax player Bill Lieske) and is a work of art in itself. There's one and one only tip opening and facing (.105) which we have determined to be the optimum for this design. There's nothing like it. Expensive? You better believe it. The best available? You be the judge.
NEW PROJECTS
I've got several new designs in development at present. Watch this space and www.nationofmusic for news of my latest and greatest mouthpiece designs.
Over the years, I've taken mouthpiece refacing lessons from anyone and everyone who claimed to have any knowlege of this black art, most notably Santy Runyon and his greatest student and successor to the throne, Paul Coats. I don't know how many mouthpieces I've ruined learning how to reface. It's a very big number. I've also ruined many a perfectly good mouthpiece through altering the window size, the baffle, the chamber size, the angle of the floor etc. I've spent a huge amount of money on diamond files, every mouthpiece measuring guage known to Western (and maybe Eastern) man, granite leveling blocks, and mile after mile of fine emery paper.
I always try to learn from my mistakes, and honestly, I've made plenty of them in this area. Slowly, over a period of years, I developed some designs that seemed to work for me.
For some reason, the companies that market mouthpieces seem to have ignored a basic fact about the needs of saxophonists: On any given Saturday night, there are more players out there playing "Mustang Sally" than there are guys playing "Giant Steps". Nobody was making a piece for guys who actually make a living playing. The jazzers (admitidly not all of them, but certainly the overwhelmingly vast majority of them), who all want to sound like Coltrane, are usually appearing at the local "open mic" night or working "for the door". I wanted to make a series of mouthpieces for guys who actually make a living playing, or at least aspire to do so!
There are three models currently available. Each one is significantly different from the other. You should buy one of each. You wouldn't go out on the golf course with only one club in your bag, now would you? Think about this for a minute....Do you really want to sound the same on every gig? Here's the lineup:
STEVE GOODSON MODEL
There are two versions of this series, a metal version and a plastic version. The metal version is solid brass and silver plated. The plastic version is made from a nicely resonant synthetic material, and no, I'm not about to tell you what it is. Yes, you can only get it from me, or one of the dealers of my products.
The metal version is similar in concept to an "Otto Link on Steroids" crossbred with a Selmer metal Jazz. The chamber is rather large, and the baffle is straight. The ligature is virtually identical to the one used on the Selmer metal series (except it's reinforced at the screw holders so it doesn't break like the Selmer's invariably do) and the soprano ligature uses a single screw so you can accurately center the pressure point on the reed. It's available in a variety of facings for alto, tenor, and soprano.
The composite version is designed for student use. The students of this great land of ours are getting seriously overcharged for the mythical C star! My mouthpiece plays better, and is a third of the price! It's available for alto, tenor, and soprano as well.
SAXGOURMET SERIES
This is a serious mouthpiece for rock and roll work. It's got a "cliff" baffle, and virtually no resistance. The ligature is attached to the mouthpiece (think Lawton), and has special contact points to distribute the pressure evenly to the reed. They're gold plated, and available in a wide variety of tip openings for alto, tenor, and soprano. The facings are dead on accurate. They subtone phenomenally well, and have plenty of head room when you really need to push it.
THE HAND MADE SERIES
This is The Big Daddy Rabbit With the Fuzzy Tongue! Each and every one is hand faced by Paul Coats (I would trust nobody else) and is the finest mouthpiece available for tenor saxophone (only) at an price from anybody.
The body is very long (it tunes way down on the cork) and has a great deal of mass. The sides are fluted (sort of a Buck Rogers/Flash Gordon 1930's science fiction look) and they're gold plated. The chamber is compound: a high baffle leads to a large chamber with a "bullet" opening. The tone is complex, to say the least. The beak has an extremely pronounced "duckbill". It has no resistance. None. Not a bit. The body is solid bell quality brass (made to my specifications by EMR Corporation in Phenix, Az, which is owned by my buddy and master sax player Bill Lieske) and is a work of art in itself. There's one and one only tip opening and facing (.105) which we have determined to be the optimum for this design. There's nothing like it. Expensive? You better believe it. The best available? You be the judge.
NEW PROJECTS
I've got several new designs in development at present. Watch this space and www.nationofmusic for news of my latest and greatest mouthpiece designs.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Even More Product News
THE STRAIGHT ALTO AND TENOR SAXES ARE COMING!
We did just what we planned with the last generation of straight saxes: we sold every last one of them! Now, we're getting ready to bring you the latest and greatest: the STEVE GOODSON MODEL straight alto and tenor. This is a total redesign of the previous horns (which played great!) and will feature all of our latest tricks. The new version is so much improved that we're gonna move it our of our L A Sax brand and upgrade it to Steve Goodson Model status. Like all the horns in the Steve Goodson series, we will include Saxgourmet black kangaroo leather pads and solid brass Noyeks, as well as a Saxgourmet thumbrest. That's going to be easy enough to spot. The important difference is a totally new bore taper and tone hole placement, which will make these horns speak like nothing you've ever heard! The keywork geometry has been revised to be a little more compliant with the "upright" playing position. The tonal charecteristics of these horns is different from our other offerings: it's darker with an entireoly different mix of overtones. That's what the new bore taper is all about! Watch for these in a couple of months.
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STEVE GOODSON MODEL BARITONE
Look, there was nothing wrong with the bari. I honestly believe it's been my best design so far, and the sales figures back it up. There was something that was needed that I missed on the first batch: we're adding a key guard for the keys on the upper bow to protect them. All subsequent production will have this feature.
