An entire setup made of wood?

[Saxaholic]

I was browsing Roberto's store when I noticed alot of wood products now available that you could combine.

Wooden neck...wooden mouthpiece...wooden ligature.....anyone ever try this combination? I wonder what the overall result would be? Am interested to hear from anyone who has perhaps tried this.

Saxaholic

[shortwhite]

Michael Brecker is supposedly using the Pomarico (sp?) wooden neck and the Lebayle wooden mouthpiece now.

[Nefertiti]

I know there's a picture of him trying a wooden neck and mouthpiece. I haven't heard of anyone seeing him on a gig with these though.

[dolphyo]

do wooden heads count !

[Saxaholic]

Only if it improves my intonation. :lol:

Saxaholic

[Rahspeak]

how about wooden lips?

[bruce bailey]

How about a metal reed for this setup?
Actually I saw a pair of saxes (Alto and Tenor) in a store in Baltimore in the 60s that were all wood, neck, body, bow and bell. Made in the Czech region pre-war and they looked pretty good, but not for sale. I heard that after the owner died, the whole store (+probably over 3,000 horns) was bulldozed.

[Saxaholic]

I've always wanted to play an all-wooden saxophone...just to see what it would be like. I wonder what would happen if a current sax giant decided to make one.

I guess the problems inherent with that are temp. changes, climate, moisture, and all that other stuff. Perhaps if there was some way this would be negligable. Hmmm...

Interesting thought, nontheless.

Saxaholic

[HC]

I've always wanted to play an all-wooden saxophone...just to see what it would be like. I wonder what would happen if a current sax giant decided to make one.

I guess the problems inherent with that are temp. changes, climate, moisture, and all that other stuff. Perhaps if there was some way this would be negligable. Hmmm...

Interesting thought, nontheless.

Saxaholic

Guess you forgot about some people that have the endure those problems: clarinetist, bassoonists, and oboists. :D Thankfully my clarinet is a cheap plastic one. Had I had a wood one for a day, I'll be sure to do something stupid that'll make the wood crack.

[Saxaholic]

I would assume the saxophone would be a different ball-game because of the bottom curvature of the bow. Perhaps I am wrong, I would love to hear any research in this matter.

Saxaholic

[vick]

A completely wooden saxophone would feel gigantic in the hands, as it would take a much thicker wall on the horn to make it anywhere as close as strong as brass. Think metal clarinet vs. wooden clarinet and translate that to saxophone. Also, it would be very expensive to carve and hollow the wood into the saxophone shape vs. the straight clarinet. However, Buffet makes a range of clarinets called Greenline which are made of Grenadilla sawdust and some form of hardener moulded into shape that supposedly sound very good. This technique could be applied to saxophone. You never know, we could ask Buffet to bring back their sax line (SDA, S1) in wood, Greenline style.

[Saxaholic]

I agree; a wooden saxophone would cost much more than current models. Much of the work would have to be done by hand from skilled craftsmen. I wonder how long it would take to finish one saxophone?

Certainly an interesting thing to wonder about.

Saxaholic

[HC]

Using the the same method as the Buffet Greenline clarinets, couldn't molds be made and formed that way? What would be the advantages of a wood saxophone? Just trying to image how sore someone's neck would be playing a bari sax made out of wood. :roll:

[vick]

In theory, yes, the same method could be applied. However, you would have to cast the posts and other hardware into the body, leading to some of the problems suffered by the Grafton. Casting a baritone would be a daunting task to say the least.