AhCheung
02-10-2006, 05:15 AM
Well let's say I like to recycle.
At first I wasn't convinced that a plastic extension would sound great, what's more with a 'cushion' of weatherstripping, so I started thinking metal... Thought of heating duct (since it's a sheet, one could modify the diameter) but I found simpler still !!
Low A.... A like apple! Apple juice can! 46 Fl oz.
I trimmed the rim with clippers (diameter would have been too tight), did a little incision to diminish further the diameter of the extension, used a bit of duck tape to protect the lacquer and have a good fit and.... voilą ! no need to further trim the extension, the A is in tune, and if you have a silver bari no need to spray paint!! isn't cool or what?
Oh yeah dudes... I opened both sides of the can!
Of course, like other extension specialists have noted before me, the C and B are a bit stuffy, but the A booms (and from C# up the tone is like before on my Pierret-made Olds).
Pictures can be viewed at
http://www.geocities.com/habocheung/saxaccess.html
... where you'll also see that, having not found cans of proper diameter in our pantry, I went for the plastic solution for the low A extension on alto and tenor.
For these I followed the idea of the "bottomless cup" literally.
These are polypropylene containers (I think -- they were printed "PP" at the bottom, and -- I love this -- 'one time use only'), probably already made of recycled plastic themselves. I used a hacksaw to cut the bottom off.
The alto's is a greenish large cup with the logo of a famous soda starting with a C. I liked the fact that it looked bell-shaped. Perfect low A on my Buffet (picture of my SML though). But I still can't sound like Ornette Coleman.
The tenor's is a large transparent cup that comes from a Chinese food court (yes I drink healthy sometimes -- fresh soya milk). Good low A on my Selmer Tenor Series I.
These plastic add-ons --- or should I say.... acrylic 'graft-on's:D ??!! --- don't sound as vibrant as the bari's metallic extension, but admittedly I can't compare apple with apples. They have the same effect of slight stuffiness to C and B.
Paul Coats: thanks for the inspiration!:)
Michael Jackson: yes, we'll save the earth. I reused a plastic spice bottle (oregano!) to make a mouthpiece cap; a wide rubber band from a broccoli bunch as a thumb saver (saved $6.5 in the process); cut the cardboard of cereal boxes, folded it, used 3 staples, and make reed sleeves...
At first I wasn't convinced that a plastic extension would sound great, what's more with a 'cushion' of weatherstripping, so I started thinking metal... Thought of heating duct (since it's a sheet, one could modify the diameter) but I found simpler still !!
Low A.... A like apple! Apple juice can! 46 Fl oz.
I trimmed the rim with clippers (diameter would have been too tight), did a little incision to diminish further the diameter of the extension, used a bit of duck tape to protect the lacquer and have a good fit and.... voilą ! no need to further trim the extension, the A is in tune, and if you have a silver bari no need to spray paint!! isn't cool or what?
Oh yeah dudes... I opened both sides of the can!
Of course, like other extension specialists have noted before me, the C and B are a bit stuffy, but the A booms (and from C# up the tone is like before on my Pierret-made Olds).
Pictures can be viewed at
http://www.geocities.com/habocheung/saxaccess.html
... where you'll also see that, having not found cans of proper diameter in our pantry, I went for the plastic solution for the low A extension on alto and tenor.
For these I followed the idea of the "bottomless cup" literally.
These are polypropylene containers (I think -- they were printed "PP" at the bottom, and -- I love this -- 'one time use only'), probably already made of recycled plastic themselves. I used a hacksaw to cut the bottom off.
The alto's is a greenish large cup with the logo of a famous soda starting with a C. I liked the fact that it looked bell-shaped. Perfect low A on my Buffet (picture of my SML though). But I still can't sound like Ornette Coleman.
The tenor's is a large transparent cup that comes from a Chinese food court (yes I drink healthy sometimes -- fresh soya milk). Good low A on my Selmer Tenor Series I.
These plastic add-ons --- or should I say.... acrylic 'graft-on's:D ??!! --- don't sound as vibrant as the bari's metallic extension, but admittedly I can't compare apple with apples. They have the same effect of slight stuffiness to C and B.
Paul Coats: thanks for the inspiration!:)
Michael Jackson: yes, we'll save the earth. I reused a plastic spice bottle (oregano!) to make a mouthpiece cap; a wide rubber band from a broccoli bunch as a thumb saver (saved $6.5 in the process); cut the cardboard of cereal boxes, folded it, used 3 staples, and make reed sleeves...