We were first introduced to the Yamaha 875EXW alto sax in this thread. It's a limited-edition horn, with only 50 available.
First things, first: I've played an original 875 a longish while ago and found it to be one of the nicest horns I've ever played. I've also been very happy with every Yamaha I've owned, and I've owned quite a few, from the YCL-34 clarinet to the YBS-52 baritone sax. I think that the entire 875EX series is probably exceptional.
So, I took a look at the thread, checked the linked picture and thought, "Not bad looking horn. Reminds me of a marching-band instrument, though."
Well, what irked me enough to start this forum section? A bit of Yamaha ad copy:
Now, in my searching for this article, I did find a couple more things about saxophone mouthpieces and the material they're made of doesn't make a difference: the proportions do. The same was said about CLARINET mouthpieces, in a different article.
In my opinion, Yamaha's turned the hype machine up a little.
What do you fine folks think? Does anyone have a lead on this Selmer article? I'm thinking about writing to Selmer Paris to see if it's available ....
First things, first: I've played an original 875 a longish while ago and found it to be one of the nicest horns I've ever played. I've also been very happy with every Yamaha I've owned, and I've owned quite a few, from the YCL-34 clarinet to the YBS-52 baritone sax. I think that the entire 875EX series is probably exceptional.
So, I took a look at the thread, checked the linked picture and thought, "Not bad looking horn. Reminds me of a marching-band instrument, though."
Well, what irked me enough to start this forum section? A bit of Yamaha ad copy:
I then posted my original article and a similar one from Steven Howard on how the material that a sax is made out of hasn't been proven to affect the saxophone's tonal characteristics -- and, not only that, it's next to impossible to test. I got a private response to this that said that Selmer, in developing one of their horns, DID find out that the lacquer thickness/density/whatever makes a difference -- but this article doesn't appear to be available on the web.Yamaha 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.
Now, in my searching for this article, I did find a couple more things about saxophone mouthpieces and the material they're made of doesn't make a difference: the proportions do. The same was said about CLARINET mouthpieces, in a different article.
In my opinion, Yamaha's turned the hype machine up a little.
What do you fine folks think? Does anyone have a lead on this Selmer article? I'm thinking about writing to Selmer Paris to see if it's available ....