New Selmer bass saxophone

[clarnibass]

Hello

A saxophone player/teacher in my city ordered and now received a new Selmer bass saxophone. He is a very high level player, and eventhough his fingers and tongue are not as fast as they used to be (he was a big player in former USSR) he is one of those that can sound amazing on the crappiest sax and mouthpiece.

I'm not sure if he ever played bass sax before, and I understand it is a common problem, but some of the notes are very problematic. The notes that use the body octave hole, starting from D until about F have a growl when tonguing them. It is worst on D and keeps improving as you go higher. He ordered two necks and two mouthpieces (I think just in case). Both necks have the same problem, but one has a better sound slightly. Both mouthpiece have the problem (though I found Selmer mouthpiece vary from great to horrible so might be worth getting another mouthpiece anyway).

I had a similar problem on my bass clarinet, and making the the register hole bigger helped a lot almost solving the problem completely (I chose the best compromise, since every size is, which was a little bigger than the original).

I think making a bigger register hole might really help, but the problem is we will lose the warrenty. He is already considering complaining to Selmer and returning it. If they wanted to I bet Selmer could probably even make several size holes for us to try, but I found it is VERY hard to get anything custom-made from the big companies.

I'm wondering if anyone has any experience with the Selmer bass saxophone and this problem, and maybe found solutions other than the usual of keep practicing? I can understand if this problem exists slightly, but it is really horrible and I'm sure the sax can play better.

Thanks!

[TenTenTooter]

While the Selmer basses are far behind in terms of tone to their vintage American counterparts, they are designed well and should play without too big a hassle.

What sax is his primary sax? No matter how prestigious a player he may be, if he hasn't gotten much ecperience on bari before bass, he may very well be too tight on the mouthpiece and getting overtones on said notes, middle D to F. I had very similar problem when I began playing bass two years ago and it was fixed with long tones, a looser embouchure, and patience.

[Bar-Ron]

I wouldn't suspect the horn right away.
The bass sax is a whole different embouchure to get used to. Try softer than usual reeds first.
I play an old Conn and I need to drop my jaw to the floor to play it correctly.
Air support is crucial too.
I tried a Selmer, they play easier than a vintage Bass in every way and have little intonation problems but I think they sound like Bari saxes that go low, as they never sound big.
Could be a leaky pad some where too, leak light it to be sure.

[clarnibass]

He has a lot of experience with all 4 of the regular saxes (sop, alto, tenor, bari). The problem is not of overtones, but like a growl before the note speaks. Maybe growl is not the right word, but I don't know a better one in English.

We (me and another sax player who is his student) are thinking it is a lot a matter of practice. This teacher, in spite of him being a very good player and teacher, has the type of personality that he is unlikely to admit it is his fault..... We will try to convince him to try softer reeds, relax the mouth more, etc.

I just verified, and the problem is on the notes D, D# and E. The F is much better. I understand the D is slightly problematic note on almost all bass saxes, but according to a player who doesn't have much experience with bari at all, on this bass the D# and E are no better than the D. But he is a pretty bad bari player (excellent alto and sop player).

Thanks.

[Bar-Ron]

Good luck.

We helped the school buy A Selmer. Myself a Bari-alto-Bass player find it is articulate and easy to play with a number of mouthpieces. All using rather soft, 2 1/2 Rico reeds or Lavoz med softs.
The Bass is a lot more mouthpiece and a lot softer bite.
I would have to guess it's Reeds more than the horn, as anywhere around D seems to take an accurate embouchure, atleast on my Vintage Bass. I didn't find the Selmer as picky.

Have a good day