[Dixielandjazz] Plastic Horns - Was Grafton Sax

[Larry Walton Entertainment - St. Louis]

I have one too although I can't play it very well any longer but the g10 is 
great.
Larry
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Russ Guarino" <russg at redshift.com>
To: "Steve Barbone" <barbonestreet at earthlink.net>
Cc: <dixielandjazz at ml.islandnet.com>
Sent: Tuesday, February 06, 2007 4:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Dixielandjazz] Plastic Horns - Was Grafton Sax


> Guys,
>
> I still have my high school clarinet, all metal, dull silver finish and 
> yes, it
> sounds just great and does not get crazy with temperature and humidity 
> changes.
>
> Russ Guarino
> Love my wooden Selmer G10, however.
>
> Steve Barbone wrote:
>
>> "Edgerton, Paul A" <paul.edgerton at eds.com> wrote
>>
>> >> Mike Wrote:
>> >> Ornette Coleman used to play on a plastic alto, I've heard that
>> >> Charlie Parker did too.
>>
>> > Paul Answered
>> > Yes, the famous Grafton sax.  Very rare and highly collectible.
>>
>> Yes, he and Diz were in Canada for a gig and Bird had pawned his metal 
>> horn
>> to buy drugs, so the legend goes. They couldn't come up with a substitute
>> horn except for that Plastic Grafton. Some good music is heard on the 
>> record
>> of that date, coming out of that horn.
>>
>> There is an ongoing debate about various material used for horns and how
>> they affect sound. Studies have been done with clarinets, played behind a
>> screen, for a jury of expert players who were asked to identify the 
>> material
>> used on the horn they were hearing.
>>
>> None could accurately identify whether wood, metal, plastic or rubber was
>> the material of the horn they were hearing  with any consistency.
>>
>> My hero, Kenny Davern played a plastic, bakelite or rubber Conn made 
>> about
>> 1929 frequently in his later years. He sounded just perfect on it. He 
>> told
>> me a few years ago that he used it for most gigs because it was not much
>> affected by temperature or humidity, as opposed to wood which is.
>>
>> He also said that horn sound is determined by the mouthpiece, the 
>> embouchure
>> and the column of air one sends through the horn, not the material. His
>> favorite follow-up was that he could take a Van Doren JB5 mouthpiece with 
>> a
>> 4 & 1/2 V12 reed, attach it to a garden hose and make it sound like a
>> clarinet.
>>
>> I would not be surprised if most clarinets sold today are material other
>> than wood, believing that most learner models are some form of plastic.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Steve Barbone
>>
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>
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