Mason Bass Saxophones

[Helen]

Anyone remember the Lee Mason bass saxophones from a few years ago? They were discussed on the Bass Sax Co-Op, and maybe on SOTW as well, but my memory on that one is a bit sketchy. They seemed to have faded into oblivion, or so I thought, until on Friday I saw one (or more?) for sale on the Vancouver Craigslist. Apparently the horn(s) are located in Oregon.

Also, he's (I assume it's Lee Mason himself) selling metal bass sax mouthpieces and bass sax cases as well. The reason I'm making this assumption is that on the Co-Op, the Mason bass sax files were updated by Lee Mason in the last few weeks to include some of the ones in this Craigslist ad.

What I thought was kinda' strange was that in the photo, the name on the horn has been blacked out, and no mention was made anywhere that these were Mason horns. I wonder why he would do that.

In any event, with all this talk about the Orpheo bass saxes in the other thread, I just thought I'd mention this one. As near as I can remember, the Mason horns, were the first of the inexpensive, Asian-made bass saxophones to appear on the market. Or do I have it wrong? Does someone remember another brand of new, "cheap", bass as being first?

 

[pete]

The horn in the Craigslist picture looks like the IW 602 horn. Can't be 100% sure, because the pictures sucketh muchly.

 

[Ed]

It looks like they are all coming out of the same factory.

 

[Dave Dolson]

Helen and Pete: This subject (and the Orpheo in the other thread) serves to corroborate my suspicious attitude about Asian-made saxophones in the first place (with the exception of Yanagisawa and Yamaha).

In answer to the many posts we see (more so on SOTW) about "Has anyone played an Acme (substitute any of MANY marketing or store brands here) saxophone?", I often reply something like no, but the poster could just as easily accumulate a few hundred grand, go to one of many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Vietnamese saxophone factories (or assembly facilities) and contract for a dozen gross of whatever saxophone and put their own name on it. Then, we'd be asking if anyone has played the Dolson Special, etc., etc.

Mind you, I don't have a negative attitude about these things, only a practical one - and this is how I see the whole new-saxophone market today. There are the known high-end makers, the known student-line makers, the known store-brands, and then there are the obscure brand-names likely assembled in the same places that made many of the horn-groups named in this sentence.

Much depends on the attitude and effort made by the contractor, I suppose. A guy like Dave Kessler makes an effort to work out good deals and makes sure the horns he puts his name on go out to the public in playable condition. I know because I've purchased two of the Kessler horns. They not only play well but have durability. Their build-quality is good, too. I'm not so sure about the others, especially the myriad of unknown store-brand or marketing names we come across.

So, this latest bass saxophone may be as I've described above. I don't know this Mason fellow - I hope he put some effort into vetting the manufacturing facility and fine-tuning his product before selling it. If so, this bass could be a player. I'm not sure about the long-term construct of IW's or the Orpheo, but I'm guessing that it all would depend on the effort those folks put into making their deals.

If I wanted a bass saxophone, I'd certainly consider the IW models I saw and heard played. They may even be better than the vintage models. If one were to buy the Orpheo or the Mason, he/she may be buying the same horn except with a different marketing name on it. But we all knew this, right? DAVE

 

[Helen]

Helen and Pete: This subject (and the Orpheo in the other thread) serves to corroborate my suspicious attitude about Asian-made saxophones in the first place (with the exception of Yanagisawa and Yamaha).

In answer to the many posts we see (more so on SOTW) about "Has anyone played an Acme (substitute any of MANY marketing or store brands here) saxophone?", I often reply something like no, but the poster could just as easily accumulate a few hundred grand, go to one of many Chinese, Taiwanese, or Vietnamese saxophone factories (or assembly facilities) and contract for a dozen gross of whatever saxophone and put their own name on it. Then, we'd be asking if anyone has played the Dolson Special, etc., etc.

Mind you, I don't have a negative attitude about these things, only a practical one - and this is how I see the whole new-saxophone market today. There are the known high-end makers, the known student-line makers, the known store-brands, and then there are the obscure brand-names likely assembled in the same places that made many of the horn-groups named in this sentence.

Much depends on the attitude and effort made by the contractor, I suppose. A guy like Dave Kessler makes an effort to work out good deals and makes sure the horns he puts his name on go out to the public in playable condition. I know because I've purchased two of the Kessler horns. They not only play well but have durability. Their build-quality is good, too. I'm not so sure about the others, especially the myriad of unknown store-brand or marketing names we come across.

+1 Really well said Dave. I couldn't have put it better myself. (Only I wouldn't have called the saxophones Dolson Specials. ;-) )

Mmm... Now that I think about it... How about the Bassic-Sax bass saxophones? Now that has a nice ring to it!

Yes, Pete, the pics sucketh muchly. Here is one of the sax that is a bit bigger. I still can't see much detail on it... But the black marker pen effect of the photo editing program comes through really well.

 

[SOTSDO]

I would be very skeptical of any seller who would use an altered photograph (as this one so clearly is) to plug a proprietary horn that they were claiming to "produce". The whole approach reeks of getting by on the cheap, selling before the product exists, and (overall) of dealing in bad faith with the buyer.

We see this sort of thing on eBay all of the time. The same stock photograph of a Yamaha or Selmer clarinet being used to sell horns that are anything but. Nothing new under the sun...

 

[Helen]

The horn in the Craigslist picture looks like the IW 602 horn. Can't be 100% sure, because the pictures sucketh muchly.

Good eye Pete. Lee said yesterday on the Bass Sax Co-op that this horn was an IW601 that he had been using as a demonstrator for the last couple of years... I don't know why he would blacken out the brand name with virtual black marker pen however...

So I guess he must have sold out whatever stock he had of Mason bass saxophones a few years ago. He must not even have kept 1 for himself. Who would have thunk it?