WHY WE NEEDED A NEW BARITONE SAX MODEL

I fancy myself to be primarily a bari player. I used Selmers for years (all Mk VI's, most of the low Bb) and switched to a 1955 The Martin in 1996. I've also owned pretty much one of everything at one time or another, and what I haven't actually owned, I've overhauled a couple of examples. I think I know baris pretty well. Honestly, I was never very happy with any of them.

The problem, IMHO, is that saxophone companies have always treated the bari as an "afterthought" due to its low unit sales. I don't believe any company sat down and tried to solve the problems inherent with this instrument. I decided to do so.

As with all saxophones, the heart of the sound and the definer of all things accoustic is the neck. With the bari, of course, you have to re-think exactly what constitutes the neck. It's far more than just the "removeable" part. You have to include the "pigtail", and that's where most manufacturers have let us down. Making the pigtail is expensive and complicated, and I think that most companies just "cheap out". I re-thought the taper and curl of the pigtail, and Voila! I was able to vastly improve the intonation and response. Try one of my horns and you'll see what I mean. Changing the pigtail neccessitated altering the upper bow configuration, and by increasing the diameter and altering the taper, I was able to greatly improve the response and voice of the palm key notes.

It's always bothered me that the bari was uncomfortable to hold and play. The finger touches for the upper and lower stacks were simply too far apart, so you always had too much muscle tension in the fingers to be able to play fast and smoothly. I took some measurements from various tenors I had lying around my studio, and set up the bari key touches to tenor specifications. This was not rocket science, and it amazes me that it hadn't been done before. The results will astound you: the horn fits your hands like a glove, with no finger stretching necessary!

To increase comfort, I added a three position strap ring so you can hook up in a fashion that suits your physique and your choice of strap. I also added an extra large thumb hook for the right hand, that supports the last digit of the thumb as well as the first digit.

I've worked on enough baritones to know that these big horns tend to get knocked around. With this in mind, I did a couple of things to decrease the income of saxophone repair technicians worldwide: We use TWO bell to body braces, because the long bell of the low A baritone is forever getting twisted. We also used a new configuration of brace in the middle of the body tube around the LH pinky table whcih greatly strengthens it. My precious new pigtail and upper bow also got a new brace design (with my name engraved on them!) so alignment of this critical area is guaranteed.

All of my signature series horns use my Saxgourmet black kangaroo leather pads and solid brass Noyek resonators. The resonators are huge. We had to tool up for some special sizes for this model. The extra firm felt of the pads gives the horn a very precise feel, and of course, the kangaroo leather is not only durable, but it virtually eliminates pad noise and absolutely positively does not stick to the tone holes!

These are the most elaborately and extensively hand engraved baritones of all time. The engraving (each one is a little different) covers the bell flare, the bell, the bow, the body tube, and the neck. Available finishes are gold plate, silver plate, black nickel with black nickel keys (spectacular!) and vintage lacquer.

There are lots of other features that are unique to this horn, and you'll just have to check one out in person to appreciate them. We've had a problem with this series: we ordered what we thought was a six month supply, and sold them one and all in less than thirty days! We've corrected that situation, which was a nice problem to have and a total surprise to us. Plenty of Steve Goodson Model baritonew will be availaboe on an ongoing basis in around 30 days.