We did just what we planned with the last generation of straight saxes: we sold every last one of them! Now, we're getting ready to bring you the latest and greatest: the STEVE GOODSON MODEL straight alto and tenor. This is a total redesign of the previous horns (which played great!) and will feature all of our latest tricks. The new version is so much improved that we're gonna move it our of our L A Sax brand and upgrade it to Steve Goodson Model status. Like all the horns in the Steve Goodson series, we will include Saxgourmet black kangaroo leather pads and solid brass Noyeks, as well as a Saxgourmet thumbrest. That's going to be easy enough to spot. The important difference is a totally new bore taper and tone hole placement, which will make these horns speak like nothing you've ever heard! The keywork geometry has been revised to be a little more compliant with the "upright" playing position. The tonal charecteristics of these horns is different from our other offerings: it's darker with an entireoly different mix of overtones. That's what the new bore taper is all about! Watch for these in a couple of months.
IMPROVEMENTS TO THE STEVE GOODSON MODEL BARITONE
Look, there was nothing wrong with the bari. I honestly believe it's been my best design so far, and the sales figures back it up. There was something that was needed that I missed on the first batch: we're adding a key guard for the keys on the upper bow to protect them. All subsequent production will have this feature.
The future of saxophone design
If you look at some of the work I've done so far (at the online store located at www.nationofmusic.com), I believe you will find things never offered to saxophone players before. Well, you ain't seen nuthin' yet!
We're absolutely overwhelmed by the great success we've had with our new models. The biggest immediate problem we've had is keeping the supply up with demand. I think we have a good handle on that now, and so we're going to proceed with some other projects that have been lying dormant for a while.
STEVE GOODSON MODEL SOPRANINO
We underestimated demand. That's all there is to it. I'm pleased to tell you that this little beauty will be available again in about two weeks. All examples will be in silver plate and have Saxgourmet kangaroo leather pads with solid brass Noyek resonators. An extra large Saxgourmet thumbhook will be standard. The great thing about this sopranino is the intonation: it's spot on!
STEVE GOODSON MODEL CURVED SOPRANO
I've been working on this design for years, and it's finally happening. Curved soprano saxes look cute (I don't know how many girls I've told "I picked this one before it was ripe...") but never felt right to me. I re-thought the key geometry, and I think we've got a winner here. I also moved the lowB and Bb keys to the right side of the bell. Not only does this significantly improve the voice of the lowest notes, but most importantly, it enabled us to extend the left hand pinky table out to a point where a normal person can easily reach the key touches. By making these changes, we were also able to use a floating mechanim low Bb key touch. Now the curved soprano feels like a real honest to goodness saxophone! The right hand thumbrest has been repositioned so the right hand is now in a natural position. I've also extended the range to high G, as this seems to be quite the fashion in soprano saxes these days. The palm keys are "conventional" style, and all of these horns come very heavily hand engraved (bell, bow, body tube, and bell flare) in silver plate. The pads are Saxgourmet black kangaroo with solid brass Noyek resonators. A three ring strap hook and a Saxgourmet extra large thumbrest are standard. This horn will set the standard for curved sopranos!
THE VESPRO'S ARE COMING!
We've decided to enter the "student" horn market. The difference in us and the competition is we want to do it right. Our new line of Vespro alto and tenor saxophones is full rib construction, floating mechanism left hand table (Take that! YAS-23!!), metal resonator pads (no plastic!) and, I hate to take credit for it, but better design and build quality than has been seen at anything approaching this price point. No they won't be the very lowest price saxophone you can buy, but they will be sold for less than the "name brand" competetion, and if you'll kindly give one a test play, you will easily see there's simply no comparison. Delivery to dealers will begin in a few weeks.
We're absolutely overwhelmed by the great success we've had with our new models. The biggest immediate problem we've had is keeping the supply up with demand. I think we have a good handle on that now, and so we're going to proceed with some other projects that have been lying dormant for a while.
STEVE GOODSON MODEL SOPRANINO
We underestimated demand. That's all there is to it. I'm pleased to tell you that this little beauty will be available again in about two weeks. All examples will be in silver plate and have Saxgourmet kangaroo leather pads with solid brass Noyek resonators. An extra large Saxgourmet thumbhook will be standard. The great thing about this sopranino is the intonation: it's spot on!
STEVE GOODSON MODEL CURVED SOPRANO
I've been working on this design for years, and it's finally happening. Curved soprano saxes look cute (I don't know how many girls I've told "I picked this one before it was ripe...") but never felt right to me. I re-thought the key geometry, and I think we've got a winner here. I also moved the lowB and Bb keys to the right side of the bell. Not only does this significantly improve the voice of the lowest notes, but most importantly, it enabled us to extend the left hand pinky table out to a point where a normal person can easily reach the key touches. By making these changes, we were also able to use a floating mechanim low Bb key touch. Now the curved soprano feels like a real honest to goodness saxophone! The right hand thumbrest has been repositioned so the right hand is now in a natural position. I've also extended the range to high G, as this seems to be quite the fashion in soprano saxes these days. The palm keys are "conventional" style, and all of these horns come very heavily hand engraved (bell, bow, body tube, and bell flare) in silver plate. The pads are Saxgourmet black kangaroo with solid brass Noyek resonators. A three ring strap hook and a Saxgourmet extra large thumbrest are standard. This horn will set the standard for curved sopranos!
THE VESPRO'S ARE COMING!
We've decided to enter the "student" horn market. The difference in us and the competition is we want to do it right. Our new line of Vespro alto and tenor saxophones is full rib construction, floating mechanism left hand table (Take that! YAS-23!!), metal resonator pads (no plastic!) and, I hate to take credit for it, but better design and build quality than has been seen at anything approaching this price point. No they won't be the very lowest price saxophone you can buy, but they will be sold for less than the "name brand" competetion, and if you'll kindly give one a test play, you will easily see there's simply no comparison. Delivery to dealers will begin in a few weeks.
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