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C Mel necks and things.

I am finding that the curved neck on my Pan Am might not be the best angle for me. I do have some neck and shoulder pain issues, but so far it is just a bit uncomfortable, but not impossible. I have read here and elsewhere that this is one of the reasons that the straight neck w/tuner is more popular. My question is in reguards to the Conn Alto sax w/tuner neck(or without). I do realize that the neck it's self is responsible for alot of a saxes sound. I guess I am just curious about the dementional differences between the alt neck and the C Mel neck. I believe the tenon is similar, but I am not even positive that would be a direct swap. Any info would be greatly appreciated.
 
Also, I am curious if there is any way to adjust the curve of the neck without destroying it or it's inherent sound quality. Thanks.
 
I'm not a tech, nor do I play one on TV ;), however, I have a Conn 6M, and a Conn straight neck C mel, and I can tell you there is no way that these necks are interchangeable. One instrument is built in the key of Eb, while the other is in the key of C. The lengths (of both the necks and horns) are completely different, and while I haven't checked the tenon sizes, I'd be willing to bet that the sockets are not the same, since the bores on the horns are different as well.
 
+1 on Helen's comment regarding using an Eb alto neck on anything other than an Eb alto -- and on the make/model it was designed for.

It is possible to change the bend of a neck to a certain extent. There's a company in England (I think) that sells a young student model Eb alto that has a neck that looks very similar to a Bb tenor.

The saxophone is a cone. You can make some gentle twists and turns in that cone to fold the horn into an Eb alto shape. However, I'm not enough of an acoustician to tell you how much of a twist or how many you can make -- even if you maintain the same internal volume of that cone -- before you make the horn unplayable.

Personally, I don't really care if the neck is the "long alto" style of the professional Conn New Wonders, some Holtons and the Vito or the "tenor sax" version that most other manufacturers used. I can play either, but I feel more comfortable on the tenor-shaped. The straight-neck is supposed to improve intonation, tho. I know that Aquilasax has both kinds of neck.
 
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