[Dixielandjazz] Re: More information about my wonderful cheap soprano

Sat Aug 27 15:56:26 PDT 2005

In the low end horns I like the Winston best because of the extremely smooth
fingering response and really good tone.  It compares to my Yamaha very
favorably.  The problem is it's very soft metal and very light by comparison
and easily knocked out of adjustment especially when knocking it over (HA
HA)

I'm not familiar with that one but so many of them feel really cheesy in the
fingering but all of them do well in intonation surprisingly enough.  I
would pick a new low end horn over the many vintage horns out there but my
Yamaha Custom is a killer horn.

You're right about the adjustment you have to make.  Most clarinet players
fail to make that adjustment on sax in general and end up with a tight tone.
Not at all full and usually out of tune too.

The old school taught that you should play clarinet before sax but I really
don't think that's the case.  When you do that you end up with sax players
that really never get the right sound out of the saxes.  The reason being
that the clarinet tends to encourage a snapping turtle embouchure with
little flexibility.  You may never produce a symphonic clarinet sound if you
start on sax but I prefer hearing clarinet played by primarily sax players.
I like a more flexible, full sound.  Unlearning the clarinet embouchure is
difficult.

Sounds like you are having a lot of fun with it.
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russ Guarino" <russg at redshift.com>
To: "Larry Walton Entertainment" <larrys.bands at charter.net>
Cc: "Michael Woitowicz" <banjobarons at nconnect.net>; "Dixieland Jazz"
<dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2005 4:48 PM
Subject: Re: More information about my wonderful cheap soprano

> My new soprano is a "Bandnow" costing $250 + Tax.  Got it from 123 Music
[ on
> the web ].  No scroll work on the bell.  Just plain lacquer. But very
pretty.
>
> Plays like a champ including high side keys and index finger high F. Low
left
> hand little finger keys speak easily. At first I thought middle B & C were
flat,
> but by pushing in the mouthpiece a little deeper down the cork, it came
right
> into tune.  I highly recommend the horn.  I use my old mouthpiece and
reed.
>
> Like all sopranos it required intuitive adjustments to play in tune, but I
> adjusted to the horn quickly, first play.  The only effort I have to use
with
> the horn is when I come off the clarinet and play about 6 or 8 notes
before I
> adjust.  I find I have to "open" my mouth cavity and throat to get the
sound I
> want.  Smooth and serene. I've been able to avoid an "edgy" tone with this
horn.
>
> Comes with hard case, neck strap, mouthpiece, white gloves, cleaning
cloth,
> plastic neck cap and two necks, one curved and one straight.  I also
bought a
> soprano stand and had to take out some insulation foam at the bell end of
the
> case to fit the stand into the bell when putting it away.  I like the
horn so
> much I have actually been practicing with it.
>
> Why does nobody believe me?  "A $250 soprano, are you nuts"?
>
> Russ Guarino
>
> Larry Walton Entertainment wrote:
>
> > Well Russ the same thing happened to me.  I have a Winston soprano.  The
> > horn plays nice except the high register.  I can play it in tune but
it's
> > not naturally in tune.  It does have a nice tone but so many of these
> > imports are really soft metal.  I did the same trick and it went over
> > bending the body of the horn and everything attached to it.  Lucky we
have a
> > killer repair shop here.  They didn't charge me much because the laughs
were
> > worth it to them.  So after three trips for adjustment problems I
decided to
> > buy a Yamaha Custom at ten times the price.  The Yamaha is a great horn.
I
> > keep the Winston as an emergency horn.
> >
> > Funny thing the Winston stock mouthpiece will not play on the Yamaha.
> > Yamaha stock mouthpieces really suck.  I was using a 3.5 or 4 Rico Royal
on
> > the Winston.  I Bought a Bari mouthpiece on the recommendation of a
friend
> > and it plays really well but a 2 or 2.5 reed feels about the same as a 4
on
> > the other mouthpiece.  A weak reed was, intonation wise, a waste of time
on
> > the Winston.
> >
> > Larry
> > St. Louis
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Russ Guarino" <russg at redshift.com>
> > To: "Michael Woitowicz" <banjobarons at nconnect.net>
> > Cc: "Dixieland Jazz" <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
> > Sent: Friday, August 26, 2005 5:11 PM
> > Subject: [Dixielandjazz] Re: the next dumb thing after Gig Bags are
opened
> >
> > > Some of us can damage a horn no matter how careful we be.
> > >
> > > I just purchased a new soprano sax for $250 [  it plays really great,
but
> > that's
> > > another story ] with two neck pieces, one straight and one curved.
> > >
> > > I took the body of the sax out of the case, set it down on the soprano
> > stand and
> > > attached the straight neck piece.  Forgetting that it needed to be
> > tighten, I
> > > then tried to pick up the horn by the neck piece [ my old horn did not
> > have a
> > > separate neck piece ].  To my surprise, the body of the horn fell to
the
> > floor
> > > and bent the bell, but god be praised, nothing else was damaged.
> > >
> > > So I now have a brand new soprano, in a hard case, with a bent bell.
> > >
> > > Russ Guarino
> > >
> > > Michael Woitowicz wrote:
> > >
> > > > Interesting thread -- gig bags.
> > > >
> > > > I have one for my banjos, and use it occasionally when I travel by
> > plane. It
> > > > doesn't offer the greatest protection in the world, but it seems a
bit
> > > > easier to get through security at the airports with a gig bag hung
over
> > your
> > > > shoulder as opposed to carrying a hard shell case. Perhaps because
it's
> > a
> > > > bit smaller overall than a hard-shell case.
> > > >
> > > > I don't use it for my best instrument, and am very, very careful how
> > place
> > > > it in the overhead storage compartment. I watch whoever else is
putting
> > > > stuff in the same compartment and advise them to be careful.
> > > >
> > > > I can stuff a lot of other soft items in the bag for traveling, so
it is
> > > > handy.
> > > >
> > > > Mike Woitowicz
> > > > The Banjo Barons Ragtime Band
> > > > The Dixie Barons Dixieland Band
> > > > www.banjomusic.biz
> > > >
> > > > _______________________________________________
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> > > > Dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com
> > > > http://ml.islandnet.com/mailman/listinfo/dixielandjazz
> > >
> > >
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