875 - in White lacquer ?

Steve

Steve

Clarinet CE/Moderator
Staff member
CE/Moderator
I wouldn't pay extra for the finish, but I don't mind it. I'd play it.
 
Hmm. I immediately thought of one of those "Educator approved" horns from That Auction Site.
Now why would I spend good money on a (presumably) good instrument that looked like one of those cheesy $199 jobs?
 
Personally, I think it's pretty. However, it reminds me too much of a marching band horn.
 
Grafton was my first thought.

Somewhat surprised at Greg's commentary on the acoustics involved though.
 
Carl H. said:
...... Somewhat surprised at Greg's commentary on the acoustics involved though.
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the verbage he mentions

Yamaha website said:
The base model is a regular 875EX alto, with a white lacquer coating instead of the standard lacquer coating. Oh, and there are just 50 available. (starting in April 2010)

I gave one to Greg Vail in December to see what he thought, and he pointed out something that makes a huge difference on this horn. While the lacquer on the inside of the bell may seem to be a purely cosmetic difference, it actually makes a pretty big difference in the sound of the instrument. For players that are typically very ‘bright’ players, the white lacquer may in fact be the ‘darkest’ sounding instrument. Greg figured that the lacquer coating is thicker than the black lacquer 875EX (true), and by adding lacquer to the inner bell (which has a lot of surface area) it gave the instrument even more focus. Since the lacquer coating changes how the metal vibrates, changing the inner bell to a lacquered finish would certainly have some impact on the tone.

All pretty good conclusions by someone who as clearly spent some time thinking about these sorts of things.
Click to expand...
 
Haven't logged in on SOTW in a while, has this stirred up any action over there?
 
Yamaha Marketing said:
For players that are typically very ‘bright’ players, the white lacquer may in fact be the ‘darkest’ sounding instrument. Greg figured that the lacquer coating is thicker than the black lacquer 875EX (true), and by adding lacquer to the inner bell (which has a lot of surface area) it gave the instrument even more focus. Since the lacquer coating changes how the metal vibrates, changing the inner bell to a lacquered finish would certainly have some impact on the tone.
Click to expand...
While I love Yamaha instruments and the 875 was one of the best horns I've ever played, I can think of only one thing to say to this:

PROVE IT.

If my little missive didn't do enough to convince anyone, maybe Stephen Howard's article will.

Again, the 875 is a wonderful horn. I have no doubt that this incarnation of the 875EX is better than the one I played years ago. But the extra white lacquer making a serious impact in tone? C'mon. Yamaha must've been reading Buffet's old copy regarding the S3 Prestige copper horns.
 
Is Ornette Coleman an endorsing artist now? Seriously, there's no other reason to do that finish.
 
I think it depends on the customer.

I remember the wild lacquers that were available on the LA Sax horns (as well as some that I've seen on some Chinese/Taiwanese brands) and I think some are nice, but some are a little too much.

There's no accounting for taste.
 
I saw this horn at the US Navy International Saxophone Symposium. Looks interesting up close. Further away it looks like a toy. I bet it be harder that even silver to keep clean. Didn't play it just 'cause I wasn't felling any GAS for it.
 
Does it make any difference to the tone, playability or other musical aspect of the horn? I doubt it.

Does it make any difference to the performance? Most certainly.

Ever since the days of my ex-girlfriend Barbie Federspiel (yes, that was her maiden name), I've been a firm believer in the influence that an odd musical instrument can have on the audience. She had two 'cellos, a very expensive normal one and a junker one that she had painted a very bright green. And, she had much more success auditioning with the green junker than she did with the traditional instrument.

(She was also the living embodiment of the "California Girl", long blonde hair and surfer body included. Just what she was doing in Missouri has always puzzled me.)

All of the flashy stuff has little influence on the musicality of what's being played, but a lot on the showmanship aspect of any performance. A good performance is certainly the thing that most of us strive to attain, but the examples of Madonna, Brittany Spears and Lady Gago teach us that "successful performers", particularly those who make a lot of money, sell more than the pure musical experience.

We can ignore this, of course. But, a decent jazz performance compared to a flashy decent jazz performance will always be on the lower end of the financial scale.
 
I finally stopped by the Schmidt's Sax Room in Brooklyn Park, MN today. Of course, sans all my mouthpieces since it was an unplanned visit.

I played on a couple tenors using a C* and reed they provided, but no altos. I didn't want to really get into it since I'm a biter and didn't want to mark up a new C*, and am so far out of practice that I'm a little embarrased.

They had a n 875EXW alto which I was able to handle, and I found the keywork fantastic. I actually really like the white lacquer as it didn't look at all cheap. It was really well done and I want one. I'll have to come back to play it with my own setup, and hopefully some chops to match.

I don't see any particular trouble in keeping the horn clean as my touch didn't leave visable fingerprints on the white lacquer (contrast this to the gold laquered keys and unlacquered silver plated Custom Z where a touch leaves a print)
 
Instrument Manufacturers cannot be trusted. I think it's pretty apparent they've let the dogmatic marketing people be the ones to write what passes as accoustical science conventional wisdom. That way, it becomes a lot simpler to sell a plating job costing an extra $50 for several hundred more dollars, wholesale. It's not that there's anything wrong with marking up your goods anyway you want, that's fine. It is, however, about passing junk science and attempting to benifit.
 
875-EXW

My daughter tried this sax (as well as every other sax on the floor) at the Navy symposium. She liked it a lot. She had recently purchased the 875 EXB and I beieve she found the tone slightly different.
 
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